[FWDLK] Ben's Automotive Newsletter, #7

["Ben Deutschman" <rosedeu@xxxxxxxxx>]

10-8-99

To All Concerned:

        Please take a moment to read the "Newsletter" which appears below, the
content could help prevent a tragedy.

                                Ben Deutschman

                                BEN?S AUTOMOTIVE
                                NEWSLETTER, #7
                                
                                MTBE STRIKES AGAIN!


        Well folks, it seems that the deadly scoundrel, known as MTBE almost
claimed
another victim.
        Recently I pulled my 1960 Plymouth into the garage after having visited
a local
area ?Cruise Night?, and proceeded to do a little quick engine
detailing. Upon lifting the
hood, I smelled the strong odor of raw gas, but wasn?t immediately able
to determine its
source. I went about my usual wiping of  the condensed oil vapor from
around the
?Breather Cap?, and wiped the other areas where I get a small bit of
ooze from around the
various gaskets on the car?s engine. Lo and behold, I finally noticed
that a date tag I had
put on the fuel filter, which I had mounted ahead of the fuel pump, had
partially come off
of the filter. So, I decided that I would simply try to get the label to
stick where it had
come off of. As soon as I reached under the filter to get one of the
loose ends of the label,
I realized where the raw fuel odor had been coming from. My hand
immediately had
gotten wet when I had reached under the filter, and sure enough that
wetness was from a
gasoline leak. Fortunately the leak wasn?t severe, and therefore, though
not safe to ignore,
it wasn?t an immediate threat. Of course the filter had to be replaced,
and when I removed
the old filter, I inspected it to see where opening in it was. It turned
out that the seam
between the ?Outlet? end, and the body of the filter had opened up, due
to something
having softened the plastic body of the filter. Nothing like this has
ever happened before
the introduction of MTBE into our motor fuels, therefore I had little
doubt as to what the
cause of the filter failure was in this case, as in the filter was eaten
up by MTBE.
        If nothing else, my recent experience should serve as a stern warning
to all of you
out there to keep a constant and keen eye on the various components in
your vehicle?s fuel
system. The filter failure I just experienced, has been preceded by
numerous failures of the
rubber connectors in my Plymouth?s fuel lines, and a recent failure of
the gaskets between
the sections of the carburetor on the car, and in the case of the
carburetor, well folks,
we?re not talking about a carburetor that hadn?t been touched in ages.
So like I said,
please keep a close eye on the components in your vehicle?s fuel system.
As long as
MTBE remains in our motor fuels, all carburetor vehicles are subject to
problems such as I
have experienced with mine, and fuel injected vehicles aren?t immune
either. A few
minutes of your time, every so often, may well prevent a catastrophic
vehicle fire later on.
        Oh, and if my little story does one other thing, I hope it inspires you
to contact
your Congressman, and ask him/her to support Congressman Frank Pallone?s
bill,
HR-1750, which will ban the  use of MTBE in our motor fuels.