Got a flapper-valve problem? Could be the ethanol fuel
Ethanol fuel may be causing flapper valves on Ford vehicles to stick. A consumer auto-help column recently took on a question from an owner of a 1998 Mercury Mystique GS who was having problems filling up his tank. The responding technician said Ford sent out a technical service bulletin that suggested replacing flapper valve assembly. Apparently the flapper valve can stick due to swelling and distorting "when exposed to ethanol fuels." Let this be a lesson to those who think that an ethanol conversion is as simple as adding an auxiliary ECU controller that instructs the engine to pump more fuel because ethanol doesn't pack as much energy.
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[Source: Toronto Star]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jimmy 1:00AM (11/27/2006)
Gee, you are really working hard to be anti-ethanol fuel. The key word in the TSB is "may" :) Huge numbers of autos run on low level ethanol blends everyday without any problems. You then try to extrapolate a minor incident -- a defective part on an eight year old ford -- to question E85 conversion! Considering that as of Dec 2005 there were *two* E85 retail outlets in Canada (Toronto Star 17 Dec 2005), it is very unlikely that E85 had anything to with this story.
At this point I would estimate hundreds of people in the US have converted their non-flex fuel cars to run on high ethanol / gasoline blends and tens of thousands have done so in Brazil. There may be some minor problems.. even some major problems, such as fuel pump failure due to ethanol loosing up years of petroleum filth. However, the ethanol converts are generally all happy. The positive benefits of a clean, high octane, renewable, domestic fuel out weight the fairly minor risks.
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