We stay and ride in the country of India, and I am pretty sure everyone here must have had their share of experience with adulterated fuel. Not only does adulterated fuel cheat our pockets, but it also cheats our vehicles and ends up costing us more than we expect through higher maintenance cost and deterioration of the engine. But that is not it; today we are going to discuss what effects adulterated fuel has on our bikes.First and foremost, adulterated fuel starts eating into our bike’s fuel tank. Fuel tanks are made of metal or plastic which is non-reactive to gasoline/petrol. Adulterated fuel’s additives begin reacting with the fuel tank and start the process of deterioration. This will not be apparent immediately, but overtime it does end up being a health hazard. Luckily, the newer fuel tanks are designed to resist these corrosion and hence is one risk reduced to worry about.
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After the fuel tank, as the fuel flows into the carburetor, the air fuel mixture is not generated of the desired result. The air pressure sucks fuel along with it into the combustion chamber and thus generating the air-fuel mixture. Here, the additives in the fuel end up changing the fuel density due to which the amount of fuel sucked in by the air differs from the actual amount and hence could result in up to clogging the carburetor. In case of bikes with fuel injection, the adulterated fuel could clog up the injector nozzles due to decomposition.
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As the fuel makes it into the combustion chamber, it comes in contact with the inner wall and the harmful substances if any in the fuel can end up corroding the inner wall of the combustion chamber. Also, the fuel can also mix with the engine oil in small quantities and result in non-performance or ruining of the engine oil too. In the process of combustion, the adulteration produces harmful by-products which could cause decomposition in the engine block and hence you can end up with clogged spark plugs, valves, and piston.
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In case the combustion does take place, the adulteration might not combust completely, resulting in incomplete combustion. Incomplete combustion can cause an additional list of issues in your bikes such as smoke, resulting in pollution and also putting in extra stress on the catalytic convertor. The incomplete combustion also results in drop in the fuel efficiency and performance of the bikes which will again result in improper performance of the bike. And owing to the less power generated with each stroke of the piston, the bike will keep stalling time and again until the engine gets the desired amount of fuel and that will attract in more adulteration along with the fuel, resulting in increasing deterioration of the engine.
By: Pratik Patole