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Hey guys just a quick question. I have been running the ethanol fuel from the united service stations while I have been in Queensland and NSW and perhaps by coincidence the car has started to smoke a bit about 2 min after starting and for about 10 minutes after driving and then it clears up. The car is a gt forester so it needs the 95 or more octane and apart from the smoke it's running fine. Could this be related.?

Dave

dunno about blowing smoke but my car hates the stuff. I dont run ethanol fuels at all if i can help it.

run 3-4 tanks of some good PULP (optimax, vortex, ultimate etc) and prove your own theory

Indonesian fuel maybe that far up QLD?

Sounds like it to me Dave.. if everything else is the same

I doubt that 10% ethanol in the fuel will cause smoke.

I run E91 in my car (01 Outback) all the time, ive never noticed any ill effects, i even used to run E95 in my EA82T wagon.

If you do wish run ethanol fuels in your Foz, id suggest E95 or E98.

Smoke on startup is more likely to be caused by a bit of blowby oil accumulating in your TMIC and trickling through the throttle body.\

Is it oil smoke?

Gday there dave,we ran that ethenol mix in our forestor gt .I believe from memory its 94 octane,and it ran it without out any problems.They recomend min of 95 but it made no difference to ours at all.

My 03 XS Forester runs like a sick dog, it had no guts in the hills, much slower to accelerate, only ever used it once and never again.

Suparoo wrote:Smoke on startup is more likely to be caused by a bit of blowby oil accumulating in your TMIC and trickling through the throttle body.

Is it oil smoke?

Alternatively it is over-fuelling &/or running rich. Maybe a dirty injector isn't seating correctly and is dribbling fuel. A dirty blocked air filter? An issues with the air fuel mix and the idle settings? 10 minutes is a long time to be blowing oil smoke.
What colour is the smoke?
Blue grey is oil.
White is unburnt fuel or moisture, it's fairly easy to tell the difference.
Black is over-fuelling but burnt, you see it mainly with diesels.

Q: Can I use ethanol blended fuel in my Subaru?
A:

All Subaru Impreza, Forester, Liberty, Outback and Tribeca vehicles produced after model year (MY) 1990 with the exception of Liberty B4, Liberty GT 2.0 and the Impreza WRX STI 99MY to 05MY are able to operate on a maximum of 10% Ethanol Blend (E10).

All Model Year Liberty B4, Liberty GT 2.0 and Impreza WRX STI 99MY to 05MY models may experience starting and / or driveability concerns if Ethanol Blended fuel of any level is used and therefore we do not recommend use.

The 06MY and 07MY Impreza WRX STI are able to operate on Ethanol Blended fuel up to a maximum of 10% Ethanol (E10).

The 07MY Liberty GT 2.5 can operate on ethanol blended fuel up to a maximum of 10% Ethanol (E10).

For all other Subaru vehicles including but not limited to ‘L’ Series and Brumby FHI has no test data for these vehicles when operating on Ethanol and therefore we cannot recommend its use.

Important

Because FHI has no test data on Ethanol blends greater than 10% we do NOT recommend using fuel containing greater than 10% Ethanol. Ethanol blends greater than 10% may cause driveability problems and / or operating system component parts failure such as:

• Fuel line (hose, injector-sealing, delivery pipe, pump, regulator)
• Exhaust (catalytic converter, EGR, Muffler)

Failures and or drivability issues caused by greater than 10% ethanol use and or fuel not meeting the minimum standard prescribed in the owners handbook will not be covered by warranty.

I found that on a subaru site. http://www.subaru.com.au/main/faqs/?faq ... 9613186AAB

Here is another one i found.

Default 2000 Forester GT manual on E10 fuel


Hi, just joined this forum and thought I'd share some info I found on the N.Z. Subaru web site, looks as though I can run my MY00 Forester GT on E10 because my VIN starts with JF2, what do you guys think?
Cheers George


>Quote: from Subaru NZ
IN SUMMARY

DO NOT USE Ethanol Blended Fuel – E5 or E10 if your car is:

• A Subaru with VIN Number that starts with 7A8
or
• Second hand Japanese imported Subaru
or
• A New Zealand New Subaru that is any of these models:
- Legacy RS, Legacy GT, Legacy GTB, Legacy RSK and Legacy Blitzen
- Impreza STI
- Forester STI

Your car CAN USE Ethanol Blended Fuel – E5 or E10

• Only New Zealand new Subarus models 1990 onwards with a VIN number beginning with JF1 or JF2 may use E5 or E10 blended fuels

Note: The VIN number is a 17-digit number that can be found at the bottom of the central door pillar on the passenger’s side of the car or in the engine bay.
end quote:<


Here is a link to the NZ page
http://www.subaru.co.nz/About_Subaru...p?article=1061

Excellent find there Rick.. I'm now convinced this is your problem Dave. Grab a bottle of fuel cleaner and a full tank of 98RON (try and empty all that other fuel) and see how it goes.

n.b. GT Lib & GT Foz are almost the same engine.

I have been using "Fuel Doctor" since getting back from Cape york to try and get all the crap out of my fuel system. Seems to be doing an excellent job so far. $13 a bottle from supercheap

yeah im thinking along that same lines as you RSR my car hates anything less then 95ron, i know its more expensive dave but if you towing a camper with the GT i would be nothing but 98!!!

bryan

Ive used E10 fuel in my Liberty - just simply not worth running as if you do maths, you're paying more on E10 fuel than normal unleaded. It is 94 octane but some servos placed stickers that its 95 octane but really it is 94.
We have 100 octane in Point Cook United Fuel, its E10 as well - Again uses more than 98 octane.
Cheers
AP