Ethanol Fuel on Rotax?

[Turbo_Boss]

Hey guys, I am just curious......... Do you know if it posible to use ETHANOL fuel on Rotax 2 cycle engines?

Or have any of you has try it?

Here in my country, they are going to beguin to sell it at around US$1.50 a gallon.

Isaac

[Frank Probst]

Hello Isaac

Here in Canada we try to stay away from ethanol for use in our aircaft. This is getting harder and harder to do. Almost all of the fuel available has some ethanol in it.

Ethanol is alcohal. Alcohol absorbes water instead of seperating like it does with normal fuel. This is a huge problem for 2 strokes because your lubrication is in the fuel. Ethanol also makes it impossible to drain any water from the bottom of your tanks and it acts like a solvent for rubber fuel lines. Stay away from it if you can. especially if you are running a 2 stroke.

Does anyone from Canada know if there is still a source of non ethanol fuel around? I heard shell might still be ok but I'm not too sure.

Frank Probst

[smartfroggy]

Hi everyone, as far as i read, it is not a problem if you have an oil injected 2 stroke, something to do with the fuel being mix before or after the fuel is injected, not sure?? it is been a while since i read the article, therefore it is a problem with the fuel being mixed in the tank, for some reason????I am going to try to find the article again , and i shall pass on what i find out..

[Matthew Roung]

Hey guys, I am just curious......... Do you know if it posible to use ETHANOL fuel on Rotax 2 cycle engines?

Or have any of you has try it?

Here in my country, they are going to beguin to sell it at around US$1.50 a gallon.

Isaac

If you have a oil injection system, and all of your fuel system components are ethanol compatable, I would think the Rotax 2-stroke would work fine on ethanol. No, I'm not absolutely certain of that, and I haven't tried it. Couldn't see why not though. You would for sure have to go richer by quite a bit on your jetting.
-Matt

[tyro]

Shell V-Power is, thankfully, free of that nasty ethanol.
I predict that all grades of gasoline in Canada will be ethanol-free in five years because the world is going to need the corn that would otherwise be used in the manufacture of ethanol. Meanwhile Shell is the best bet.

[Matthew Roung]

Rather than run all across the country looking for ethanol free gasoline I find it much easier to just adapt to it. If a fiberglass tank, you could have problems, though not all fiberglass tanks would be effected. Keep an eye on it, inspect your fuel filters often. Ethanol won't hurt aluminum or poly plastic fuel tanks, most any good fuel line is ethanol-compatable (if clear, use tygon; if you don't mind solid, use black automotive fuel line) It can cause problems in pre-mix, if allowed to sit around. Ethanol mixes with water, and with gasoline, but gasoline does not mix with water. So keep fuel fresh and tanks full. With oil injection there is no problem the engine is always supplied with oil no matter what is going throught the carbs. As a bonus, if there is a small amount of water in your tank, it will be absorbed by the ethanol and burned in your engine. You probably won't even notice. Much better I think than to have water collecting in various nooks and crannies in your tank just waiting to make your engine stop just when you need it most...like on a panic go around or something.

Tyro -- 5 years time there will be plenty of ethanol around, it just won't be corn based. Besides, there may not be any gasoline (or affordable gasoline) left to mix it with anyways!

-Matt

[Frank Probst]

I just notices one of my tanks leaking at the drain valve. I had been using sunoco fuel which has a lot of ethanol. The valve is leaking because the rubber O-ring was partly dissolved. Also I noticed the rubber seals in my tank caps are starting to crack. This is a brand new airplane. I found out sunoco has one of the highest ethanol contents. Now I'm getting fuel from shell.

Frank Probst

[Matthew Roung]

I just notices one of my tanks leaking at the drain valve. I had been using sunoco fuel which has a lot of ethanol. The valve is leaking because the rubber O-ring was partly dissolved. Also I noticed the rubber seals in my tank caps are starting to crack. This is a brand new airplane. I found out sunoco has one of the highest ethanol contents. Now I'm getting fuel from shell.

Frank Probst

Or, you could just get neoprene o-rings and seals.
-Matt