Tech Q. relating to fuel.

[nigelred5]

I know that the teams used to "pickle" the engines with gasoline due to the corrision from Methanol when done running. Do they still do this or is it even necessary with the Ethanol they now run in Indycars.?

There's a discussion going on over on one of my VW boards discussing potential corrosion in Turbocharged aircooled VW engines and running 100% (ok 95%) Ethanol or even E85. I figured one of the team members over here could lend some insight as they are probably the most experienced in the world with turbocharged alky motors.

[JSH]

Methanol is alot more corrosive than Ethanol, which is probably why the indycar guys wanted to burn it out by running on gasoline.

Issues over running ethanol in Turbo Air cooled VW engines is most likely a separate issue. If the engine was originally designed for gasoline, with Ethanol not considered(or at least at high %), then they may have issues. Biggest problems will lie with rubber components like fuel hoses, O-rings, etc..

[nigelred5]

Yeah, we know how to deal with the injection and compression issues etc. but they are more concerned with not being sure long term with regards to the reaction of the Ethanol with the aluminum and magnesium etc. in the motors themself. A stroked turbo VW motor is a hand grenade as it is.

[JSH]

Long term you may have an issue with Aluminum and magnesium. Flex Fuel vehicles basically have bare Al and Mag eliminated. You may need to coat or electroplate these parts if you can't replace with other materials.

Also, due to Ethanol being conductive it acts as an electrolyte for corrosion which doesn't help, and speaking of being being conductive. Your fuel pump probably isn't designed for Ethanol so if due to it pumping a conductive fuel, it creates a spark.... well... run.

BTW : I found this link. Looks right up your alley...

http://terrasol.home.igc.org/alky/alky-preface.htm