Forum:
Hello,
Has anybody tried to install biofuel conversion kit to your car?
I want to buy one for my car but I am not sure if it really works and if it worth it. Some websites say that bio ethanol is harmful for fuel system while other say it is not. Any suggestions?
Thank you in advance.
By the way car: daihatsu sirion. year: 2008. engine: 1,0 liter.
Ethanol is basically a form
Ethanol is basically a form of alcohol so before you begin i suggest you check if your vehicle is suitable for running such fuels. This data will be supplied from the manufacturer if you have your chassis/vin number.
Many more modern vehicles can run on ethanol, but it is the percentage it can run, basically these are 5,10,15,20,25, or 50% ethanol. Other vehicles are designed for 100% ethanol, so it is prudent to check before trying any conversion as you may be able to run on a percentage mixture.
What harm can it do???
A good question, and one with no single answer as it depends on many factors.
Fuel systems _ many use the fuel as the lubricant, this means all seals, hoses, and fittings are designed for petrol. Later model vehicles may have been upgraded in this area for running on a percentage fuel, or 100% ethanol.
Ethanol has a greater cooling affect than petrol, thus making solid parts contract more. This can lead to leaks on aluminium components as they contract more than seals or gaskets can cope with.
In general it can lead to other problems, these are mainly the loss of combustion temperature in a number of engines. This can increase certain emissions on certain engines and sometimes not allow them to run at their designed optimum temperature. This is due to the design of the injection system, it needs designing to run both petrol and ethanol to work effectively.
Fuel injection control systems such as the ECU and many sensors may not be programmed to run ethanol. This can cause other injection problems, again this can be remedied by reprogramming, or running a simple changeover switch and slave ECU.
There may be a number of other problems, these may be almost anything.
Now i have checked out your
Now i have checked out your vehicle, i can offer more specific advice.
Your injection pump is aluminium, ethanol over 10% attacks this and erodes it, so this would need changing. Alternatively it would need fully teflon coating inside, and all the sealing "O" rings replacing for a more suitable type.
Your fuel tank is not suitable for more than 10% ethanol, so again would need replacing. All your flexible fuel hoses would need replacing with a suitable type due to their construction material. In addition ethanol is very abrasive and would literally sand their way through ordinary steel fuel pipes. In time these would need replacing with stainless steel pipes.
Your engine has coated piston rings and valve stems, these would both be attacked and destroyed in the longer term. Replacing both these items would be a must to keep your engine reliable.
Your fuel injectors would need replacing for larger types, ethanol is more explosive than petrol but produces less power. This means using more fuel than with petrol. In addition there is the problem of finding ehtanol as there are very few retailers in the UK.
There is a myth that ethanol produces more power as it is more explosive, but it is just that, a myth, it produces less power. This is the reason more ethanol needs injecting into the engine as it needs more to counteract the lack of produced power. Hence larger fuel injectors.
If you do all this work and convert you will need a system with an extra content sensor. Basically this is a sensor which senses the exact amount of ethanol content in your fuel. This is required as due to its scarcity, youe vehicle would spend most of its time running on petrol.
Hope this helps.
Thank you
Thank you assassin for detailed answer. It was very helpful. I am not from UK, I live in Lithuania. There are enough bioethanol retailers but they can not answer if it is not harmful for my car (they just don't know). People who sell bioethanol conversion kits say that there is no need to change anything. They say that I need only 15 min to install conversion kit and that's all - car is ready to go. But now I see that is not true and it's not worth to spend money buying those useless kits.
Thank you once again.