Ethanol Free Gas

[hi-fi-guy]

Generally all of the gas stations in my area say they sell up to 10% ethanol gas, but I found one that claims no ethanol. I had read about supposed mileage increases on straight gasoline as opposed to ethanol blends so I filled my bump up there after running the tank just about empty and started taking notes on any changes in performance/mileage I saw. This was about 3 days ago and while the gas gauge does seem to be dropping slower (have to wait until it gets closer to E to really see if the mileage is better) I have noticed an unexpected change. Whereas the truck, when parked hot, would usually take a few seconds of cranking to catch (typical Autolite 2100 problem from what I gather), it now fires right up. The heat soak problem is gone, even today in 100* weather. Everything else on the truck has remained unchanged so I guess its the change in gas that has solved this problem.

[ok68crewcab]

Put 100% gasoline in your truck and drink 100% gasoline free alcohol!

[ezernut9mm]

last year missouri mandated a 10% ethanol blend. truck runs worse than ever. i go across the state line into kansas to buy gas now. it's worth the five cent price difference.

[taylor351]

Ethanol will give you less milage than gasoline. It will also eat some rubber parts. You may have to replace o-rings and rubber fuel lines. The funny thing is, if the increase in ethanol % mandates go into effect and the increase in cafe standards go into effect, that will be a double whammy to car makers trying to meet mpg requirements of cafe.

Keith

[OldRedFord]

You would not think you would notice a difference with the ethanol blend. (Aside from less fuel millage) I guess it is because these trucks are carbed?

[madbiker4]

the major factor is that ethanol burns slower than gasoline, so it's like running a higher octane fuel in your truck. unless you are running high compression pistions or are experiancing detonation your truck will actualy run better on regular gasoline. todays vehicles arent affected as much because of fuel injection and computer controlled ignitions.

[fitzwell]

the major factor is that ethanol burns slower than gasoline, so it's like running a higher octane fuel in your truck. unless you are running high compression pistions or are experiancing detonation your truck will actualy run better on regular gasoline. todays vehicles arent affected as much because of fuel injection and computer controlled ignitions.

Todays vehicles ARE affected...with computer controlled ignition, you just don't hear the detonation, the computer pulls timing out quickly enough. The gf's Taurus drops about 2 mpg with ethanol. my 2.3 fox body, almost 3. The mild 302 in the 69 HATES the stuff. The pump stickers say "Up to 10% Ethanol"... in some cases it's more...15-17% depending on where you go. So now we have yet ANOTHER Gov't madated soultion...Ehtanol, that has to be shipped by truck, gets worse milage,......

I'll time my gas stops to get "100% " gasoline, thank you anyway.


rant off......where did i leave my beer

[Thunderfoot]

Also, if you haven't rebuilt your carb, or replaced you fuel pump and lines in the last few years, be prepared to do so soon, as the Ethanol is not friendly to the older style rubber (over about 7 or so years old)... Have seen pumps, power valves and accelerator pumps going bad from this stuff, not to mention the hot start and poor idle issues...

Here is a GOOD read a friend sent me... form your own opinion from it. http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/c ... 058678.htm (note: it's 3 pages)

[fordman]

the ethanol blend has always been a lower grade of gasoline. back when it first came otu everyone was saying that it made thier car run bad or not as good.

[rjewkes]

Remember you have to fight for what you want, call your local rep. and say hey, Ethynol o worky. remember these are the same guys that agree with chrysler and gm needing to close Dealers they don't own and don't cost them any money in order to become profitable.

[MaxKlinger]

Ethanol will give you less milage than gasoline. It will also eat some rubber parts. You may have to replace o-rings and rubber fuel lines. The funny thing is, if the increase in ethanol % mandates go into effect and the increase in cafe standards go into effect, that will be a double whammy to car makers trying to meet mpg requirements of cafe.

Keith

The problem is that ethanol contains less energy per unit volume than gasoline does. Therefore, both horsepower and fuel economy will suffer. Ethanol is known for damaging some rubber seals and hoses, but only in higher concentrations. E85, which is 85% Ethanol and 15% Gasoline, is known to cause these problems. A 10% Ethanol-90% Gasoline blend won't really hurt anything.

[Sam I Am]

If you jet up you can run whatever fuel you want.
That's the cool thing about newer fuel injected cars, they adjust for changes in fuel automatically. Flex fuel engines make HUGE adjustments for the drastic difference between E85 and E10, which is what most gas in America is now.
Google "E85 Cuda" sometime, you'll find a high compression 70s 'Cuda street driven on E85. He carries around a spare carb in case he finds himself in an area where there is no E85 and he has to run gasoline.

[flyboy2610]

We have a '99 Plymouth Grand Voyager (my dd), a '98 Ford Windstar (wife's dd), and the '69 F250. (Plus a snowblower, lawn mower, a chainsaw, and a brush trimmer.)
NONE of them get ethanol. I don't like the way it makes them run, they run out of fuel sooner, the '69 runs like cr*p on the stuff, and their is a definite drop in mileage for the vans.
I like my gas straight, thank you!

[NM5K]

Nothing but 10% down here in Houston.. I've had to run it so long I don't know
how mine would run on straight gas these days.
My trucks seem to run ok on it. I've never had any real issues. But I would prefer
straight gas.
So far I've only run regular "87 octane" gas in the two six cyl trucks.
I haven't had pinging problems, so never worried about going to a higher
octane. I might could get a bit more power if I re-timed for the better gas,
but I'm too lazy to test it out..
I can tell my car likes higher octane gas, and it does adjust for it.
That car doesn't ping on any of them, but if you go from regular to premium,
you can tell a pretty good difference after a while. The idle is even smoother
with the premium, and that kind of surprised me.
I thought maybe it was a fluke, but I've tried it 2-3 times and sure nuff,
every time I bump the octane the idle gets smoother.
The car seems peppier too.. I think the compression is fairly high on
that four banger.. Close to 10:1 I think..
I've sort of come to the conclusion it wants at least the mid grade "plus"
to run like it was designed to. And I do believe they specify 89 octane,
and most regular here is 87.
I think the next time I go to OK, I'm going to try premium and see if the
mpg is any better. I know exactly what it gets with regular as I check it
every time I refill on the way up there.
You can get straight gas in OK at many places from what I hear.
They may sell it out in other parts of TX, but not around here.
And we get the reformulated stuff at certain times of the year..
That's even worse.
The gas these days hardly even smells like the old gas I remember
from when I was young. My grandfather had a Texaco station, so
I was up on the proper aroma of gas since I was a young pup.. :/
Back then, "Sky Chief" had a lovely aroma that smelled like...Zooooom!!!!
"Fire Chief" from the 60's is probably about as good as the premium
these days..
Now the mess smells like some kind of perverted diesel fuel half the time.

[averagef250]

I solved the ethanol issue by switching to diesel. Now I can burn anything.

Started cutting firewood a few weeks back for next winter and all my saws ran funny or didn't at all. Found the fuel lines in every single one were falling apart or had discintegrated over the winter even with stabil in the tanks.

I hate ethanol, it's a crap fuel.