Re: rec tech mower

On 4/13/2025 10:02 AM, Shadow wrote:

On Sat, 12 Apr 2025 07:45:49 -0500, AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
 

Ethanol is food for bacteria which make a biofilm goo in all
the hard to reach passages and ports.  The extra water from
condensation only speeds that process.

  I once owned a 1988 FIAT Premio. Alcohol only. Sold it with
420.000 Km on the clock. I never had the engine "done". Ethanol burns
cooler and cleaner than gasoline.
Spark plugs changed every 10.000 Km looked new. Probably the
best car I've ever owned.
Now they're all "Flex". You can fill up with, say, 30 liters
of ethanol and 10 liters of gasoline, and the onboard computer will
figure out timing etc. And of course, they don't have carburetors
anymore, not sure there is anything to clog up.
I remembered, there is. In winter you need to use gasoline to
get the motor to start. So there is a 1 liter container of gasoline,
and it's injected when the computer decides it's too cold for ethanol.
You are supposed to replace the gasoline every year, but my wife
always forgets(her car is flex, but she uses mostly pure ethanol), so
I have to de-clog it once a year.
That might be a problem in cold places. Where I live it's
rarely sub-zero. Maybe once or twice a year.
[]'s
  PS Ethanol is much cheaper than gasoline. In the olden days
I'd buy it directly from the local distillery, tax free, so even
cheaper. Had to take 200 liters of plastic containers, that's the
least they'd sell "on the side".

+1 yes, Brasil has the world's most developed system for ethanol autos, very high volume.
in re cold conditions, we're significantly colder here. I can recall helping friends with diesel autos and pickups in bitter cold weather (-20, -25F) as their fuel solidified in the fuel lines at those temps.  Backing a Corvair to it with bike carton cardboard sheets all around will warm the fuel lines enough to start it.
I understand that winter blend diesel now has additives for that problem.
--
Andrew Muzi
am@yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971