$$ DANGER $$- VP-MR9 FUEL LEFT IN TANK

Well, after convincing ourselves that VP MR9 fuel wasn’t as hard on Fuel systems as Nutec…..SURPRISE!   

We have THREE bikes with DEAD fuel pumps after leaving this stuff in the tank for over a month!!   

Retail price on an in-the-tank-pump (Hayabusa, GSX-R 1000 etc.) is right at $500.00    

It is a $1500.00 mistake we don’t want you to make!!! 

According to our sources (American Suzuki included), MR9 will not damage the pumps if left in the tank for a day or so….or even as long as 1 week. But anything close to 1 month…it’s over. 

They recommend draining the tank and running pump gas through the system after every use. This is what the road race teams do before they head back home. They are also careful to COMPLETELY SUBMERGE the pump in gas…not just add a little for the flush. 

I have posted previously that we had not seen problems leaving MR9 in the tank between weekly trips to the drag strip…BUT, one Hayabusa test did keep losing mph as the season progressed?!  

HMMMM…..if MR9 completely destroys a fuel pump in a month, I wonder if it will slowly hurt performance before it dies completely?! 

In the same breath, BOTH of our GSX-R1000’s ran their best MPH’s at the last race and they did not have pump gas in the tanks during the entire season?! Each bike was raced at least once per week. 

This is a new mystery to solve.... 

We will figure it out and pass the news on to YOU! 

I’ll keep you posted,

Brock 

brock@brockracing.com

 

This thread has created a wave of e-mails.

To answer NOX's question:

One reader sent an e-mail stating that he had run U4 exclusively all last summer in his GSX-R1000 with no ill effects. 

FYI: Our 04 GSX-R600 Supersport bike had MR1 in it for the same amount of time…..it seems fine. 

Rick Mazzola from NYC shared this note:

I have a 2002 ZX12 and have used MR9 for 5 months without flushing pump gas through the system...Also leaving fuel in for 30 days without riding it...I have had the bike sitting for the winter with pump gas and take it for a ride every week, no problems so far...Just sharing my experience with you... 

Norman Jackson posted this on psycobike.com :

Yup it happend to mines. In my ZX10. And another buddies it happened to in his ZX10. Leaving MR9 in the tank for extended periods. In my case it was about 30 days.

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I spoke with Bruce…. VP’s top technical expert at the Indy dealer show last week.

My first question was “WHY don’t you warn people?” His response was that they don’t really know EXACTLY what the problem is. He said they thought it was primarily a Suzuki issue (of course Norman's post contradicts this theory) and they weren’t sure if it was due to the fuel damaging the internals of the pump….or if it was from the pump drying out from not being fully submerged after using the MR9. I know we are guilty of running the minimal amount of fuel possible….but to us, that means running it just enough to completely submerge the pump. We check fuel level with a pen light before each run - the most the pump would ever see is MAYBE half-submerged on the trip home from the track…..never completely dry. 

His conclusion was that you run the risk of this problem when you run the rowdy fuels.

The basics are listed above. Don’t leave it in the tank for long; flush with pump gas and keep the pump totally submerged with pump gas in between uses. 

I still haven’t had time to chop up a bad pump. I’ll let you know what I find as soon as possible. 

Brock
brock@brockracing.com

 

 

 

Ok guys I found out that 1 ounce of Marvel Mystery Oil per gallon of race gas makes this prob go away......greg

I had a guy here that was using nutec, and it clogged his injectors he said.......

 

This guy does not work on his bike though.......

 

Since season is over, I will be draining the U4, and putting pump gas in, just to be safe.......

Hey Brock, I plan to run MR9 in my 07 zx14, I have your smeg and race map, Do I need to make any changes to the bike to run the MR9?

hi tommy ,on vp's site they say mr9 makes more power than the mr11 .did you try them both out?

We run MR9 and it took out the fuel pump in our Hayabusa. We also ran it in our GSXR 1000 and it didn't. Both bikes were under the same environment. Some of our racers use it blended with 87 octane pump gas at a 50/50 ratio. So far from what we have seen racing and on the Dyno it didn't produce that much less horsepower and so far there were no reported fuel pump problems. This has been two seasons so far with that mixture.

QtrMileHuslr,

That way would be fine to flush the fuel system, but make sure you fill it up again so the seals in the pump are fully submerged in gasoline...so they do not rot.

 

We run a hayabusa drag bike nitrous/turbo with a mallory fuel pump we recently changed to Q16  loved the power but it seems to be eating up our fuel pumps. 1 pump will last about 20+ passes I am wondering if anyone else is having the same problem

Raced Guy,

The two fuels seem to be almost the exact same; they make about the same power and need no mapping changes from one fuel to the other.

I have just had the head off of my 08 busa with only 1700 miles on it . The valves were glued up with residue from MR9 , the piston tops aswell . even the throttle was slow to return with all the toffee like residue left in the throttle boddies . i had two valves hit the piston tops where they could not move freely .

 

i always drain down and flush the system through with pump fuel after every use . i took some close up pictures of the valves and seats before cleaning them up if any one can post them or wants them let me know . but just beware of the toffee stuff inside the motor .

thank you

Quote: Originally posted by quentin on October 01 08

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Any pictures?

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i've sent pictures to Jason , maybe he could post some up .

Give me a minute...I am trying to do it right now.

WOW that`s a mess!!How could that happen with the tank being drained and pump gas being ran through  the fuel system? Will the mr11 cause the same damage if left in the tank over a period of time?

   Can you spray with the mr11 ???

Raced Guy, no you don't want to spray with MR11, it is too low octane, you will want to use something like MRX01.

Steve

Glen,

U4 also leaves residue, you should drain any race fuel and add pump gas and run through to make sure all race fuel is gone .

I converted my ZX 14 to electric now I dont have that fuel problem any mo