Famous Mechanic Explains What E20 Petrol Does To Older Cars And Two Wheelers [Video]
In the last couple of weeks, we have seen several social media posts about the E20 or ethanol-mixed fuel sold via petrol pumps across the country. While many have complained about the drop in fuel efficiency and performance issues, here we have a video where a mechanic, who is popular on YouTube for creating content related to cars and maintenance, talks about how E20 petrol is affecting older cars and two-wheelers.
The video has been shared by Mukesh Chandra Gond on his YouTube channel. In this video, he talks about the issues that he has been hearing from his customers as a mechanic lately. He also explains the reason behind these issues and how to ensure that they don’t affect your vehicle.
He mentions right from the start that the E20 fuel is one of the major reasons why he has been getting so many complaints from car owners lately. One out of three cars that arrive at his workshop have issues like reduced fuel efficiency and performance drops. He says that no matter how hard he tries to fix an issue, the customer is always left unsatisfied as they feel their car isn’t performing the way it used to.
The ethanol-mixed petrol is the major cause of this issue. He demonstrates the hygroscopic nature of the E20 fuel. He takes a bottle of E20 fuel and pours a small amount of water into it. The water and the fuel mix thoroughly and within minutes, more water starts separating from the ethanol. The ethanol attracts moisture, separates itself from petrol, and settles at the bottom of the fuel tank.
The mechanic says he has been seeing this issue in cars that have been parked at one location for a very long time. The quality of the fuel deteriorates and the car refuses to start. When he inspected the cars, he found that the fuel tanks in most of them had rust and the fuel had also gone bad. This is because the ethanol in the fuel attracts moisture and causes the metal parts inside the tank to rust.
Apart from the tank, the fuel lines also get rusted. He also mentions that the fuel pump and the high-pressure pump in turbo vehicles also go bad because of small rust and metal particles entering them. He says that these issues are seen mostly in older cars that are not compliant with E20 fuel.
The mechanic also mentions that the fuel injectors on many cars have started going bad because of the poor fuel quality. Some of these parts are extremely expensive to repair or replace, and these issues will continue to happen again because the root cause is the fuel.
He advises customers to use their vehicles from time to time and also ensure that they get them serviced at regular intervals. He further suggests that upgrading a few parts like the injectors and spark plugs might improve the performance of older vehicles running on E20 fuel.