I too must run high-test. Ohio has a mix of ethanol and non-ethanol stations, so I try to avoid that crap. MPG definately suffers with the alchohol, but when I'm on the road it's hard to avoid. (Iowa for example) There have been reports of it deteriorating FI hose O rings, causing them to leak.

BTW Buddy, I was in Ft Meyers 2 weeks ago and got to go to three of my favorite places- Shrimp Shack, Prawnbroker, and Maine's Best.

 

At our meeting last night, my BF and GM mechanic mentioned that if they go over 10% on the ethanol you'd might as well drive it to the junkyard...and he was serious!

 

... I'm sure he was serious, as far as his opinion of it. But, even though I'm not a GM guy, its really not that bad... Can certainly cause a ton of problems if the vehicle isnt designed for it, but its all repairable for much less than a new vehicle... And I HATE the stuff myself..

 

Ethanol has been in the fuel for at least as long as I have lived in new England (11 years). I have never had a problem in any of my machines, bikes or cars. And I have never heard of anyone here having problems with it. We don`t even think about it...

The problems I hear is when it is they first start introducing it in an area, everyone gets pissed.

Why do they force the ethanol on us? Probably political, probably those damned Corn Lobbists...

The newer formula gasoline doesn`t last near as long in storage, not sure if that is the ethanol or something else.

The ethanol will allow the condensation to mix with the fuel, so it gets fed through the fuel system in very small amounts, instead of settling at the bottom of the tank.

It has made the use of dry gas in the winter a thing of the past.

 

I call BS. I'll try and find the article I saw on the moisture problems with it.

As for winter fuel, I think something is going on, as my mileage has tanked in all our vehicles, but particularly my Silverado that ALWAYS gets 16mpg locally, and 15-16 in winter. It has total maintenance and not that many miles on it, K&N filter, twice yearly system clean and all. But this winter I'm getting about 14 with it, the worst ever.

 

Ethanol most certainly attracts moisture... If you keep the tank full to minimize volume for condensation to build and regularly use the vehicle, or whatever , allowing less time for it to break down, you'll notice less trouble with it.. The water will settle to the bottom and be the first thing the pump picks up... Some people will see MUCH less problems with it than others.. I personally worry about my bikes, F-150, mower and lawn equipment since the sit quite a bit at different times of the year.. Both of my daily drivers are Flex Fuel, and get filled up 2x a week...

It also burns at a lower BTU, and requires more to do the same job as gasoline. Hurting mileage..

As for "winter fuel", it is needed to provide easier ignition in colder temps.. Not so much for "dry" properties.. A true winter fuel will not burn on a hot Florida day.. I know this first hand, as we would get new cars off the truck that would not start due to flooded plugs.. Change plugs and the fuel, and good to go...

 

Not sure if you are saying I`m full of BS or not...

Of course you would get worse fuel mileage with ethanol, it has a lower BTU rating than gasoline.

What I said was the ethanol allows fuel to mix with the fuel and it gets run through the fuel system, so it wont accumulate in the bottom of the tank and then freeze in the fuel line.

You don`t want it at the bottom of your tank, you want it to be mixed with the fuel so I will go out the fuel system. This is why we used dry gas in the old days, but a fuel de-icer is not needed with ethanol fuel.

Whatever it`s drawbacks are, it makes cold weather operation easier on those of us who start up our cars when it is -5 degrees out.

And it is not nearly as poisonous as the MTBE it replaced.

 

Yes here in Ohio, when Reg. Unleaded Gas hit $3.25 2 yrs. ago, E85 was selling for $2.19 a gallon(Subsidized by the Gov't)...my Flex Fuel '07 Silverado could run it,,,but the un-informed who ran a couple tank fulls in their non Flex Fuel cars,trucks etc...had fun....
If your tank and fuel lines are not coated for E-85,,,eat will eat them up.

 

Just got home from Daytona, so catching up on the chats. Next time you get down my way, PM me or something. The first place in our opinion sucks. The other two are great, but we know of some better places to go depending upon what you like. The best is what I make at our home!!

 

I get a kick out of all of "the sky is falling" type posts on all of the BBS' I frequent about "corn gas", etc.

I have ran the stuff for years before it was phased in across most of the nation, and I have never had any issues in any of my vehicles or engines because of it. I have lived and travelled across the entire US, used fuel of all octane ratings, with and without ethanol, but if a station has ethanol blended fuel, I will use it by choice. My vehicles have collectively traveled hundreds of thousands of miles, and I have NEVER had a fuel system issue or mechanical issue related to ethanol.

And I run E85 in my Flex-Fuel Silverado, again without issue.

I would run E85 in my HD, and plan on doing so when I get the time to mess with it, but Mikuni's official stand is not to use it, and they have no baseline jetting recomendations, so I guess I get to do the R&D myself. I suppose I could play with an Alcohol S&S carb, but I much prefer the Mikuni.

I can see where people can run into issues with the fuel, usually due to their own ignorance, or lack of vehicular maintenance. But for those of us who keep our vehicles in good shape, and use decent judgement and common sense, I for one haven't had any issues, other than perhaps increased burn rate, which is to be expected.

If you are leaving fuel in a tank for months on end without using or draining it, you are asking for trouble regardless of the type of fuel you are using. Same for people who buy the cheapest fuel available at the cheapest stations they can find. Purchase quality fuel at a station that moves enough to refill their tanks regularly. This is not so much an issue with 87 octane but how many stations sell high octane fuel regularly? Not all of them, that's for sure. If you are a Dyno queen who runs their (Air cooled) engine on the ragged edge, so much so that running E10 leads to meltdown, you deserve what you get. It's not very difficult to feel and detect detonation, running lean, or other combustion issues when you're sitting on top of the damn engine.

I get tired of all of the wives tales and crying on every post about Ethanol I read. If you understand the fuel, and use it accordingly, I don't see the problem. Yes, I understand that 30 years ago when ethanol blended fuel was introduced there were some teething issues. Yes, I understand Ethanol does not compare to Lead, MTBE, or other fuel additives that used to be legal. Endless crying about how crappy the fuel is won't make the government stop mandating the fuel. It is here to stay. If you have a fuelie bike, it should be able to adjust accordingly. If you have a carb, carry a screwdriver with you and adjust your mixture screw(s) the 1/8 of a turn it takes to compensate. FWIW, I have never knowingly had to adjust my carb to compensate for a given tank of fuel, but if at any point while riding I notice my tune starting to fall off, I adjust accordingly. I attribute this to vibration adjusting my carb settings, not fuel differences, but without a wideband and fuel sampling I cannot say for sure.

If you want to complain about bad fuel, lets open up a discussion comparing the Diesel Fuel of a few years ago to ULSD, and the number of injector pumps, fuel systems, and engines that have legitimately been destroyed by a foolish government mandate that served no purpose than to raise the price of fuel through the roof.

Or perhaps a discussion about the whole Hybrid car (or worse yet, electric car) conspiracy that is sweeping through the gov't and vehicle industry.

E85 should be the savior for all gearheads who want or need hi octane fuel for their vehicles yet don't want to pay $8-10 a gallon for it. Well over 100 octane for less than the price of 87 octane? Sign me up, even if it does mean 20-30% less economy per gallon, and a little more attention to detail. Yet all I see online in the forums that should be embracing it is crying about Ethanol of any blend. Have you seen how clean and carbon free combustion chambers remain while running E85? Unbelieveable.

I'm not going to touch the gov't subsidies, or how it increases the cost of food, etc. But for the gearhead who wants race fuel from the pump on the corner for the price of pump ****, it doesn't and will not get any better than E-85. I'm sure with all of the hatred toward Ethanol blended fuel in general, it won't be long til it's phased out so that batteries or some other foolish gimmick will take it's place.