PSA: Link to stations that sell ethanol-free gas.

[OutHouse]

Problem is it is basically impossible to get non-E10 in CA. You can buy race gas or av gas but I'm not paying that much for gas for my lawn equipment.

avgas is leaded (100 octane LL) and a nice rasberry koolaid blue.

 

[TwiceOver]

This is a "thing" now? I can't think of a gas station here that doesn't have at least one pump that is no ethenol.

 

[Jeff7]

This is a "thing" now? I can't think of a gas station here that doesn't have at least one pump that is no ethenol.

I know of only one gas station nearby with ethanol-free available.

Checking at the site, it lists 5 in the entire city. Three Citgo stations, one Kwik Fill, and one "unbranded" at a marina.


I get 30mpg in the winter, 27mpg in the summer, pretty consistently. That's using whatever conventional 87-octane gas/ethanol mix is being served up at the regular pumps. The mix changes from winter to summer.

 

[Sooper Trololo]

Nice!

 

[Meghan54]

Is it true that ethanol free gas last a lot longer without going stale?

Yes, it is true, but not for the reason given below by BlitzPuppet. The reason is that ethanol oxidizes rather rapidly if not stabilized. The general rule-of-thumb is 30 days before the ethanol begins oxidation. Once that begins, the gas loses some of its octane rating. This can potentially bring 87 octane down to 83 or lower, resulting in an engine that won't start or runs like crap.

Ethanol tends to absorb water....so that's one of the main reasons on how it doesn't stay "fresh" as long.

Nope. Oxidation is the culprit. True, ethanol will combine with water in a moment, it will NOT absorb water out of the air, contrary to popular myth. As Mercury Marine said in a conference a few years ago (the guys who build Mercury outboard engines), ethanol has no mechanism to pull water vapor out of the air. The water that becomes problematic for ethanol is from either condensation in the fuel tank or prior contamination of the fuel, like in the station's storage tank.

One of the problems is that an empty or nearly empty fuel tank gives a huge air pocket for condensation to work with. Remember, we're talking about fuel systems other than car/truck fuel systems, which are closed systems. Boat, small engines, etc. are typically open to the air and can have condensation problems if not watched out for.

So, repeated heating and cooling of the fuel in an "open" tank can indeed introduce small amts. of water into the fuel. But ethanol will combine with that water and allow it to pass through without problems....until the amount of water achieves 0.5% of the ethanol volume. Then the ethanol is overwhelmed, cannot absorb more and phase separates.

It's not the small engines running that's at issue, it's the ethanol content harming parts in the fuel systems. I would have to think that any fairly recent lawn/marine equipment would be designed with ethanol in mind since it's been mandatory almost everywhere for awhile now.

I've got an outboard that was made in 1997 and it allows 10% ethanol to be run through it. The owner's manual does state to ensure the hoses, etc. are ethanol resistant, but that's only common sense.

I had an '86 Chrysler LeBaron convert, turbo, that was ethanol tolerant. But from what I've seen, read, and experienced, a few good suggestions have surfaced through all the myths that continue to circulate about ethanol.

In small engines, if using an ethanol blended gas, run 89 octane instead of 87....ethanol fuel tends to burn a little hotter than "real" gas and increasing the octane tends to counteract this a bit. Stihl and Echo, for a couple of examples, state in their small equipment owner's manuals that 89 octane gas must be used because of just this problem. Otherwise, you'll end up burning up the motor.

Buy gas as busy stations. Less chance of fuel contamination, much less chance of getting "stale" fuel.

 

[disappoint]

Is it true ethanol helps clean the engine parts like fuel injectors and valves (for non-DI engines)?

 

[BlitzPuppet]

Nope. Oxidation is the culprit. True, ethanol will combine with water in a moment, it will NOT absorb water out of the air, contrary to popular myth. As Mercury Marine said in a conference a few years ago (the guys who build Mercury outboard engines), ethanol has no mechanism to pull water vapor out of the air. The water that becomes problematic for ethanol is from either condensation in the fuel tank or prior contamination of the fuel, like in the station's storage tank.

Every article I've ever read has said the same thing, ethanol readily absorbs water from the air.

Here's a pretty good run down on some of the "myths" of ethanol.

Link: http://www.boatus.com/SEAWORTHY/SeaApr10Ethanol.pdf

Good blurbs:

Leaving a tank mostly empty does three things to increase the chances of phase separation: 1. It increases the volume of open space in the tank (its “lung capacity”) so it can “breathe in” moist air. 2. An almost empty tank leaves more space on tank walls for condensation to form. 3. Leaving less gasoline in the tank means there will be less ethanol to absorb the condensation.

and

Unlike regular gasoline, which can absorb almost no moisture, E-10 can hold up to 1/2 percent of water by volume and the water molecules will dissolve in the fuel. The solubilized water will bypass the water separator and burn harmlessly through the engine. Only if phase separation were to occur would a water separator do it's job, but by them the fuel itself would be the problem

 

[IGemini]

Meh...I'd have to drive 30 minutes out of the way to get a station that has pure regular. The mileage boost would balance if gas points weren't a factor. There's a slightly closer one but it charges 50c/g above everyone else.

 

[slag]

I have 8 within probably a 15 mile radius. Do I win?

I have quite a few also. I won't fill up at kwik shop, but will at hyvee which has ethanol free gas.