k-series and this new biofuel stuff

[zebedee]

Just read the article on the front page today and no mention of rover engines (though land rover says all post 1996 petrol engines are fine, so hopefully that is a good sign...

Is anyone in the know?

[Scuffers]

zebedee said:

Just read the article on the front page today and no mention of rover engines (though land rover says all post 1996 petrol engines are fine, so hopefully that is a good sign...

Is anyone in the know?

it's not the engine that will be the problem per say, but the parts of the fuel system.

and no, I don't know the answer, at a guess I would suggest the pipework is probably OK, but I would not like to assume that for the pump.

[spiralp]

There is a link on the Biofuel thread http://www.flexfuelkit.com.au/articles/8/1/Can-my-... which suggests that we should not be using any biofuel in Rover engined Elises. Looks look it will be Super Plus from now on, even though there will be no performance gain.

[Flying Tommy]

Well, that's not entirely accurate. The table does not provide any information on the Rover powered Loti: there is no X nor a Check mark.

[zebedee]

Flying Tommy said:

Well, that's not entirely accurate. The table does not provide any information on the Rover powered Loti: there is no X nor a Check mark.

also isn't that talking about E85, the full-strength biofuel stuff, whereas we are talking about E10 (the minimum strength stuff)?

[Scuffers]

zebedee said:

also isn't that talking about E85, the full-strength biofuel stuff, whereas we are talking about E10 (the minimum strength stuff)?

No, E5 is effectively what we have now, the story is about this changing to E10.

E85 is another matter, most cars can't run it as they have no way of detecting the % of ethanol and thus adjusting the mapping to suit.

Also worth pointing out that E10 is not 10% by volume.

[spiralp]

Flying Tommy said:

Well, that's not entirely accurate. The table does not provide any information on the Rover powered Loti: there is no X nor a Check mark.

Then I must be reading the table differently to you. The first Lotus section lists Elan, Esprit (4 cyl), Elise (Rover eng), 340R, Exige (Rover eng) and Europa, and has a 'x' against both E5 and E10. The second Lotus section lists Esprit (V8 eng), Elise (Toyota eng) and Exige (Toyots eng) and has a tick against both E5 and E10.

[Alfa numeric]

Interesting- Rover engined Elises are shown as not compatible, whereas all MG (which must include the MGF) are compatible. Is there any difference between the K Series engines in the Elise and MGF?

[Thorburn]

Alfa numeric said:

Interesting- Rover engined Elises are shown as not compatible, whereas all MG (which must include the MGF) are compatible. Is there any difference between the K Series engines in the Elise and MGF?

It'll be down to things like the piping, fuel pump and seals.

[zebedee]

Alfa numeric said:

Interesting- Rover engined Elises are shown as not compatible, whereas all MG (which must include the MGF) are compatible. Is there any difference between the K Series engines in the Elise and MGF?

seems to be the fuel line and fuel pump that are the important bits. Then again, if I am using E5 (as I understand that I might be if that is what most forecourt fuel is) then I haven't had any problems, despite the table suggesting I would. If it is fuel lines and pump, surely these could be modified to suit it, which would probably be cheaper than running on 98 octane for the rest of the car's life (assuming it still remains available...)