NEAR-MISS FUEL FIRE IGNITES ETHANOL FEARS
Classic owners urged to check their cars after a ‘Landcrab’ with ruptured fuel lines is seconds away from going up in flames
Checking the internal condition of your classic car is now more vital than ever after a Wolseley owner discovered petrol spilling down the side of the engine block following ethanol degradation of the car’s rubber fuel lines.
The 1971 Wolseley 18/85’s owner, Rosie Hawtrey, says: ‘It’s only the fact that the engine never gets above 65˚C and all the electrics are away from the fuel side that it didn’t catch light. It’s a death trap.’
Ethanol is capable of breaking down compounds used in fuel hoses, especially when cars are left idle, leading to calls for classics coming out of winter hibernation to be checked with urgency.
FBHVC communications director, Geoff Lancaster, says: ‘It’s not the using of the fuel that is bad for the car, it’s standing with the fuel in the tank and in the lines.’
Classic owners are being urged to check the internal condition of their cars’ fuel lines when they wake them from hibernation, as an increased number of cars are being affected by ethanol degradation.
Petrol with up to five per cent ethanol content (E5) now makes up virtually all standard octane unleaded fuel sold at British petrol stations and is known to degrade rubber compounds previously used in fuel lines, particularly when cars are left unused.
Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs communications director, Geoff Lancaster, says: ‘It’s not the using of the fuel that is bad for the car, its standing with the fuel in the tank and in the lines. I’ve run a classic race bike on 85 per cent ethanol fuel with no problems – but I always drained the tank whenever it wasn’t being used. The newer the vehicle, the less likely it is there will be any issue, but owners of pre-war and mid-century vehicles do need to be mindful of this.’
Rosie Hawtrey bought a 1971 Wolseley 18/85 ‘Landcrab’ last month and believed that its fuel lines were in good condition following an external visual inspection. However, she later discovered fuel pouring down the back of the engine block because one of the fuel lines had ruptured.
She says: ‘It’s only the fact that the engine never gets above about 65 degrees and all the electrics are away from the fuel side that meant it didn’t catch light. What got me investigating was a pool of liquid under the car. It looks perfectly intact when you examine it, until you take it off the car and bend it. Then all you see is a forest of cracks. It’s quite literally a death trap.’
Roger Parker, technical advisor at the MG Owners’ Club, says: ‘ We’ve been telling our members to keep a close look on their rubber components and fortunately we haven’t heard of any disasters. I hope that we’re nipping the problem in the bud, telling members that they’re at risk if they can’t see a record of their car having had its lines replaced after 2010.’
While most modern classics are safe to use with five per cent ethanol fuel, even owners of cars built as recently as 2002 will need to be cautious with the use of 10 per cent ethanol petrol (E10), with this higher concentration able to corrode even their fuel lines.
Petrol companies have been permitted to sell E10 for the past two years, but there has been little to no take up because bio-ethanol fuel prices remain high. Geoff Lancaster says: ‘The price of wheat means there’s no economic case for E10 in the UK at the moment, but make no mistake, the price will come down and I expect the fuel companies will make the switch pretty quickly when it does.’