Gasohol rant

 Hi folks!

I just immobilized my car. And it was quite easy to accomplish, read on:

My POS-Audi is supposed to work fine with E10 gasoline (with 10%
bio-ethanol, I think you guys call it "gasohol"). I never tempted fate
regarding this, but today it had to be. Was running out of gas and filled
in just 5 litres of E10. Started to run like crap right from the
beginning.

Limped to the next gas station that still had unleaded premium gas (no E10)
and added 45 litres of it. No luck. Doesn't pull above 1500 RPM, shakes
like a wet dog in idle. BUMMER!

Dumped the olympic nightmare into the underground garage and talked to a
kind lady from the Audi Hotline. She confirmed that my car indeed is
compatible with E10 and this seems to be a "very rare isolated case" not
known to mankind before, probably even some damage that was existent
_before_ I ran E10 and the gas just brought it up.

Yeah. Sure. That makes perfect sense. I was doing 200km/h literally
_SECONDS_ before I used E10 and immediately later, the car failed.

I'm afraid, this is going to cost me. Moral: Don't be a fool like me and
stay clear of that eco-booze while you still can.

Cheers,
Volker

--
@:  I N F O at B A R T H E L D dot N E T
3W: www.bartheld.net

 You are not alone.  We have an A4 "over there" and it always ran fine
on regular gasoline.  Your case is not the rare case.  Same thing
happened to us.  Ran like crap after using that stuff, which we bought
in Austria on our way back to Romania.  I was afraid we wouldn't make
it back.  Ended up draining the tank, putting in a few liters of
premium combined with palinka (what we call moonshine) and some fuel
injector cleaner.  It eventually cleared up.  The locals tell me that
palinka cures everything.

I did have to replace some type of idle control sensor not long after
that.

Good luck.  I know it was a huge pain in the butt for me.  Next time,
use real booze. (Sorry, had to say it)

John

 Hi John!


Yeah. I've heard a lot authorized repair shop folks using the "rare case",
"high mileage", "bad maintenance" excuse. That's why that kind of
warrantees are not even worth the paper they are written on.

From the symptoms I expect the exact same situation as you're describing.
Some kind of goo blocking one (or more) injectors. But I couldn't believe
that just 5 litres of gasohol/E10 would cause sh*t hitting the fan like
that. Well, I stand corrected.

Car is now at the repair shop, I gave them copies of the fuel bills and
Audis E10 clearance certficate and authorized investigations up to 300¤.
Which is about 400USD and a mere 10% of the money I wasted early this year
for a new gearbox which had the pleasure to explode after just 160'000km
(100mls) in a cloud of oily smoke and take the clutch with it.

You're already guessing it: A very rare and isolated case.


Let's hope that my locals know about that stuff and check the most probable
things first. I kept repeating the words "fuel injectors" and "fuel
filter". Maybe it worked.


This is probably some Euro-4 emission control device. My car is Euro-3 and
doesn't have this so called "Kaltlaufregler".

What it does have, is
- heated mirrors (new),
- 4 spark plugs (new),
- fuel pump relais (new),
- intake manifold valve (new),
- 2 coolant temperature sensors (new),
- coolant radiator (new),
- 4 ABS sensors (new),
- complete set of brake disks and pads (new).

Don't ask why I precisely know that.


Yeah. I already have blisters on my butt from all the pain this car causes
me...


*sigh* I was desperate. And payed the price.

Cheers,
Volker

--
@:  I N F O at B A R T H E L D dot N E T
3W: www.bartheld.net

 
10% ethanol? 90% pure gasoline?


sounds like a malfunctioning fuel injector


We run what you would call E20. In a couple months, the cane sugar
will be ready to be turned into ethanol and the gasoline would be the
E25, that's 25 ethanol. The cars drive just fine, plenty of Audis here
too.

One problem we have here and I am sure you don't have... not that
sure, you tell me: unscrupulous gas station owners mix other oil
derivations, contaminated dirty fuel and even water. When I hit a gas
station like that, I feel immediately, the car changes to worse and on
the extreme, what you describe could happen.

Have you checked your gas filter lately?
Good luck!

-- Tiago

 Hi Tiago!


Probably they are designed/modified (programmed?) to run with high
percentages of ethanol? Remember: My car ran 176'000km on straight premium
gas, then got 5 litres of E10 on a nearly drained fuel tank.


Wow! How cute!


Not yet and (if I remember correctly) not since 176'000km. Is it plausible
that a gas filter can fail from one second to the other, i. e. half a
kilometer after filling some E10?


Thanks. I'll need it. And a wallet full of money from Santa.

Cheers,
Volker

--
@:  I N F O at B A R T H E L D dot N E T
3W: www.bartheld.net