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Who Else Hates Ethanol!? Yuck!

3K views 25 replies 20 participants last post by  VintageIronCollector 
#1 ·
Take a look at my carb bowl.

I want to conduct a fuel breakdown test. I am going to buy fuel from different gas stations, and set up samples in jars. I will have a control jar for each. Some jars will be open to air/atmosphere, others will be sealed. I would like to add staaabil and other additives to them and see what happens.

Who else has nasty gas pics!?

Any other suggestions for my gas deterioration test?
 

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#3 ·
Up here one of the three in town gas stations sells "recreational gas" which is supposed to be alcohol free and 90 octane. I have been using it in everything,, including for customers, except my truck and diesel engines for about four years now and it has made a big difference in the number of carb kits I have installed. It does cost about the same as premium gasoline though.
 
#5 ·
Its a problem everywhere. Every Lawn and garden dealer I have spoke with have said the new fuel is just killing the carbs , eating the gaskets and bronze parts ect. 80% of mowers that are coming into shops are with fuel related ethanol problems.

With a shelf life of 30 days I guess that's to be expected :wallbanging:

WE WANT OUR OLD FUEL BACK!
 
#8 ·
It is my understanding that our county Co-op station has a pump with "non-ethanol", and is more expensive.

Ethanol fuel only has about a 30 day shelf life.

I hate the stuff! I add a can of Sea-Foam to every 5 gallon can of fuel I buy for the small internal combustion engines I have. I even put Sea Foam in the motorcycles. I don't add any conditioner to the truck, as gasoline doesn't stay in the truck very long!
 
#9 ·
I don't know???? I have heard lots of complaints about ethanol but I myself have not had any issues. I use all my stuff regularly or at least run it monthly, I did once put stabil in my Cadillac before I put it up for the winter but in the spring it ran like crap for the first two tanks of fuel till I got the stabil out.
 
#14 ·
been using it since the gas shortage in the 70s. maybe i don't know better but have no problems.
That when we got it, back in 1978, been running it ever since and have never had a bit of trouble with it. I've seen several problems in other peoples stuff, like foam floats get eaten, and stuff that looked like rock candy in fuel bowls, so I suppose there is some problem with it. I believe some of it is the way you use and store your equipment.
 
#16 ·
When I was in Rome NY 2 weeks ago, I was surprised to see Non-Ethanol fuel.

I thought that you couldn't get that anymore down there. Up here we have

it available in premium (91 octane). Rumor has it, that non-ethanol fuel is starting

to become available again in mid grade(89 octane). Maybe, perhaps somebody

is starting to see the light. After all, we just went through a propane shortage, which

they blamed on too much being used to dry the corn crop last fall. What gets done

with the dry corn? Do we make alcohol out of it, and add it to gasoline?

I refuse to buy ethanol fuel. I don't care if it's 15 cents a litre more. I won't support

that scam, and in the long run, I'm sure I'm further ahead.
 
#17 ·
One suggestion I have on you test:

Instead of waiting a month for your samples to absorb atmospheric moisture, go ahead and add water to your samples. You will start to see phase separation almost immediately in samples that contains ethanol and no fuel additives. It will be interesting to see how long the separation takes with a fuel additive in it.

Besides accelerating your experiment, you will be able to keep your samples sealed which will be safer or you.
 
#20 ·
I honestly dont think any of the "Miracle" treatments work. I have tried just about every one and always have the same results.

Even the Lawn and Garden guys who sell the stuff were saying its more of a money making thing to sell the treatment.

Best you can do is buy high Octane gas and find Ethanol free fuel if you are lucky enough to do so.
 
#21 ·
Anyone else remember when you could actually light gas with a match nowdays you cant even get it lit
And it smelled good and looked good. Now it stinks and looks like watered down pee. Fortunately some local stations are starting to sell 91 octane, non-ethanol gas. Unfortunately they want around 60 to 75 cents more per gallon. Still doesn't look like the old gas but it smells a little better.

DAC
 
#23 ·
I must say I disagree with the whole ethanol debate. I run 87 ethanol gas in everything I have besides my weedeater because it will void my warrantee. What we have here is companies building piss poor parts to save money. It's not the gas it's the cheap materials that these companies make carb kits it of.
 
#24 · (Edited by Moderator)
I must say I disagree with the whole ethanol debate. I run 87 ethanol gas in everything I have besides my weedeater because it will void my warrantee. What we have here is companies building piss poor parts to save money. It's not the gas it's the cheap materials that these companies make carb kits it of.
I am glad it works for you but my old equipment doesn't like the "new" gasoline any more than my new stuff does. Same for my customers. Some of my top money-makers last year were due to the new gasoline (over 60 carb rebuilds and 11 new carbs) so I guess I don't want to complain about the new gas too much. Perhaps if the owners actually read and followed the owner's manuals it would be different but again I am not complaining. On the back of every invoice I give my customers I print my suggestion that the owner use non-ethenol gasoline and where to purchase it locally.
 
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#25 ·
I must say I disagree with the whole ethanol debate. I run 87 ethanol gas in everything I have besides my weedeater because it will void my warrantee. What we have here is companies building piss poor parts to save money. It's not the gas it's the cheap materials that these companies make carb kits it of.
I would say I have to disagree with you. Being on the "Dealer" end of things for a couple years now I have experienced and have heard the horror stories of guys that have been doing this for 30-40 years. Especially older equipment that was never designed to run on this crap.
 
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