Here’s an interesting article at Motoring Today’s column pointing out that E10 (fuel with 10% ethanol mixture) is not safe for use with carbureted vehicles since the ethyl alcohol can corrode the aluminum parts of the carburetor.
I guess the best answer to this question, on whether you car is E10 ready, is to ask the manufacturer. Its only recently that the Biofuels Law of the Philippines was passed mandating gasoline retailers to sell at the pumps biofuel mixed fuels so we can’t really tell whether the cars are indeed ethanol ready. Considering that making a car ethanol ready carries a cost with it that the car manufacturers could have done without since ethanol fuel was not an option at the pumps at that time.
As with the case of biodiesel, some sectors like to practice the rule of thumb that if you are planning to going higher than the 5% diesel blend, is when you have to check whether your fuel lines can accept the fuel. Since biodiesel is corrosive to some rubber fuel lines and bushings. But again, the best answer would always come from the manufacturer.
This reminds me of the problem faced by some motorists in the early nineties when the Philippines switched to unleaded fuel. Since the unleaded fuel had this side effect of loosing the valve seatings of cars not built to take on the fuel. Newspapers at that time came out with a list of cars that could take the unleaded fuel.
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Category: Misc, Biodiesel, Bioethanol, Automotive
