Fuel Mixture Ethanol/Alcohol as fuel

[FelipeCobu]

Hi folks,

Do someone tried to use ethanol as fuel for MB?

I know some Kart racers around here in Brazil are using ethanol on their 2 stroke engines, also there are special formulated oils to use with this fuel.

I can buy ethanol in every Station here.

What advantages/ problems and what will I have to mod to use this fuel?

Thanks

Felipe Cobu

 

[dodge dude94]

It runs hotter, is more corrosive, and yields less carbon, meaning less *BOOM!* per combustion cycle.

 

[FelipeCobu]

It runs hotter, is more corrosive, and yields less carbon, meaning less *BOOM!* per combustion cycle.

I don't think the corrosive factor would be important because the premix w/ oil.

The running hotter factor can be under control w/ ignition timing - compression rate - and Air Fuel Ratio.

If it runs hotter it means more not less BOOM per cycle, also it needs less air to burn, 14:1 on gasoline against 9:1 on alcohol.

 

[dodge dude94]

Run it if you wish.
But I would not recommend it.
I have a feeling bad things will happen.

 

[motorpsycho]

your engine needs to be set up with the right parts to run ethanol.
these little 2 strokes are not full race go kart engines.

 

[Mozenrath]

Has anyone actually tried running ethanol in a happy time engine? I keep hearing that it'll either wreck your engine or turn it into a bomb, but I haven't heard of any instances where this has actually happened. I'm not saying that anyone is wrong in saying that it won't work, but I'd like to know if it's been tried before.

I'm not sure what parts in our engines would be ruined by the ethanol. The fuel line can easily be changed to accommodate if necessary, and the only other thing I can think of that would be messed up would be the carb float. Otherwise, it seems like the only thing that would have to be changed would be the air mixture and possibly the timing.

Also, since when is carbon a good thing? I know that a certain amount of it will boost compression, but is it really bad for virtually none of it to be present?

 

[dodge dude94]

You need the right amount of carbon in your gasoline for the fuel to burn.
Too much and you foul spark plugs and have greater emissions. Too little and you yield less power.


At least that is what I have found, especially on a non-race engine.

 

[Mozenrath]

So what exactly is different about a racing engine that removes the need for carbon in the fuel? The Ford Model T could run on either gasoline or ethanol, so I am still not sure why our 2 smokers couldn't do the same(if modified).

 

[Mozenrath]

Just for the sake of the conversation, I found an article where a guy talks about getting a 2-stroke outboard motor to run on ethanol using purely synthetic oil(since apparently normal oil won't properly dissolve in ethanol).

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/06/columns/rob/maib2.htm

 

[IbedaYank]

I have a melted piston on a gt5 from doing this.
and a Clarke forklift that now will not start
somebody screwed up and dumped E85 in that stations tanks that does NOT
have any E85 pumps