In chemistry, alcohol is an organic compound that occurs naturally on earth — and in space! I will not get into the scientific and technical aspects of the various types of alcohol, their chemical compositions or any other aspect they possess, with the exception of how we in the automotive fields are affected by them. Just keep in mind that alcohol contains carbon, hydrogen and oxygen molecules because I’ll be touching on how these relate later in this article (spoiler alert!) and that alcohol mixes well with oils (like gasoline) and it bonds to water.
Alcohol has many forms and many purposes; it can disinfect wounds, clean oils and greases from surfaces, can produce cooling effects through evaporation, it burns at relatively low temperatures, can sedate the person drinking it and the list goes on. Alcohol and its many variations (ethanol, methanol, etc.) have also been used as a motor vehicle fuel and as a fuel additive for decades. Ethanol (Ethyl Alcohol) is one byproduct of a type of fermentation. Most grains, fruits, flowers and some wood will produce some form of ethanol as they decay, but to do so, yeast must be present. Ethanol is the type of alcohol that is commonly used as a fuel additive. We’ll focus on that aspect in this article.
Throughout history there have been many who distilled alcohol for use as a fuel. It burns “cleanly” — meaning it produces little to no soot — and almost completely*. It’s been used to fuel furnaces, boilers, steam engines and almost from the time cars were mass produced, those too. Sometimes alcohol is blended with other things like when it’s used to propel rockets, for example. Top Fuel dragsters and funny cars use a blend of alcohol (Nitromethane) to produce well over 7,500 horsepower!
In the past few decades, federal laws went into effect, which forced gasoline manufacturers to include up to 10 percent alcohol in the motor vehicle fuels sold to the general public. At the time, the United States relied heavily on foreign-supplied crude oils, and the federal government felt we could reduce that dependency by blending alcohols with the final product. Yes, there were (and still are) numerous arguable points regarding the laws, which I will not delve into on these pages. The fact remains: we were introduced to a whole new world of diagnosing alcohol-related problems immediately upon implementation, problems that didn’t exist before the laws.
Alcohol "poisoning?"
Prior to the introduction of alcohol-blended fuels, it was rare to find cars exhibiting the adverse symptoms of “alcohol poisoning” that became commonplace afterwards. The first cars I dealt with arrived in the service bays sporadically and had little if anything in common, so it was perplexing each time one would arrive. In the end, they all did have one thing in common though — a thorough questioning of the owners after each of their repairs revealed the same reason for the failures.
Most of us had no idea what to expect when alcohol blends were first introduced. The automobile manufacturers had done some tests, but for the most part their publicized reports included warnings of decreased mileage per gallon and little else. Some in the scientific communities knew to expect more than that. Almost everyone who worked on anything that used motor fuels, however, was poorly prepared for what rapidly developed into some catastrophic and expensive damage to fuel-related components.
Once alcohol-blended fuels appeared on the scene, large numbers of cars with fuel leaks started appearing in the automotive repair shops. Lots of cars started leaking raw, unburned fuel. Initially, that was the only indication that something had changed. We repaired them using what we’d always stocked and usually within a few months, the owners would return with the same complaints. It didn’t take long before we knew there was a chemical reaction taking place and that we had to adapt to our changing environment. Shame on us for not reading the current Motor Age magazine issues at the time!
There were the cars that either ran poorly or not at all. The vinyl, rubber and neoprene components that were exposed to fuel or its vapors were disintegrating! Some items crumbled, some turned to “mush,” yet others swelled much larger than designed. In every case, all became unusable. I’m referring to fuel cap seals, fuel tank and pump hoses, fuel pumps themselves, vacuum lines, carburetor seals and accelerator pumps (I may have just lost some of the younger generation – sorry!), even vacuum brake boosters failed regularly prior to the introduction of ethanol. Most air conditioning systems at the time were controlled using vacuum motors and valves. Yes, those failed as well because of the exposure to the fuel vapors in the intake manifolds, from where their source of vacuum originated. All of the failing items contained some amount of carbon and were broken down when introduced to alcohol.
With the advent of ethanol-blended fuels, everyone suffered an incredible financial burden; we had to replenish our complete inventory of bulk fuel and vacuum hose, the carburetor kits that didn’t include the “new” Viton accelerator pumps and seals were suddenly obsolete, as were the fuel pumps we stocked! Huge numbers of fuel filters and gas caps had to be disposed of or else we were potentially liable should a leak occur on an item we sold.
Lots of other industries started seeing problems and at first, like us, didn’t understand what was happening and why. The power equipment manufacturing and repair industries are a good example. Those businesses were suddenly inundated with everything from lawn mowers to snow blowers that were leaking fuel and not running well, if at all. Whether they were two stroke or four, every piece of equipment failed in one way or another. I suppose one could say it was good for business, but I’d argue it was horrible for the consumer.
The impact today
Let’s fast forward to modern day. We’ve had alcohol-blended fuels for going on 30 years now so all the problems we saw are gone. Am I right? Well, not all of the alcohol-related problems are gone, but there are very few alcohol-related leaks anymore. The problems I am seeing are with diagnosing “alcohol poisoning.” I call it that because a little alcohol is alright, but the systems cannot compensate when there is too much. Cars are sortWhat are the symptoms of too much alcohol in the fuel? That depends on the vehicle design. The US uses Gasohol (maximum of 10 percent ethanol) and E85 (85 percent ethanol) ethanol/gasoline mixtures. Flex-fuel vehicles in the US can run on 0 percent to 85 percent ethanol (15 percent gasoline), so it’s hard to “poison” an E85 car. If you put 85 percent alcohol in a car not designed for it, you will have dramatic results. It is relatively easy to diagnose the catastrophic mistakes like that, but the cars with “slightly” more than a 10 percent blend are far more common and those are much more difficult to accurately diagnose.
Because the modern computer systems are able to compensate so well for almost any mechanical wear of engine components, we diagnosticians tend to try and eliminate those as causes of the typical complaints you will receive when a vehicle’s been poisoned. They’re similar causes of poor performance, poor mileage, rough start, no start, rough idle and MIL Illuminated complaints.
It cannot be stressed enough how vitally important a thorough customer analysis questionnaire (call it what you will) is, especially when it relates to this type of requested repair work. There is a possibility of wasting a lot of time unnecessarily without good information. Your questionnaire should include questions like “Do you get fuel at the same location all the time?”; “What octane rating do you use?”; “When was the last time you refueled?”; “Did this problem develop after a refueling?”; and “Do you use any fuel additives?” among others.
As a tech, in most cases we would address those complaints head on, just like we’re taught, whereas when armed with the right answers, my diagnosis may start at another point in my routine. This is not so we can circumvent the typical initial analysis phase of the diagnostic routine; it’s simply to provide us with better direction. We still need to begin our analysis with a verification of the customer complaint, a thorough visual inspection, a review of the scan data and DTCs, maybe a functional test of systems that have set DTCs, etc. We should also review the repair and maintenance records to also help guide our diagnosis.
Dealing with the cause
I know many a good technician who has been befuddled by the seemingly nonsensical scan data he/she observes on the vehicles that have slightly more than 10 percent ethanol. Those customer complaints can be caused by so many things! But wouldn’t it be irresponsible for us to jump to any conclusions that are mechanical in nature, no matter how possible it seems that they would cause the complaints, without performing an alcohol content test on the fuel system? How embarrassing would it be if you put cam phasers, did a throttle body and induction system cleaning, serviced all the filters, replaced the spark plugs and still had the same problems? Not just embarrassing but how can we charge the customer without actually addressing their complaint?
The alcohol content in fuel cannot be seen or smelled. The test isn’t usually time-consuming, and it is 100 percent accurate! That alone should perk your attention! But wait — there’s more! The test kits are very inexpensive and readily available. Whether you purchase a graduated beaker or even a fuel analysis vial or you use a glass or plastic bottle, jar or similar container, the important part of testing for alcohol content is accuracy.
I use both a 100 ml graduated beaker along with a stopper, which fits the top that I bought from a pharmaceutical supply company (around $22, also available at your local drug store) and I have the “Tiny Tester Alcohol Content Tester” I got from www.tinytach.com (P/N: DTI-66, less than $10). Your test involves precisely filling 90 percent of the measured area of the container with a sample of the fuel from the vehicle. Then you add 10 percent of the measured area with water (for the alcohol in the fuel to bond with). If you are using something like a 12-ounce bottle that once contained a liquid, I suggest you fill it with 9 ounces of fuel, add one ounce of water. In all cases you should have some air at the top of the container.
You cap the container, shake vigorously for a few seconds and wait a minute. Then carefully vent off whatever pressure may have built up and shake it again for a few seconds. All you have to do now is wait five minutes then observe the fluids. There will be a separation line formed where the gas is “floating” on the water. Wherever that line is helps you determine the amount of alcohol in the fuel.
No, it’s not magic! The alcohol that was in the fuel will bond with the water (remember earlier I mentioned the alcohol has hHowever, if there is more than 10 percent alcohol in the fuel, that additional amount would be indicated as a higher separation line where the gas floats on the water! A 15 percent content would show a line less than 24ml on my beaker. An 80 percent content (as I have seen when someone used the E85 pump to fill their tank accidentally) will show a line at the 82 ml mark. It’s that simple!
Oh, you’re wondering what the first vehicles I’d encountered — the ones that had alcohol poisoning well before alcohol-blended fuels were mandated — had in common. Okay, here’s the explanation. After replacing the damaged components and questioning the owners, it became obvious they typically shared a common Saturday ritual. They all watched motorsports throughout the day on TV.
I never realized how many commercials advertised fuel additives on Satur-RACE-day! Those commercials usually had some famous racecar driver(s) proclaiming, “Yup, they’ll clean your combustion chamber, get you gobs more mileage, you’ll see a huge performance increase…” Well, I found out all those sick cars owners had (ab)used fuel additives!
Can you guess what the primary ingredient of most fuel additives is?
All those sick car owners must have had another commonality — that they all ignored directions! Most of the additive bottle’s instructions for use read something like “add six ounces to 20 gallons of fuel.” It seems they thought if you’ll get good results with a little bit of additive, then won’t you get great results with a lot? You got it right! They poisoned their cars so badly that the alcohol content created catastrophic failures in anything the fuel or its vapors could touch. I heard similar stories from folks in colder climates regarding “dry-gas” fuel additives.
The sad part is this still occurs today! You’ll see them in your service bay soon if you haven’t already! Just remember to incorporate a fuel/alcohol content test in your initial analysis so you won’t misdiagnose the customer complaints.
Factoid: The world’s leading producer of ethanol is Brazil, where more than 20 percent of Brazilian cars are able to use 100 percent ethanol as fuel!
*(From Wikipedia): Ethanol combustion in an internal combustion engine yields many of the products of incomplete combustion produced by gasoline and significantly larger amounts of formaldehyde and related species such as acetaldehyde. This leads to a significantly larger photochemical reactivity that generates much more ground level ozone. These data have been assembled into The Clean Fuels Report comparison of fuel emissions and show that ethanol exhaust generates 2.14 times more ozone as does gasoline exhaust.
