Re: [FWDLK] Ben's Automotive Newsletter, #7

["brians" <brians@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Interesting story and a lot of us can relate to its
potential devastating effects. 

Recently in my 63 Avanti, a similar raw gas smell caused me
enough concern to stop and check the source of the gas odor
- and it's lucky I did because my fuel pump had started
leaking and located just in front of and above the exhaust
manifold caused me a moment of terror!  The gas had been
dripping on the manifold and vaporizing (luckily for not too
long a time) and I was able to put some aluminum foil around
and under it to reroute the drips until I made it home. 
Sure enough the seals had evidently been dissolved by the
MTBE in the fuel.

Curiously, for some reason my 53 Starliner V8 has not had
any indications of fuel line problems with seals, gaskets or
lines! Everything is tight and dry.

Does anyone know if the early 50s cars used some other kinds
of rubber or additives to the rubber that has kept them
impervious to the newer fuels?

I haven't had any problems with my 57 Dodges either but be
assured that I am keeping a watchful eye on all of these
fuel systems for the 1st sign of any seepage.

Brian

Ben Deutschman wrote:
> 
> 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.