Methanol fuel contamination?

[sprintcar]

We run Methanol in the race car. Last year we had a very unusual condition. The in line filter would plug rather rapidly. There was NO visual indication of dirt or other debris. The only way find it was to blow thru the filter (Carefully). A good shot of Carb Cleaner and blowing it out with the air hose cleaned it, but it would foul again after about 10 gallons of fuel. Methanol is race grade in sealed drums, transferred to plastic 5 gallon jugs in the trailer.

Some of the possibilities I've heard are cotton fibers or varnish if the Methanol was recycled from washer duty. Another was if one of the anodized aluminum fittings was corroding internally, the oxide could be the culprit.

Any suggestions? Any place that could analyze the fuel?

Thanks for the help Keep the wheels on the ground
Bob
showshine@aol.com

 

[patprimmer]

It sounds like the so called "white rust" or aluminium hydroxide to me.
To my thinking, the rules for methanol fuel systems are:-
1) Keep the fuel sealed in a full container, so as to KEEP IT DRY.
2) Avoid useing aluminium in contact with the fuel if possible
3) KEEP THE FUEL DRY
4) If aluminium must be used, make sure it is anodised
5) KEEP THE FUEL DRY
6) A hydrometer can be used to test the fuel for water content.
7) KEEP THE FUEL DRY
8) Drain the system, every time, ASAP after racing, ie as you put it into the trailer. This is best done by shutting down the engine by running it out of fuel, or even switching to petrol and a bit of 2 stroke oil, so that the entire system is flushed of methanol, including pump, lines, nozzels, cylinders and ring lands.
The oil is another problem, but should be OK, so long as your oil temperatures are hot enough to evaporate the methanol off.
9) KEEP THE FUEL DRY
10) Dissasemble the filter, and inspect the residue under a microscope to see if it is short cotton fibre, or a white powder, or a transparent gel.

I fear that you are in iminent danger of a lean out, due to this contamination causing restrictions in the filter. This can burn large holes in your pistons, so KEEP THE FUEL DRY
Regards
pat

 

[sprintcar]

Thanks Pat!
Another question - should I worry about keeping the fuel dry.....
I keep the drum sealed, tranfer it into the 5 gallon jugs and immediately cap them, but we do get the 'southern humidity' in the fuel tank at the track. I'm looking at a pump system for this year to drain the tank at the end of the night, with a 10 micron filter in line.
We do use the VP additive for pump lube/anti-corrosion in the fuel. All the alumium is anodized, but this does erode internally. All new parts for this season.
The microscope idea is excellent and it must be the blond hair (what's left of it) that kept me from thinking of that. I've kept the filter intact so I can take a look.
Email me direct (below) with your address and I'll let you know what I see.
Thanks again!! Keep the wheels on the ground
Bob
showshine@aol.com

 

[patprimmer]

We get our fuel in 200 litre (44Gallon) drums and decant into 10 by 20 litre (Jim Beam)plastic drums. These have a good strong thread and a good gasket, as well as being antistatic, so as to reduce the risk of a spark starting a fire.

Brass or stainless steel fittings will work better, but don't look as good.

Do you run a plastic fuel cell?

My e-mail is patprimmer@optusnet.com.au Regards
pat

 

[cycle]

I know when we ran an alky injected funnybike I learned very quickly that color anodized fittings needed to be checked and cleaned often. As you probably know there is a big difference between color anodizing and Hard anodizing.We used as many hard anodized fittings and filter housings as we could from Hilborn and Kinsler and kept an eye on the other fittings for corrosion..Again, The hard anodized stuff we did use was a funky dull green/brown color,not the pretty blue and red...
Craig

 

[DinkerDOink]

I’m planning to use methanol on my fuel injected 2.0 4G63 Talon Engine. I’m already running a motec, could you advise me on the setup of this fuel’s fueling system and also how to handle it? Also if possible, the pros, the cons and the possiblities. Is this the best fuel for power ever?