unleaded gas vs ethanol

until now i have been able to buy gas with neither lead nor alcohol, now my service station is saying there will be no more gas without out ethanol.   my equipment is all older and i kinda felt safe from the stories of ruined engines especially in small engines like mowers and chainsaws.  What  am i to do lead substitues, stabil other additives?. As long as they work i enjoy using my older equipment and am happy with it

I've been using ethanol in everything I own since it was available at the pump, many years. The only thing I had trouble with that might be attributable to the ethanol, is the gas line on my 20 year old Ryan weed wacker dissolved. Maybe it was just too old. I'm sure if I replaced the fuel line, I could get it running again.

I bought a new F250 in 1989 and started buying ethanol in central illinois at that time. I have used it in the mower, weedeater and several B tractors and the D17 for 20 years. No problems.

Ethanol will act like a cleaner. I have seen it cause problems in older vehicles where the fuel filter gets plugged. Ethanol burns hotter the straight gas. Every small engine mechanic I have talked to said not to use ethanol. That being said, I have used ethanol in a variety if engines without an issue.

Ditto on the articles posted by in mdtractor. Here in CA it's already 15% ethanol. I got worse mileage in my 74 Roadrunner and 1970 F250 with the low grade 15% ethanol/gas. Worse mileage and poor shelf life, means more money from state and federal gas taxes. I use 89 octane now. Especially use Stabil in 87 octane for smaller engines. Just my experience.

Brad

Its junk!!!  eats up anything rubber or plastic poor shelf life aluminum carbs will start to grow barnicles because the alcohol attracts moisture like a magnet the biggest problem is the fact if not treated it wont last 6-8 months

I for one shut off the gas and drain the bowl if it's going to sit for more than a week.  If I can't drain the bowl I let it run until it dies.  No problems here.

I have only experienced two problems with ethanol.  It ate up the fuel line on my D14 and filled the carb with little black rubber "clinkers".   I am slowly replacing all of my fuel lines with metal ones.  The other problem is the rubber tip on most newer needle valves.  Ethanol softens the rubber and they stick.  If the D14 sets longer than a week or so, i have to unfasten the fuel line at the carb and give it a 30 PSI enema. 

The vast majority of majority of  the bad things you hear about E10 is old wives stories.  However, there are 3 things it can do that will cause problems. 

1.  If your fuel tank (or gas storage tank) has accumulated water over time, the E10 will absorb it and lead to a lean condition on carbureted engines------to the point of missing and not running.  Once the water is out of your fuel system, the E10 will keep it out if you regularly use it.

2.  It is a solvent and will remove varnish buildup in your fuel system.  That can lead to plugged fuel filters and carburetors.

3.  It can dissolve some old fuel lines and rubber parts (however, old fuel lines may fail even without E10)

That being said, I've been using E10 in the following for 12+ years without incident:

1960's McCulloch  chainsaw
1967 Corvette (with 3 carbs)
Allis B10 garden tractor
1977 IH Scout
1977 boat with a Mercruiser I/O (6 cyl. Chevy engine)
1985 Allis 917 garden tractor
1980's Simplicity GTHL-17 garden tractor
1990 Scag with a 20 hp Kohler
1990's string trimmer

And a number of newer cars with fuel injection.

I use Stabil in the cars and boat, but don't bother with the small engines.

Works for me.

This Isn't a wives tale. As a mechanic I've seen the damage sited in the articles. People replace parts on small engines thinking it's just part of aging. Infact, many of these components have failed due to the ethanol content. Bottom line is that it shortens component life whether you notice it or not. Yes, you can do all the little prevention methods and temporary fixes but why should you have to.

Edited by mdtractormechanic - 14 Sep 2011 at 10:01am

Not sure if stations use it here in KY or not, probably so. Makes me a little leary about the quality of the gas in my bulk tank. Ive seen Lucas gas additives for ethanol gas, may pour some in the bulk tank for a safegaurd.

KY wrote: Not sure if stations use it here in KY or not, probably so. Makes me a little leary about the quality of the gas in my bulk tank. Ive seen Lucas gas additives for ethanol gas, may pour some in the bulk tank for a safegaurd.

So is there anything you can add to the gas in a bulk tank to keep it longer? Pretty expensive investment that could ruin.

I'd try the Lucas additive because they have some of the best products out there. My younger brother is a small engine mechanic and was just at a kohler school, the kohler guys say with almost every engine problem, ethanol could be responsable for it.

Brian Jasper co. Ia wrote: mdtractormechanic wrote: KY wrote: Not sure if stations use it here in KY or not, probably so. Makes me a little leary about the quality of the gas in my bulk tank. Ive seen Lucas gas additives for ethanol gas, may pour some in the bulk tank for a safegaurd.  KY, ethanol absorbs water and that is the number 1 problem with longterm storage. I believe the shelf life is 3 to 4 months. Even if the tank was water free it absorbs the moisture from the air. That's the nature of alcohol. We used alcohol in diesel machines to help burn off the water in the tanks. Be carefull of additives that claim to 'remove' water from the tank. Hate to tell you this, but 435 Mark is pretty much right on on this one. The links you posted appear to be written by someone who doesn't work on engines of any kind and a dislike for ethanol. Alcohol in diesel fuel is bad news. You do not want to disperse water and run it through the pump due to lowering the lubricity of the fuel by both alcohol and water.  You want to separate it and drain it off.