Public Service Announcement: Avoiding Ethanol

[FortyNiner]

Saw this on a YouTube channel I stumble over from time to time.

https://youtu.be/TQZK-hcl5M4?si=rRRTCBDTzg6BqLyW

Spoiler Alert!
If you are use a fuel station that has a shared hose for dispensing, you'll take in at least a third of a gallon of whatever the last customer bought. Selecting Non-Ethanol at the pump doesn't mean you'll get ethanol free in the tank.

Of special interest is the top comment from someone indicating experience in the field.

Discuss.

[cas3]

I burn the cheapest whatever gas there is. The key is to drive em and not let them sit.
Alcohol absorbs moisture. Leave it sit, its a problem, burn it up....no problem.

I do however buy the good stuff for chainsaws etc, cars no.

[paul2748]

Never had a problem with 10 %. Lasts for months, no additives. I made sure fuel system has ethanol resistant parts.

[JayChicago]

10% ethanol has been mandated in my area for decades. (Corn production is big business in Illinois) Never had a problem with 10% ethanol. Probably all rubber parts made in this century accept it. I think your fears of ethanol are left over from the nineteen eighties.

[fordor41]

Also like JayChicago says, I have never had any problem with E-10 gas since it was introduced. Use it all the time in our '60 Ford and used it for 25 yrs in our '41 Ford.

[FortyNiner]

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I don't believe ethanol is a big meanie lurking just out of reach. While not perhaps the best use of resources, it is a reality in the US as long as politicians are seeking votes.

My flatheads seem to be perfectly content on regular ethanol containing pump gas.

The more practical consequence of the shared hose dispensing pump is getting something other than what is expected. My DD requires premium (93 octane) and I habitually track my mileage. On occasion, the per tank mpg drops by 10 to 15% from the norm despite a seemingly unchanged driving practice. Correspondingly, when ethanol free premium is available, popular in certain areas with active motor sport communities, my per tank mpg is favorably affected - the exact result is dependent on the amount of ethanol containing fuel already in the car. Two possibilities explain the occasional mpg drop: either the ethanol mix ratio is incorrect at some stations (seems a bit too conspiratorial) or I'm getting served using a shared hose. This video just helps make sense of my experience.

Your mileage may vary.

[Gene1949]

99% of the fuel related problems (and subsequent old wives tales) are directly related to 2 factors;
(1) non-ethanol components in the fuel system
(2) vehicles sitting for long periods of time

[pistonbroke]

Your sitting a a stop light, the car ahead of you starts to pull away, what looks like water trickles out the tail pipe. Its water and other corrosive chemicals. Guy brings me his weed eater to fix. He just bought it a month ago so I asked him what fuel he runs? He say the cheapest he could find, we pull the carb apart and it looks like it's been full of saltwater for years. Sorry guys. I've been doing auto and small engine most of my life and I see the real thing day in and day out, your fuel and exhaust systems are the most vulnerable. If your vehicle was built before 1980 put in a tank of non E and check your mileage then do the exact same rout with a tank 10 per E and see how you do. I have a restored 68 F100 with a 390. It will not run smooth on ethanol period. Put in regular non E smooth as glass. Tim

[john in illinois]

How could you avoid ethanol on a long trip ? Often there is only one station.
I make sure my cars are compatible and use any gas I find. Never had a problem, use Stabil for winter storage.

I do have a tank of non ethanol on my farm for small engines.


John

[corvette8n]

Good to know, I usually get a 5 gallon can for my small motors and sometimes fill my car from that.

[rjlester]

Yes letting them sit is when ethanol is a big problem. I try and start every winterized engine in the yard at a bare minimum once over winter. Usually over Christmas I do this. Just today I went out and started them all for the second, some for the third time since fall. I let them run until full engine temp and shut them down. If there is room in the garage, I will move them back and forth a few feet, keeps gears and transmissions lubed etc.

When I park my snowmobiles for the summer, I also start them half way through the summer and let them run a few minutes. Never have a problem starting up any of them when snow season starts.

Now I do have one classic car with high compression that requires premium. I have had about 6 fill ups of bad premium in the last 10 years. I think it's because nobody really buys premium anymore and the stuff goes stale. I can tell within a few blocks of filling up as the engine wants to stall, lacks power and sputters. Get home, drain the fuel, then I get some premium from another station and it runs fine on the "new" fuel. I then put the crappy fuel in my modern daily driver and the computer just makes simple adjustments and runs fine. Carbs and distributors etc, cannot cope with bad fuel.

[paul2748]

My lawnmower, snow blower and trimmer have used 10 % for years. Always starts, no problems.


To be perfectly honest, I think it's the gunk like Sta-bil that screws up the system. My son had a street rod, like me never used any junk like that except for one year. That year the carb was all gunked up.


I still don't use any crap like Sta-bil. The gas I put in in November always started the car in April. As I said, never had a problem with the 10 %

Originally Posted by pistonbroke

Your sitting a a stop light, the car ahead of you starts to pull away, what looks like water trickles out the tail pipe. Its water and other corrosive chemicals. Guy brings me his weed eater to fix. He just bought it a month ago so I asked him what fuel he runs? He say the cheapest he could find, we pull the carb apart and it looks like it's been full of saltwater for years. Sorry guys. I've been doing auto and small engine most of my life and I see the real thing day in and day out, your fuel and exhaust systems are the most vulnerable. If your vehicle was built before 1980 put in a tank of non E and check your mileage then do the exact same rout with a tank 10 per E and see how you do. I have a restored 68 F100 with a 390. It will not run smooth on ethanol period. Put in regular non E smooth as glass. Tim

[Kube]

Like many of you, I have NEVER had an issue with ethanol fuel.
All of my modern cars require premium fuel. Two of those are in storage during winter. Still, never an issue.
Lawn mowers, etc. get run dry before putting them in storage for winter. I then put a quality (not Sta-Bil) stabilizer in the tank.
I do start the stored cars every two weeks.

[FlatTopFreddie]

Absolutely no doubt that ethanol fuel will burn in a cooler environment and/or a high pressure injection systems can handle, but conventional mechanical fuel pump systems will fail…

Check the boil temp of ethanol vs non-ethanol…. I have seen ethanol boil in glass/plastic fuel bowls, that causes vaporloc and engines do not run well on vapor.

I would challenge all that have never experienced a problem with E-10 to drive in an area where ambient driving temp is over 95 … you might have a new opinion….

[tubman]

I have not had a problem with ethanol fuel either, EXCEPT years 30 years ago, I had an ice fishing auger with a very small gasoline engine. Every spring I would prepare it for storage and every fall I would have to go through the carburetor. No matter what I did (stored it with fresh fuel, used Stabil or Sea Foam, or drained it dry), I had the same problem every spring. Cleaning the carb became a yearly ritual. Where I lived then, non-alcohol fuel was difficult to find, so I never tried it. I have always chalked this up to the small size of the carburetor and perhaps the fact it was a cheap imported unit.

[Kube]

Originally Posted by FlatTopFreddie

Absolutely no doubt that ethanol fuel will burn in a cooler environment and/or a high pressure injection systems can handle, but conventional mechanical fuel pump systems will fail…

Check the boil temp of ethanol vs non-ethanol…. I have seen ethanol boil in glass/plastic fuel bowls, that causes vaporloc and engines do not run well on vapor.

I would challenge all that have never experienced a problem with E-10 to drive in an area where ambient driving temp is over 95 … you might have a new opinion….

I will agree with you in part.
Old mechanical pumps, etc. will fail after a while IF they have not been upgraded with ethanol resistant diaphragms; a cheap and easy upgrade.

[Gene1949]

Originally Posted by FlatTopFreddie

Absolutely no doubt that ethanol fuel will burn in a cooler environment and/or a high pressure injection systems can handle, but conventional mechanical fuel pump systems will fail…

Check the boil temp of ethanol vs non-ethanol…. I have seen ethanol boil in glass/plastic fuel bowls, that causes vaporloc and engines do not run well on vapor.

I would challenge all that have never experienced a problem with E-10 to drive in an area where ambient driving temp is over 95 … you might have a new opinion….

Back in the day (pre-ethanol) we climbed Rose Mt highway on the way to Cartright ranch Lake Tahoe in August. Bone stock (6-volt, mechanical pump etc). Yes, it vapor locked and ran poorly barely making it.
Same trip across great Salt Lake into Salt Lake City. Same issue.
Point being, if you have a flathead and run a stock fuel system you are going to experience vapor lock under those sort of condition no matter what fuel you use. Clothes pins, tin foil, I’ve tried them all before I converted to electric fuel pump, electronic ignition and 12 volt..

[matterick]

Good info to know..

[5851a]

I use ethanol in the everyday driver. The rest gets BP Ultimate for winter rest. The ethanol is .50 less than straight fuel here the BP is more, and I have to drive further to get it. I try to go to the BP where the boat guys and motorcycles fill up. Some of those speed boats hold an amazing amount. I've stored some things with the BP and a bottle of Stabil for 3 years with no bad results. Not by choice but life things. Your results may vary. I have had ethanol boil in the fuel tank at high elevation on a very hot day pulling a trailer.

[Seth Swoboda]

It's always good practice to avoid ethanol gas for many reasons. If you drive your early Ford weekly, you'll likely have no problems.

On my small engines, Stihl chainsaws, string trimmer, leaf blower, ethanol gas will destroy the carburetor every year.

On my zero turn lawn mower, Kohler engine, the engine will start almost immediately with pure gas. If I fill up with ethanol, it cranks longer before starting.

I realize that it's very difficult to source pure gas for many folks. I keep 200-300 gallons of pure gas on the farm for all carburetor engines.