What examples of Mk1 owners have you read have been affected? Mk1 owners who have actually used this fuel (and with higher ethanol contents) have reported no problems despite several years of use, and extended storage of the cars. If you live on a small island, maybe you might want to think twice before laying the car up for winter with a full tank. But who would do that anyhow?
A couple of articles I read said that cars built after 1996 were designed with ethanol fuel in mind. Cars before 1996 were not, and components in fuel pumps, O ring seals etc. are likely to be affected, as are some components with brass and aluminium content. Whether this is true or not I simply do not know. Am I reading the forecasts of the prophets of doom and gloom, or the truth? Very probably a mixture of the two! Just trying to make some kind of sense of the whole thing.
Regards Geoff Peace.
Get on to miataforum, and ask the question of Miata owners in the US, who can report real life experiences of older Miatas, with 10, 15, 25% Ethanol for several years now; they have exactly the same rubber parts in their engines as we do. Same prophets of doom over there, none of whom have been proved right. Ultimately, there might be a reduction in the service life of the hoses, but no one has reached it yet.
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=444522
The issue is not that pre-1996 cars will fall apart because of ethanol, but that mazda has not conducted testing, and so cannot give a corporate-lawyer approved reply. The Mazda part numbers for parts on a 1996 MX5 are the same as for a 1995 MX5. Real world testing suggests that actual line modification is only needed when you move to E85 fuel (85% ethanol!); even then, there are US Mk2 owners who are happily using E85 without issues. People often mix up E15 with E85. And think of all those people filling up with Super Unleaded from Tesco for years etc (octane boosted using 5-10% ethanol, maximising profit). Not only that, in the US, winter fuel blends have increased ethanol content, and it turns out the producers have been playing a bit fast and loose with ethanol content; often taking E10-labelled fuel to E20 without the customers’ knowledge.
A more realistic fear is that water absorption reduces the octane of stored fuel. E10 is supposed to have a shelf life of 90 days. After 100 days, phase seperation of the petrol/water layers occurs; in pure petrol, this is not that big a problem, since the fuel pump pick up is far below the surface. However, ethanol is added to increase the octane rating; it extracts into the water phase, effectively lowering the octane rating of the petrol phase. This will impact on owners who store their cars for long times with fuel in the tank. Corrosion due to the water absorption is reported to be a problem in outboards; these are in conditions unlikely to be found in a MX5, so fuel tank corrosion is unlikely to be an issue. There isn’t at present a suitable fuel stabiliser, which would suit owners who store the cars. Best advice to them; store the cars with a near empty tank, and when taking it out, add fresh petrol using a jerry can. In a way, its just an additional fluids change as part of the spring service; if you are ■■■■ about it, the tank can be easily drained, via the drain plug. I can’t think of any petrol stations keeping petrol in their tanks for anywhere near this time length.
I see the E10 debate has come back to life in the UK press.
I did a little reading earlier on the subject.
From what I could see:
- Does not affect MX5 mk3 cars and newer
- For older mk1 and mk2, prolonged usage with E10 will result in eventual failure (circa 2-3 years) of fuel lines, injector seals and fuel pumps
Assuming the above is true (and please correct me if I’m wrong), then it looks like we need to understand the solutions and costs for the above.
As it happens, I talked with my local indy today ref MOT and breached the subject. When I take the car in, I’ll try to get an idea of rough man hours to replace the injectors and fuel lines.
E10 has been used in Europe and US for years; Colorado long before anyone else. No Miatas catching fire.
As I said 6 years ago, if you want real world experience, ask American owners. Over 60% of fuel in Finland I see is now E10, and its the top selling blend in France. 98% of US petrol is E10 (they’re talking about E15 and E20). Since 2005, all US petrol must be at least 10% ethanol. There are many hundreds of thousands of Miatas there, with 13 years running on this fuel with no measurable side effects.