The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop ETHANOL FREE GASOLINE

Ethanol blended gasoline is not good for vintage vehicles.

Go here to find the good stuff.

http://pure-gas.org/

I'm not driving 50-100+ miles out of my way just to get "ethanol free" gas. Properly tuned, E10 runs just fine in older vehicles.
BTW, some states have been running E10 since many of the older vehicles that it's "not good for" were new.

It is too bad that you cannot obtain real gasoline in your area. Some areas have plenty of stations that carry 100% gasoline. The intent of this post is to help people locate those gas stations.

By the way, E10 really messed up the carburetor, fuel pump and hoses on my daily driver '66 C-10. I've using ethanol free gas as much as possible since it was repaired. For 20 cents more per gallon, I get much better mileage and performance.

Now that E15 is coming soon, there will be a lot more problems for older vehicles and small engines.

I am just going to make mine so it will run on alcohol, that way I am good either way...

Ethanol gas is nothing new. Heck, Henry Ford built the model A to run on the stuff! Ethanol will wash down cylinders and harden rubber parts, but if you build a motor accordingly there shouldn't be any problems. A stainless needle and new fuel lines is a good place to start. Here in Illinois, I'd say that 99.9% of the stations are 100% E10. You may find an independant station that still sells pure gas, but they are far and few between. Just learn to live with it.

All my station's are on the eastern shore, a 3 hour drive. Good to know the stuff is still around. In Md. there is strict smog laws in Balto. and counties around it.

Puregas.org will give u a list of all e-free gas stations nation wide. Here in Roanoke, Va. we have plenty,mostly privatively owned, stations that carry it. I'll tell u one thing, it definitely gives u better gas milage. Noticably better. That's a fact not an opinion.

A lot of our local stations are reverting back to e-free gas. It's probably because of the uproar of locals who are tired of burning up their chainsaws, mowers and other small engines. I stopped running ethanol in my chainsaw awhile back and the improvement is noticable. It runs a lot cooler as well.

It used to be a 20 mile drive to get real gas, then it went to 12 miles and now I only have to drive 3 miles. I think it's only 5 cents a gallon more expensive.

George

I've been on the puregas.org website and I'm not entirely convinced it's accurate. At least for Illinois anyway. For instance, the FS Fast stop stations. FS is a subsidary of Gromark, which is also the parent company of ADM, the largest ethanol producer in the U.S. Think about it. Your best bet is to talk to the manager or owner of your station and confirm it is ethanol free. I delivered gas to stations for about 6 years, in that time the market was up and down, sometimes we blended, sometimes we didn't. That 10% can be anywhere on the pump, it doesn't have to be on the front.

I've noticed about 5% drop in mileage using the alcohol stuff in my daily driver 96 GMC. I now put out the same emissions but go 5% less miles.

if you're burning 10% less petroleum you are producing less emissions, except for formaldehyde from low E blends, which would be taken care of with a catalytic converter

I've been running E10 in my old trucks and small motors ever since it was first offered here decades ago, with zero problems, and think the mileage difference is way overestimated - has much more to do with how you drive, and with small motor problems it has more to do with infrequent use and poor storage

Bill

My experience is the same as the other complaints. Less power and worse mileage in proportion to the amount of ethanol. I reset the trip odometer with every fillup and you can count on losing 10% mileage with 10% ethanol. I am fortunate thoungh in that our area has rejected the blend to the point that it is difficult to find a station that actually carries it.

I don't understand the attempt. It is my understanding that the manufacture requires a tremendous amount of water and actually uses more energy to manufacture it than what it could ever potentially save. Are they just trying to use subsidized corn crops?

My preference would be to give me 9 tenths of a gallon of fuel for the price of a full gallon. The power level remains the same and the mileage works out the same as the blend for the price paid vs. distance traveled.

If you notice no difference, I am happy for you. My experience has been far different.

I'm going to side with the guys that are getting less fuel mileage. When I was going to college(15-20 years ago). I was driving around 90 miles a day. I had a 4 cylinder Ford Tempo, and I routinely checked my mileage. On straight 87 octane, I would average around 25mpg and on 89 octane e10, about 23mpg. On the other hand, I'm comparing a regular unleaded to a mid grade. My car, and most of them out there are built to run on 87 octane. It only makes sense that the 87 is going to be more efficient than the 89. If I were comparing 89 e10 to 89 ethanol free, I believe the numbers would be more consistantly the same.

I know this is a chevy truck fourm and I do own a 65 c10 but my 79 ford bronco gets better gas mileage running the ethanol gas belive it or not.

I actually asked the driver of the tanker that was delivering it one day. Just to confirm that it really was "pure". He said it was, and that he had only one or two of the tank farms around Rke. that he had to go to- to get it. We are right on the pipeline so we have about 6 tank farms around. It also gives us cheaper prices. If u can call $3 a gal. cheaper!! The ethonol free gas is actually located at one of the best statuions as far as prices go. Not any more than diluted gas.

Like anything, ethanol has its pros and cons. Ethanol is not as efficient as straight gasoline. That has been well documented. I don't know the exact percentages but I'd guess it's 85-90% as effective as an equal amont of gasoline.

The positive is that it comes from a renewable resource. So to have a product almost as efficient as a non-renewable energy source make ethanol attractive. The issue for us old truck guys is what this product does to old seals and such. The ethanol attacks old seals and cause them to breakup.

Most modern seals and items used in today's engine can tolerate the ethanol. The percentage of ethanol in gasoline is only going to increase over time. So better tune up those engines!!!!!

Panhead> FYI being in proximity to a tank farm doesn't neccessarily correlate with cheap gas. There are 2 tank farms on the pipeline, less than 15 minutes from my house and a half dozen more within 100 miles or so. Plus we have dozens of ethanol plants right here in central Illinois. We still have some of the highest gas prices in the state. Most of the fuel is purchased on futures rather than day to day commodity prices. Another problem with the prices is the refineries and oil companies only allocate so much poduct per day for their customers. The fuel station willing to pay the highest price, usually gets more allocation.
Anyway, I'm going to stop there before I get myself all worked up on how we are getting boned by big oil.