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By duffer - 11 Years Ago
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Is it necessary to run Ethanol gas in our old cars or is it a waste of money?
How many of you run this in your cars.
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By NoShortcuts - 11 Years Ago
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IMO ethanol gas is BAD news. The issues related to it are reduced gas mileage (because it has less energy per gallon), phase separation if your vehicle sits for any kind of period of time without being driven, and the ethanol absorbs and holds moisture which will result in corrosion of your o.e.m. gas tank and fuel lines.
Although more expensive, IF you can buy it in your geographic area, even if the octane rating is greater than your engine requires, I would use gasoline WITHOUT the ethanol added.
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By LordMrFord - 11 Years Ago
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But you can make more power with it.
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By charliemccraney - 11 Years Ago
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Premium fuel is suppose to have less ethanol than the others. I run that in my car and truck and have had no issues related to ethanol. I also run them year round so they don't just sit for months at a time. You can buy an ethanol test kit to test the gas and find a local station that tends to have better gas.
LordMrFord is right, though, if the vehicle is built to take advantage of the ethanol, it is cheap high performance fuel. But it is scarce and most vehicles are not made to take advantage of it which makes it terrible for most stock or nearly stock vehicles.
So no, it is not necessary and if you have easy access to ethanol free gas, use it. Otherwise, use premium and/or don't let it sit, take it out for a drive once or twice a week or more.
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By LordMrFord - 11 Years Ago
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Yes. E85 with naturally aspired engine under ~11/1 comp ratio is quite useless combination.
But with forced induction, its quite hard to find a better choice on racing purpose or on street if you know what to do and know the limits of the stuff like a small corrosion and cold start problems.
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By lyonroad - 11 Years Ago
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charliemccraney (9/12/2014)[hr Otherwise, use premium and/or don't let it sit, take it out for a drive once or twice a week or more.
But here in the Pacific Nortwest it rains almost every day from October to May and there is a good chance that the roads are covered in sand and salt all winter. I don't licence my non daily drivers from November to May.
Here in Vancouver they just opened their first E85 station and it was all over the news that the "Tuners" (I read Honda Owners) were ecstatic because they now don't have to go to Seattle for fuel.
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By HT32BSX115 - 11 Years Ago
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duffer (9/12/2014)
Is it necessary to run Ethanol gas in our old cars or is it a waste of money?
How many of you run this in your cars.Howdy,
Your question is a bit strange (no offense intended) because the responses you got were largely RACING engine related.
If you're asking about running E-10 (10% ethanol, 90% gasoline) in your daily driver..................It's basically everywhere and I have been running it in everything I own (except my airplane) since it's been available! (no problems so far by the way)
I wouldn't (and DON'T) let it sit in my 454 powered boat for more than a few months. I usually either park it with less than a 1/4 tank (44gal tank) in Aug, then I fill it up in MAY or June and go boating. I don't put any "stuff" in it at all.(other than fresh fuel when I'm ready to use the boat. The boat right now is nearly full so I am going to just siphon most of it out and run it in my cars........
If it bothers you to use E-10, go to http://pure-gas.org/ and find a station near you that sells ethanol free gasoline.
If you're going to use ethanol free gasoline, and you want to be sure what the pump says is accurate, You'll have to test a sample every fill-up to ensure that you are in fact getting ethanol free gas! There's a test kit and instructions at http://www.fuel-testers.com/instructions_alcohol_fuel_test_kit.html
I have never bothered to do it though........... everything I have from old cars to new cars, JD 318 mower, Honda powered pressure washer, Tohatsu 9.8hp 4-stroke OB, Briggs powered generator, etc etc etc........ run on the stuff just fine so I don't bother to test any of the gas I get.......
OTOH, DO NOT run E-15 (which is becoming available ) or E-85 unless you make some rather specific modifications to the engine and fuel system.
Cheers,
Rick
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By paul2748 - 11 Years Ago
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Here in NJ we have had 10 % for ten years or more (really can't get anything else here). I have run my 56Bird, 54 Ford (312), 48 Ford (302) on it for all this time with zero problems. I don't use any additives or stabilizers. The gas I put in in Oct/Nov still works in April when I take my car out. I do run them once a month during this period. As I said, Ive been doing this for in excess of ten years, no problems..
Do you have to use it - no. If you can find plain gasoline use that, but going to high test just for no ethanol is a waste of money if you don't need it..
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By lyonroad - 11 Years Ago
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paul2748 (9/13/2014)
Here in NJ we have had 10 % for ten years or more (really can't get anything else here). I have run my 56Bird, 54 Ford (312), 48 Ford (302) on it for all this time with zero problems. I don't use any additives or stabilizers. The gas I put in in Oct/Nov still works in April when I take my car out. I do run them once a month during this period. As I said, Ive been doing this for in excess of ten years, no problems..
Me too, however on the advice of a friend I added a fuel stabilizer last winter and this spring my 5 year old fuel gauge no longer worked (not a circuit or ground issue). Several years ago people were having fuel gauge issues, including me, that was ultimately blamed on an additive in Shell gasoline. I stopped using Shell and presto the gauge started working again.
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By Daniel Jessup - 11 Years Ago
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ditto on the fuel sending unit ...! For some reason the same thing happened to me. Strange.
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By Ted - 11 Years Ago
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Unless you are specifically checking the gasoline for ethanol content, it’s difficult to determine otherwise to know how much ethanol is actually there. I’ve come across as much as 30% out of a pump that was labeled “May contain up to 10% Ethanol” and that load of fuel simply ran ‘bad’ on the engine that was on the dyno. In my part of the country, premium gasoline typically has only 5% ethanol while the other grades are closer to 10%. On occasion though, I still come across premium that has no ethanol in it.
The check for the percent ethanol in gasoline only takes about a minute so it’s any easy test.
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By HT32BSX115 - 11 Years Ago
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Ted (9/13/2014)
Unless you are specifically checking the gasoline for ethanol content, it’s difficult to determine otherwise to know how much ethanol is actually there. I’ve come across as much as 30% out of a pump that was labeled “May contain up to 10% Ethanol” and that load of fuel simply ran ‘bad’ on the engine that was on the dyno. In my part of the country, premium gasoline typically has only 5% ethanol while the other grades are closer to 10%. On occasion though, I still come across premium that has no ethanol in it.
The check for the percent ethanol in gasoline only takes about a minute so it’s any easy test. Yeah..................Sort of makes you wonder if the other things are accurate too............like octane, vapor pressure, gallon measurement etc............. (there's a vapor pressure tester available too)
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By lovefordgalaxie - 11 Years Ago
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Gentlemen, don't be alarmed about ethanol.Here in Brazil, our gasoline has up to 25% ethanol since 1979!!!!! We even had the very first ethanol running V8 sold to the public, the Ford 302 on the 1980 Galaxie. My 1982 Galaxie has run on ethanol gasoline for all his life. My '74 Galaxie has run on ethanol gasoline for the most of hist life. The only real problem is the exhaust, that lasts less if you drive the car only for a short period each time. Our ethanol, made from sugar cane has a molecule of water in it's composition and when the engine is not fully warmed, that water will condense at the colder spots of the exhaust system, usually, the mufflers, that will rust fast. Never had problems with gas tank, fuel level gauge, fuel lines, or carburetor, but I don't have to park the car during winter. |
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By lovefordgalaxie - 11 Years Ago
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Easy way to say if there is ethanol in the gasoline advertised as ethanol free:Just put a little water in it. If it has any ethanol, the ethanol will mix with the water and separate from the gasoline (you will have a larger volume of separated material = ethanol plus water) If it has no ethanol, the water won't mix with the gas, but you will have just your original volume of water separated from the gasoline. |