2000 model Hyundai Lantra GLS 2.0 (G4GF) factory 5 speed manual. Fully optioned. Most things work...
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This is just my experience and observations. I try to avoid using E10 at all costs in my J2 Lantra wagon. And so far I'm glad I have after the problems I had to deal with when my son was handed my wifes' XD Elantra (2002). We bought a 2018 Kia Sportage and decided not to trade the Elantra as we thought it would be an ideal first car for him to learn to drive in. It had been off the road for 18 months and after a service I figured it would be good to go. It had been pretty reliable and the only things that had really taken it off the road while she had owned it was a cracked radiator and the clutch going out.
It developed an alternator issue (stuff happens...) and it was overcharging due to a bad internal regulator. A trip to a U-pull-it yard and a new battery and it started reliably. That first day after replacing the battery + alternator it wasn't playing ball during road testing. The fuel gauge was showing low/empty so I grabbed a fuel can and topped the tank up enough to do test runs. 10 litres of fuel and the gauge moved so that would be enough (I used 95 to give it a fighting chance). But the gauge would act erratic. At this point I thought 'faulty fuel sender' and decided to pull the pump which was an easy enough job to do. But upon cracking the seal to lift the pump out of the tank...
First thing I noticed was how rusty the pump shell and internal hard lines were. This was not a good sign. Second was the condition of the pump housing. It was heavily stained and appeared to be 'tacky' when I handled it. The plastic housing was dissolving. I already knew what the cause was. E10 absorbs water and isn't particularly friendly to some grades of plastic. Guys who tune their Nissan 350/370Z's to run on E85 will know to replace the pump housings and mounts with aftermarket anodised aluminium brackets after some particularly bad experiences with the plastic housings melting into the fuel tanks. The sender unit was in a mess too. The float arm was rusted and the contact potentiometer had corrosion on the face of it (the rust was jamming the arm preventing it from pivotting and a few spots on the contact were simply missing due to corrosion)
The pump I pulled from a wrecked Elantra was in perfect shape - like new. So my bet was the PO never or rarely used E10 in it. A pump swap and it runs properly now. My beef with E10 originally was how crap an engine would run on it especially if it's been sitting for a few days, but after seeing the long term damage I'm glad I stayed away from using this stuff. And a warning was issued to wifey not to cheap out on fuel as I wasn't going through this ordeal with the Kia.
It developed an alternator issue (stuff happens...) and it was overcharging due to a bad internal regulator. A trip to a U-pull-it yard and a new battery and it started reliably. That first day after replacing the battery + alternator it wasn't playing ball during road testing. The fuel gauge was showing low/empty so I grabbed a fuel can and topped the tank up enough to do test runs. 10 litres of fuel and the gauge moved so that would be enough (I used 95 to give it a fighting chance). But the gauge would act erratic. At this point I thought 'faulty fuel sender' and decided to pull the pump which was an easy enough job to do. But upon cracking the seal to lift the pump out of the tank...
First thing I noticed was how rusty the pump shell and internal hard lines were. This was not a good sign. Second was the condition of the pump housing. It was heavily stained and appeared to be 'tacky' when I handled it. The plastic housing was dissolving. I already knew what the cause was. E10 absorbs water and isn't particularly friendly to some grades of plastic. Guys who tune their Nissan 350/370Z's to run on E85 will know to replace the pump housings and mounts with aftermarket anodised aluminium brackets after some particularly bad experiences with the plastic housings melting into the fuel tanks. The sender unit was in a mess too. The float arm was rusted and the contact potentiometer had corrosion on the face of it (the rust was jamming the arm preventing it from pivotting and a few spots on the contact were simply missing due to corrosion)
The pump I pulled from a wrecked Elantra was in perfect shape - like new. So my bet was the PO never or rarely used E10 in it. A pump swap and it runs properly now. My beef with E10 originally was how crap an engine would run on it especially if it's been sitting for a few days, but after seeing the long term damage I'm glad I stayed away from using this stuff. And a warning was issued to wifey not to cheap out on fuel as I wasn't going through this ordeal with the Kia.
