e85 causing corrosion, stand alone e85 rated fuel system - not up to the task ???

Hi

I have had some ongoing issues with my KPM1500 injectors, long story short I am now changing over to my third set of injector ( I know I should have looked into this alot sooner, and I can now that the season will not be starting for a little while now)

Anyway, I was advised by KMP to inspect my whole fuel system after they had flow tested 12 old injectors which came up as being all over the place..

So they sent all my old injectors back to me along with a new set of six.

I got the car up onto the lift and started to remove the surge tank, and fuel system components.

The fuel cell is - https://www.aeroflowperformance.com/catalog/product/view/id/8151/s/af85-2150asblk-black-alloy-fuel-cell-57-litre/category/60/

The surge tank is - https://www.aeroflowperformance.com/catalog/product/view/id/6863/s/af77-1044blk-dual-fuel-pump-under-car/category/60/

From Aeroflow they state that their "black" tanks are "black anodised inside and out for use with alcohol and ethanol" so e85 rated

I have attached images of my surge tank, this has been in the vehicle for around 5 years now, and it's safe to say their "anodised" coating has broken down and has been sending small bits of black anodised deposits through my fuel system and killing/blocking up my injectors, I have check around 60% of my fuel lines and fittings which are all teflon 200 series and every fitting is also black - so far looking fine

surge tank vvv

https://imgshare.io/image/VHeHw

https://imgshare.io/image/VHJI8

https://imgshare.io/image/VHHwK

SO here is the kicker, Aeroflow agent in my area tells me that this "coating" looks normal, and that areoflow don't coat the whole inside black like I would assume. The way it is painted and then placed in their hanger/drying rack it does miss some areas inside the tank, and the raw parts of the alloy are then coated in a protective e85/meth fuel resistant laqour/paint?

I have had to pay for a replacement tank, and also now this has cost me three sets of KMP 1500 injectors at $806 a set - I am awaiting warranty discussions

The only reason for this post, has anyone else came across e85 doing this to their fuel system, have you had issues with injectors being blocked up after 6/12 months?

I have always used the M2 additive since I have owned the vehicle, the car is always driven when possible, longest it would sit is around a week or so but I will always try to run the engine to keep turning over the fuel

There is also a brownish stain on the tank, I was told this is the VP M2 additive doing its job

Any feedback would be great!

Cheers!

E85 is 'supposed' to be safe, with commercial fuels having corrosion inhibitor, so a bit surprised by that.

However, methanol is death to aluminium, zinc, and many other metals especially with some water in it - any chance some had got into the tank?

Anodising is a process used to form a deeper than natural layer of aluminium oxide on the surface of aluminium. The deep Al oxide provides the increased corrosion resistance. The colouring process is done after anodising and is just a dye that the porous Al oxide readily absorbs, the colouring is decorative/cosmetic only and doesnot provide any further corrosion properties.

So, the bare or non-black areas internally does not mean it it has not been anodised - it just means the dye never reached that area. It is hard to confirm from the photos if it is/was anodised completely internally but I dont see any tell tale white powdery stuff or pitting that I would expect to see if there was any corrosion going on.

From what I can see there is pitting on the bare alloy areas, I will get some more close up pictures of it later today.

I just wanted to see if anyone else has had problems like the above