I think the "car fire" thing is actually more dangerous from
the plastic fuel filters than from the garbage gas. From
personal experience I would warn all to NOT USE THEM under
any circumstance in any vehicle. Back in the 60s I traded my
car with a friend for two weeks to use his F150 pickup
camper to go out west trout fishing. We got as far as Brush,
CO and noticed smoke coming from under the hood and pulled
off the road only to find the engine in flames! After
dumping the camper, extinguishing the fire, and burning my
arm in the process - the culprit was discovered.
My friend had installed a plastic fuel filter that had
melted in the heat because it was too close to the exhaust
manifold and began feeding fuel to the manifold which
finally spread to anything that would burn under the hood!
Given the outside temperature was about 100 degrees, but it
was the filter that caused the problem.
After a two day delay, a hospital visit, a few hundred bucks
and a helpful Ford dealer we completed our trip.
Brian
Ben Deutschman wrote:
>
> David Grove Grove Automotive wrote:
> >
> > Hello all, Ben's letter is just a reminder that plastic fuel filters should
> > be avoided. I never would use them anyway, even before this "garbage gas"
> > was forced upon us.
> Reply: Plastic Fuel Filters should only be used on those vehicles that
> don't have a seriously crowded/compact engine compartment, where heat
> dissipation will be a problem. The Plastic Filter housing requires a
> generous amount of air space exist around it, in order to prevent
> melting the filter housing.
>
> > One other thing about this stuff we should be aware of
> > is it's expansion characteristics. NEVER fill your tank and then park >it
> > in a warm place (such as your heated garage in winter - or just "in >the
> > sun" anytime), you will find out just how much this crap expands when
> > warmed up - remember that the gas in the inground tanks is pretty cold
> > whatever the season.
> Reply: Good Advice folks, heed it!
>
> > These things along with some
> > deadly drivability characteristics should be brought to the attention of
> > someone who can do something about it. But I imagine the small number of
> > cars that suffer from this stuff precludes any really serious "action"
> > being taken.
> Reply: Small number my foot! If you listen to the news radio reports
> with any regularity, you will hear of a "Car Fire", virtually every
> morning. The problem is that John Q. Public rarely associates these
> fires with MTBE. The general public just doesn't realize, because they
> don't hear enough about MTBE's vehicle related side effects, that the
> marked increase in vehicle fires, has pretty much paralleled the
> increase in the percentage of MTBE in our motor fuels.
> > Regards,
> > DaveG.
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