The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Have I been ethanolled?

OK, On 52 with a 216 was flooding out after a short period of running, less than two minutes. Checked the look of the carb and gas was on the manifold and looked to be flooded out. I knew the timing was right because at cold start, little choke and two pumps on the pedal and it fired right up then it quickly quit. I wondered if there was water in the tank from sitting, so I pumped out some gas from the tank into a clear plastic container. Gas looked clean and no water sitting in the bottom. I have a plastic in line filter and the screw in type on the carb intake. I then pulled the top of the carter YF off and found a grey paste in the bottom of the bowl. I took the carb off and pulled the accelerator pump out to find the diaphram falling apart.

So the question is does ethanol cause the inside of a carb to deteriorate leaving the grey sludge in the float bowl and destroy the accelerator pump diaphragm?

Could fine junk in the tank make it through the filters?

I have re plumbed the gas tank pick up in the tank so gas is pumped out the top as is done on later years. Gas is not sucked out the bottom of the tank.

Man! You are getting all the bad stuff thrown at you. You'll be an expert when your old truck is purring.

After months, Ethanol breaks down to fuel and water components. The additives you buy and pour in the tank may help the engine run on bad gas but it prolongs the misery if you don't get all the old gas out of the system. Water in a stock gas tank causes severe rust, rust in the steel fuel lines and Ethanol dissolves old style rubber fuel hose. Ethanol dissolves fuel pump and carburetor diaphragms. You have to purchase newly made (not NOS) fuel pump and carburetor rebuild kits that are Ethanol tolerant. Most fuel filters catch tiny and larger particles but not water.


I had this problem. I had to replace or rebuild everything from gas cap to carburetor. For example, I pulled the fuel sender out (rusted) and took pictures of the tank (more rust). My advice is to plan now if you want to run Ethanol. If the EPA and like groups push through E20 (long story), matters will get worse. Modern upgrades to old classic vehicles usually get into stainless, hoses made for Ethanol, fuel injection and tank fuel pumps. Our old parts are still safe using non-Ethanol gas but the cost and availability of this fuel can be an issue.

Good advice! I had the tank out and cleaned many years ago, but this has been sitting for quite a while. It may even be considered a barn find. At one time in the past, I think a fuel pump puked on me and put grey sludge in the system too. At that time, the rubber in the carb was ok so I blamed the fuel pump. I have also used a lot of sea-foam to keep things cleaned out as well.

The Carter YF was last produced approximately 35 years ago, so "young they are not".

Today, the YF has 3 major issues, none of which are the fault of Carter, and a few minor issues which may be attributed to old age.

(1) The use of a fuel valve from a FLAPS kit which has too large an orifice and causes flooding
(2) The neoprene style accelerator pump, which will harden after being place in modern fuel IF ALLOWED TO SIT DRY!!!
(3) Dr. Goodpliers, and all of his descendants, who believe that all components of all YF's are completely interchangeable!

In general, the diaphragm will NOT give problems if the engine is started sufficiently often to keep fuel in the bowl. Let it dry out, and I know an excellent source of rebuilding kits!

Jon

I think this was one of your kits. The truck has sat for a long time, so that explains the pump problem. I haven't figured out the grey sludge though.

I want to let everyone know that Carbking, in addition to being the world's greatest Carb expert is also a class act. He offered to send me a new part for my carb because he thought I was displeased with his parts. I am not displeased and the parts were correct and just what I needed. My fuel system problem is something other than the carb. The problem is caused by me not starting the engine over the winter and then something else that is yet to be determined.

Carbking will continue to be my go to guy for carb parts and I I recommend him to all of you as well. My apologies for sending out the wrong impression

When I purchased my 1956 Cadillac in 2001 it still had its original fuel pump. It worked perfectly until ethanol was mandated by the Feds in 2007 to curb Atlanta's smog problem.

Within 2 months the original fuel pump diaphragm expanded in size and only pumped half the required fuel. This was due to ethanol exposure. A new, Advance Auto fuel pump failed almost immediately because it was not ethanol resistant. The next one was.

I have not had further ethanol-related problems with that car because I drive it regularly and the fuel gets used up within a couple weeks or less.

When I began working on this 1950 3100, its fuel system was completely ruined by both ethanol and rust. The original fuel pump was completely sludged with yellow goo. Fortunately the carburetor had stayed dry and was usable for about a year until I rebuilt it recently.

The fuel tank and fuel line to the pump were full of rust.

I believe that the yellow goo comes from the accumulation of deposited on the inside of the tank. With leaded gas, it will stay put and not be a problem. Add ethanol to the gas and all of 70 years of deposits are dissolved and end up downstream into the fuel pump, carburetor, valve stems and seats.