The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Re: Preparing your truck for winter

Congrats to those who use the ethanol-laced fuel with no issues. I'm assuming, then, you have fuel systems with ethanol-capable rubber in them ... or you're just lucky (your time will come ...)

I've had VERY bad experience with ethanol-based fuel -- The ODSS members will remember being on the side of I-66 watching my newly repainted fire truck catch fire because the ethanol fuel trashed the fuel pump, split the fuel line (which sprayed fuel on a hot exhaust manifold) and trashed the carburetor. Ended up throwing the Stromberg in the trash and replacing it with a Holley 4-barrel. Luckly, and through Mike Roache's quick actions, we got the fire out before too much "bad" happened. I will *happily* pay a buck more per gallon, and go out of my way, to ensure none of that ethanol CRAP gets into *any* of my antiques or small engines.

Letting a vehicle sit in storage with ethanol-laced fuel is unwise -- the fuel will break down and it will absorb moisture causing rust. I wouldn't trust any fuel additives to prevent this -- even sea foam. You put a lot of time and money into these vehicles, why subject it to crappy fuel?

My Stihl dealer (Milt -- has been around small engines for most of his 80 years) told me a long time ago to only use 89 octane non-ethanol fuel in my small engines. A chainsaw I bought from him 22 years ago (Stihl MS360, of course) still starts by 3rd pull, even after sitting for months. My Stovebolts have run for years on 89 octane non-ethanol.

So no, NOT a fan of ethanol gas.