Ok, I have a question on this..... I have been told that alcohols tend to clean metal surfaces and leave no oil residue behind, so in turn if you have a plain steel/aluminum surface it invites oxidation to occur since there is no protective barrier on the surface anymore. Gasoline on the other hand, even with a trivial (10% or less) of ethanol, still has enough petroleum distilates in it to provide a barrier on the steel/aluminum surface to prevent oxidation from occuring. This situation would be even more prevalant in the areas of the country north of the "rust belt" where the freeze thaw cycles would invite more moisture collection. So to be clear it's not the e85 that is corrosive, but how "exposed" it leaves the metal to oxidation.
So the first question is.... Whether or not alcohol based mixtures clean metal surfaces enough to promote oxidation? I honestly don't know the answer to this question 100%, I only know what I've read on the subject. Maybe someone here has some hard proof on this issue.
Originally Posted by PH04GTP
Ok, I have a question on this..... I have been told that alcohols tend to clean metal surfaces and leave no oil residue behind, so in turn if you have a plain steel/aluminum surface it invites oxidation to occur since there is no protective barrier on the surface anymore. Gasoline on the other hand, even with a trivial (10% or less) of ethanol, still has enough petroleum distilates in it to provide a barrier on the steel/aluminum surface to prevent oxidation from occuring. This situation would be even more prevalant in the areas of the country north of the "rust belt" where the freeze thaw cycles would invite more moisture collection. So to be clear it's not the e85 that is corrosive, but how "exposed" it leaves the metal to oxidation.
