We read the pros and cons of ethanol and what it may be doing to the seals in an engine.
When installing a new glass sediment bowl on my T it began to leak immediately. In the time it took me to ‘process’ the situation of removing the unit for inspection and reassembly, I noticed what you see in my 1st two pictures.
After drying out overnight the rubber (?) gasket fit right into place.
Again, change for the sake of change starts up new problems and we have to learn how to correct them. Over night your problem corrected its self but the new safer and greener required products create new problems and slow down everything every day. We send work over seas where they don't have the silly regulations and can work more quickly and get things done cheaper with the cheaper products we can no longer use. Each time I attempt to paint a car I go to purchase new filters and discover that I must also replace the mask. Change for the sake of change really bugs me and costs a lot of money.
Back in 1983 a man at a cafe drove off and his International Harvester door opened up and it drug a six foot long groove down the side of our 1966 Jaguar Roadster. Since I had painted it with lacquer it was a simple job to use some filler and re-spray a blended touch up on the door and I fixed the six foot long gash in a single evening. You could not see the repair at all. Today we would have to have the entire car repainted for thousands of dollars with poisonous paint by a man in a space suit, but the worms in the ground would be able to live a longer life and the birds in the trees could dine on the worms. But we had worms and birds back then so what's the big deal. When was the last time a child climbed up the side of your house and ate the paint off of your eaves ?
I personally loathe and despise ethanol, it has done tremendous harm to everything I own that operates on gasoline, chain saws, mowers, edgers, Model T, my pickup, on and on. My T's carburetor was stopped up in every conceivable manner, my tank is ruined and etc., I make a good faith effort to drain everything before storage, and use some of the storage products religiously, i.e, Stabil and etc., to no avail, I like to drive my T, but I don't drive it every day, so what am I supposed to do, drain it every time I stop? Besides, I buy a lot of corn, and it has nearly doubled in price, plus food prices that you can tie to corn, as in meat, are going through the roof. This is insane, and I will shut up.
E10 gasoline seriously corrodes pot metal in a very short period of time, and is just plain evil if you ask me. I had the Holley carburetor on my '68 Cougar corrode so badly in the metering blocks that the carburetor was unusable.
We just need to remove the government subsidies and the Ethanol problem will go away since it is economically unfeasable.
Drill on land and in shallow water. Stop buying from the middle east. Open up the Canadian pipe line, and vote carefully so you can do so.
It's simple just do it. Or continue in your downward spiral and try to explain why you wanted that result because your mind is already made up and you refuse to see the actual facts.
I am sorry to have to live in this problem and experience it but we can use our brains and fix it, or we can continue in this downward spiral of increasing prices for less product, it's your choice.
I don't know how I missed it, but we have been using ethanol in Iowa for some 30 years. I have a 1966 Mustang, 1969 MG Midget, 1925 Ford Coupe, lawn mowers, weed eaters, chain saws, you name, I got it. What I don't have, is all these "supposed problems".
Even at today's inflated prices, the biggest box of corn flakes has less than 17 cents worth of corn in it.
I think you guys are going to have to come up with some other reason to bash the government and ethanol for all your problems. No I don't farm, but I do tell the truth about what I know to be a fact.
Michael, A lot of fuel systems used nylon and other sorts of plastic parts in the fuel systems and the alcohol dissolves that plastic. It turns to goo and just does not work. They made throttle air passage parts and floats out of plastic that simply turns to goo. We need to pump more gas and eat the corn.
Michael Thomas:
I don't know about your box of corn flakes but the rest of the world has to eat on 10 - 15 cents a day. When the price of corn doubles they starve to death. One of a thousand such stories you can find if you wish:
Washington Times, August 25, 2012
JACKSBORO, Texas, August 25, 2012 — Will the time come when we ask ourselves, “do I serve this wonderful yellow corn for dinner, or do I need to save it for my gas tank?”
In his 1798 essay on the principles of population, English political economist Thomas Robert Malthus concluded that we humans are doomed to endure cycles of growth and massive famine as we outstrip our resources.
Subsequent economist earned their stripes discrediting his methodology, but numerous localized famines around the world have unfolded, more-or-less validating the patterns Malthus described.
Over time, the term, “Malthusian” has come to describe any gloomy scenario in which a population exceeds the means to feed them.
Today we find ourselves once again in a bit of a Malthusian dilemma. Consider the following news item:
“‘The worst drought in the American Midwest and the highest temperatures in a half-century are poised to trigger an imminent global food crisis,’ scientists at the New England Complex Systems Institute said Monday.
“NECSI has warned for months that misguided food-to-ethanol conversion programs and rampant commodity speculation have created a food price bubble, leading to an inevitable spike in prices by 2013.
“Now it appears the ‘crop shock’ will arrive even sooner due to drought, unless measures to curb ethanol production and rein in speculators are adopted immediately.
“‘This summer, the American breadbasket has suffered debilitating droughts and high temperatures, leading to soaring corn and wheat prices in anticipation of a poor harvest,’ said NECSI president [Yavni] Bar-Yam.
“‘We are on the verge of another crisis, the third in five years, and likely to be the worse yet, capable of causing new food riots and turmoil on a par with the Arab Spring.’”
Bar-Yam went on to say “The immediate impact of the drought should be addressed by reducing the US government’s mandate for corn to ethanol. Given the possibility of price-driven famines, burning corn for cars is unconscionable.”
This brings us back to Malthusian economics. Are we creating a famine that may be felt world wide by turning the plants that God has provided for us as food into a substance that will inevitably be blown out the exhaust system of our cars?
With the recent drought in America’s corn belt and global food shortages looming, it seems ironic that we’re burning food and creating the situation “in which the population exceeds the means to feed themselves.” It isn’t the Malthusian scenario, strictly speaking, because we haven’t outstripped our food supplies except by declaring food not to be food so that it can be burned as fuel.
The federal mandate that was instituted during the George W. Bush administration could claim as much as 40 percent of this year’s plummeting corn crop for fuel as this historic drought worsens.
The 2012 law calls for 13.2 billion gallons of ethanol to be combined with gasoline. The expected corn harvest is estimated at 14 billion bushels, but due to the drought, it could be far less.
Politics will determine where the corn ends up. There are calls for the mandate to be lifted for now, but we can’t underestimate the power of the special interests which look out for their own interests, not for ours.
According to Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa and the National Corn Growers Association, calls for a temporary suspension of the renewable Fuel Standard are ill-advised.
Mr. Grassley said, “I would suggest that those claiming the sky is falling withhold their call for waiving or repealing the renewable fuel standard, it’s premature action that will not produce the desired results.”
The result that the people of the world are looking at is simply hunger.
Read more: Burning corn in a famine: The obscenity of the corn ethanol mandate | Washington Times Communities
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You are not going to get the government regulations changed or loosened until you throw out the people who make the regulations. unfortunately, they have been sold a bill of goods by those who profit from their laws, and their palms have been greased by those who come up with the new ideas which make the few rich. The 99% have it backwards. The 1% are the ones who make the new regulations and get lifetime benefits long after their term of office expires. Hoods have been pulled over the eyes of the electorate. How many will lose their jobs and how big will all of our debt become before we wake up!
I don't usually get political, but this topic has me stirred up. Now the fun begins. The rebuttals are sure to follow.
Norm
Right on Norman; no rebuttal from me!
I usually stay our of this political stuff too, but since it's HERE anyway, I also add that "term limits" (one term) and the line-item veto are a couple things I feel pretty strongly about too.
I know, I know,.....this is NOT the forum for this stuff, but I guess I feel like a major part of the problem in this country I love is our complacency, and I think we really SHOULD put in a plug about it whenever the opportunity arises between now and the election that's now just a couple months off. Face it folks; due to our complacency, we're on a downhill spiral!
Okay Norm,.....I'll help ya' shoulder the rebuttals,....harold
"Are we creating a famine that may be felt world wide by turning the plants that God has provided for us as food into a substance that will inevitably be blown out the exhaust system of our cars?"
I don't know what part God plays. Maize was domesticated by the heathen Aztecs, and until NAFTA, the corn grown in most of Mexico was the nearly the same that Cortez found in 1520.
Man cannot exist today without corn, and corn cannot exist without man. It is not a simple relationship. See Michael Pollan's, "The Omnivore's Dilemma."
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King Corn (film)
From Wikipedia
King Corn is a feature documentary film released in October 2007 following college friends Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis (directed by Aaron Woolf) as they move from Boston to Greene, Iowa to grow and farm an acre of corn. In the process, Cheney and Ellis examine the role that the increasing production of corn has had for American society, spotlighting the role of government subsidies in encouraging the huge amount of corn grown.
The film shows how industrialization in corn has all but eliminated the image of the family farm, which is being replaced by larger industrial farms. Cheney and Ellis suggest that this trend reflects a larger industrialization of the North American food system. As was outlined in the film, decisions relating to what crops are grown and how they are grown are based on government manipulated economic considerations rather than their true economic, environmental, or social ramifications. This is demonstrated in the film by the production of high fructose corn syrup, an ingredient found in many cheap food products, such as fast food.
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I can't explain why neither of those mention ethanol.
rdr
E10 has been flowing through my glass sediment bowl (John Deere AM3100T) for ten years now without any corrosion or leaks.
I've had the most trouble with old electric fuel pumps. I finally gave up and bought a new one.
If 2 bushels of corn go into an ethanol plant how much feed comes out? 1 bushel of feed comes out. Is there a surplus of corn in the United States? Yes, all needs that we have are being met, and we export corn, about 5 billion bushels were exported last year. Is there a shortage of corn this year? No, prices are up slightly, but no shortage is anticipated. The American Farmer has, and will continue to feed the world, while providing a renewable energy resource. Maybe some would rather we continue to send our troops overseas to defend our oil interests. I prefer to burn ethanol and other domestic resources and bring our troops home.
Now stand and be counted: Who wants to bring our troops home? Who wants to defend oil?
I want to bring our troops home tomorrow morning if not sooner. I think we can call the war in Germany as over, right?
I also want to have US oil companies make the most money of any oil companies in the entire world. Stop the Obama administration's war on energy, including ridiculous new punitive policies on coal, natural gas, and oil exploration.
Finally, dump all subsidies for everything including corn ethanol so that market forces, not politicians, are determining what Americans pay.
Do what the people do overseas and set fire to a refinery or two in protest. That should get some attention. Make wood alcohol from the left over stalks not using the actual corn?
Until we get Wall Street, Big Oil and Big Ag out of Washington, we will be giving a chunk of our earnings to them, and we will not know what we are really paying for oil or corn.
A semi-free market is killing coal: natural gas is much better for generating electricity, and it's the cheapest it's been, probably ever. It would probably be more dramatic, but it takes time to convert from coal to gas.
In the medium term, smaller gas fired power plants can be located nearer the user, reducing line losses you have with remotely located coal, hydro and nuke.
Photovoltaic on the rooftop is best of all.
rdr
Elect me President and I'll cut the price of gasoline and diesel by at least half on the day after the inauguration. All it will take is a single administrative order stopping the export of fuel. It just so happens that fuel is our number one EXPORT commodity. Commodities will go down, transportation will go up, businesses will expand, people will go back to work and have more money in their pockets to foster new businesses. And THAT will increase the Treasury without a single dime increase in taxes.
On the second day; I'd suspend the excise tax, close the borders and turn immigration enforcement over to the states since they are directly affected by illegal immigration without receiving federal monetary support. Immigration Fees collected by ICE will be shared equally with the sponsoring or resident state.
On the third day; I'd stop all subsidies to foreign companies and subsidies for products other than human food.
On the fourth day; I'd remove the restrictions on purchasing foreign drugs if any US drug company obtains any of the ingredients for drugs outside the US.
On the fifth day; I'd order any federal law that affects the general citizens of the US to apply equally to all citizens including members of Congress and without ANY exclusions or waivers.
On the sixth day; I'd scrap the IRS tax code and order a flat-tax of 3% on gross income. No deductions or exclusions for any entity.
On the seventh day; I'd go for ride or work on my Model T.
Read this forum long enough and you'll have all your questions answered.
#1 I'm voting for Ken!!!
#2 I always wondered why the paint keeps disappearing from the the eaves at my home. From now on I'm watching for the next door kid! Thanks Frank!
#3 Now if I could just figure out if water pumps or hot air pipes work on model Ts
I'm glad I didn't start this but cannot help but comment. Yes, my sediment bowl gaskets go nuts with the eth. Only ones that will stay are paper. Here in E TN we have people who actually believe you can plow, cultivate, plant, cut, bale and haul to market switch grass that will make more fuel that it takes to grow it.
Figure that one out. (ans: our tax money making up the difference)
Seeing as the free market is such an amazingly good thing, have you bloke considered scrapping the subsidies paid to American farmers... I hear there are a lot of them who will do very nicely this year owing to drought and the lucrative "crop insurance" that the government pays for.
???
Jim - glad to see that you can see through the smoke screen. It would seem that the "greenies" think you can take corn and make ethanol and still have cow feed left. While there is a little bit of truth in it, the facts are that the "distillers dried grain" that is left is only a small fraction of the corn that they started with and not even very good feed as it's pretty poor quality protein and good only for ruminants.
The whole smoke screen with ethanol reminds me of the folks that were going to put a gallon of water in the trunk and use the electricity from the generator/alternator to separate the hydrogen from the oxygen, feed it to the carburetor and increase your mileage. Phooey. I guess the world will always have the con-artists.
Kep,
We have seen documented here what damage ethanol can do to certain materials that we find in our old cars. You have no idea what damage we would see if they used methanol (wood alcohol) instead of ethanol. Most owners' manuals for modern cars warn against the use of any methanol.
Roar
There was a time when agricultural subsidies had a purpose, it was to keep the family farms from going under in bad times, the payments not to grow were to insure that the US always had cheap food. Unfortunately, the mega corporations have figured out how to farm the government , and they make a big profit from the subsidies with out benefiting the American public. As a farmer, I would like to see the free market system in place for farmers, but as an American, I would like to see a stable supply of cheap food. The problem is, in the free market system, the only way a farmer can make decent profit is for people to starve some where. We hear a lot of talk in the news about hunger in America, but no one starves, most of the people who are shown on TV who are "going hungry" are obese, I am sure they are not starving, and that is what the subsidies were intended to do, keep people from starving.
By the way, I do not think that it was the alcohol that caused the gasket to swell, I think it was the gas, some rubber (or neoprene) will swell when it comes in contact with gas, as long as the glass is tight, is should not be a problem, but it the connection becomes loose the gasket can swell out of its position. I used to carry a spare gasket when I was a kid and moving wheel lines, if I had to drain water out of the sediment bowl, I would need a "dry" gasket to reassemble the system, and this pre-dated the use of alcohol in gas.
I'd throw that rubber one away and cut a new gasket out of cork Eugene.
Garnet
I wonder if fuel alcohol can be made out of the dried up corn caused by the drought? If so, that might be a good use for it, and save the remaining good corn for feed.
Ken, Where were you in the primaries? If you had run, I might have voted for you!
My only problem with the new fuels is that they seem to gum up carburetors. My chain saw and the gas air compressor were victims of that new fuel. Now I use an electric chain saw and air compressor and I cut weeds the old fashoned way with a hoe. But my Model T's won't run on electricity.
Norm
What is cork Eugene? A sub-species grown in a certain Oregon town?
As to the ethanol issue: I think someone posted this before but here it is again. If you're worried about E-whatever, find one of these near you and patronize it. If your car's doing fine on the stuff, don't bother.
http://pure-gas.org/
Hey RV,
That is a great link, thanks for posting it.
Norman,
I understnad that much of the corn in the drought areas are affected by versillium head blight, and that makes it usefull only for fuel.
Best
Gus
For about a month, I have had the gas line disconnected from the carburetor while running a gas line from a 2 ½ gallon auxiliary tank that I have installed in the back of my Depot Hack.
When I hooked back up… no gas flow. I sincerely believe that the float shutoff valve was stuck because of the air contact at the valve sealing point due to the idiot Ethanol content of the gasoline.
Being a new rebuilt carburetor I hated to tap on it too hard to try to free the valve. My rebuilt carb came from Langs. I failed to return it for a core refund within the 90 days but they gave me credit even in the 4th month. What a great company to deal with. But I am sure others would do the same thing.
Gene