Answers to your car questions

QUESTION

Hello Mr. O’Sullivan. I read your column weekly and was disappointed when I read the one that said that it was your last column but I was glad to see that it is back in the Spectator. I read your column last week about the ethanol being now added to hi-test gas and I have some concerns about using it in small engines. I have for years bought hi-test gas for all my small engines including riding lawn mowers, rototiller, grass trimmers, snowmobiles, etc. I had an older snowmobile that had all the fuel lines disintegrate and turn into glue. Apparently, I was told that it was due to ethanol in the gas. Will the same thing eventually happen to all the small engines? Thanks for any advice that you can offer.

Ben from Mount Hope

ANSWER

I also have been using the high-test gas for years simply because of the adverse effect that ethanol has on the small engine carburetor systems. Using the ethanol in the small engines, such as the lawn mower or gas edge trimmers over the summer, will most likely not cause a separation of the ethanol in the gas as you are using them every week. In the summer, you should be concerned about the snow blower and in the winter, you have to worry about any gas - powered summer machines that are sitting for months on end. The reason that ethanol does not affect the automobile as much is because they are generally used every day or every week, so the ethanol does not tend to separate from the gas. The other reason is that most automobiles have fuel pumps, which pressurizes the fuel to the engine through steel lines, which can stop any build - up of sediments. The small engines do not have fuel pumps and rely on a flow of gas from the gas tank by the vacuum created on the down stroke of the piston.

Without getting too technical and losing some of my readers, I will tell you what I do to my small gas-powered machines when I am storing them. While the machine is running, I shut the gas off and wait until the engine stops. I then remove the carburettor bowl and put the gas from the bowl back into the gas can and then replace the carburettor bowl. I then make sure that I shake the machine for about thirty seconds every two to three weeks to keep the ethanol in the gas tank from separating from the gas. I also do this with any gas left in the gas can or better still, put any gas left in the gas can into your car’s gas tank and get fresh gas when you need it. The fact about ethanol

is that it is hydroscopic and it will absorb water, even faster when it is separated from the gas.

PS: Some marinas sell ethanol-free gas for boats.

QUESTION

Dear Mr. O’Sullivan, nice to see you back on the pages of The Hamilton Spectator! A few years ago, I wrote the following letter to you but I never saw a reply. With your permission I am resubmitting it because this is very important to me. In 1997 I had my 1997 Grand Prix rustproofed with Petrogel non-drip oil spray and continued the annual treatments until I sold it in 2019. There wasn’t any rust on the car after 22 years but the rubber gaskets around the door handles had expanded and were hard. I did the same with my 2007 Grand Prix and it also didn’t have any rust when I sold it 14 years later but the rubber gaskets around the bottoms of the doors had expanded so that now they hang loosely. I now own a 2018 Nissan Altima but have been reluctant to have the oil spray applied due to its apparent effect on rubber but I cannot ignore the excellent rust proofing ability of the product. Can you please tell me if it is common for wax-oil sprays to be harmful to rubber? Is there an alternative, equally effective rustproofing product out there that will not harm the car over time?

Thank you. Steven from Burlington

ANSWER

Anything made of crude oil will over time affect the door weather-strips on the

car if not properly cleaned off after the application of any rust protection material. Neoprene rubbers can withstand oil products better than natural rubber but over time, even that type of rubber will succumb to the effects of oil-based products. It would appear that you have had great success at keeping your vehicle rust-free by using the Petrogel non-drip oil spray and I would not change that. Your door rubbers will not be affected by the application of this product as long as you clean off any oil overspray that has come in contact with them. Actually the applicator, of the Petrogel non-drip oil spray, should have made sure that they are the ones who completely cleaned the door weather-strips of any overspray of the product. The door rubbers will deteriorate over time on their own unless they are protected. One way to keep the door weather-strips and the rubbers around the door handles flexible is to apply a rubber protection product that you can buy at any automotive store. Do this once every four months in the winter and once every two months in the summer.

PS: I would like to at this time thank all my readers for their kind emails and for your encouragement to keep on helping those in need of advice and/or help with their automotive questions. I will try not to disappoint you. Dennis

To my readers: Please indicate the town, city or village that you live in. Be advised that unfortunately not all emails can be answered. Send your questions (including address) by email to: dennis.osullivan665@gmail.com