Does ethanol blended gas gel?

   / Does ethanol blended gas gel? #1  

Fordman1981

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North Carolina
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Kubota L4400 Gear Ag Tires
Just like the title says does ethanol blended gas gel? I went to use my 71 F350 that hasn't been used in a few months. It was running poorly so I started checking things out. I ended up pulling the 4bbl carb and found well you can see in the pictures. Was it the 10% ethanol that gelled or something else?
 

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   / Does ethanol blended gas gel? #2  
Shouldnt gel but it is hard on carbs. It also absorbs moisture. Its just rough on anything not specifically made to run it. I dont run anything that is seasonal on any percentage of ethanol, or at the very least I run a few tanks of regular fuel through before storage. Stuff like lawnmowers, weed eaters etc..
 
   / Does ethanol blended gas gel? #4  
It's something else. It's from water and a bacteria starting to grow. It's looks like snot almost. I can't remember the name of the bacteria, but we ran across it in the marine business right after the ethanol bs started.
 
   / Does ethanol blended gas gel? #5  
Over time you may have phase separation with ethanol laced fuel as well and it will bond with water. Generally speaking it is an inferior fuel to straight gasoline. I try to run only pure gasoline in all of my mowers, weed trimmers, chainsaws, tillers, etc. They perform better and last longer. Ethanol is very hard on carburetors in small engines as well. There is also less energy in ethanol fuels compared to pure gasoline.
 
   / Does ethanol blended gas gel?
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Yeah I've heard stuff like this before. The only gas station I can find is close to a 30 minute drive and it is hard to justify to drive my 71 f350 with a 360 fe engine in it 30 minutes just to get straight gas. Very frustrating. If they want to have ethanol blended fuels fine but there should be one pump at every station that is straight gas.
 
   / Does ethanol blended gas gel? #7  
Yeah I've heard stuff like this before. The only gas station I can find is close to a 30 minute drive and it is hard to justify to drive my 71 f350 with a 360 fe engine in it 30 minutes just to get straight gas. Very frustrating. If they want to have ethanol blended fuels fine but there should be one pump at every station that is straight gas.

If you can't practically get away from ethanol laced gas, then definitely use a good quality fuel treatment for anything that sits around. Stabil and Startron are what I use.

This is a thread I started on Startron,

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/oil-fuel-lubricants/254271-startron-star-tron-star-tron.html

I'm just a customer. The title may look like something and advertiser might do, but that was just my way of trying to help the Search Engine on here - I haven't had the best of luck with it some days.

Rgds, D.
 
   / Does ethanol blended gas gel?
  • Thread Starter
#8  
If you can't practically get away from ethanol laced gas, then definitely use a good quality fuel treatment for anything that sits around. Stabil and Startron are what I use.

This is a thread I started on Startron,

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/oil-fuel-lubricants/254271-startron-star-tron-star-tron.html

I'm just a customer. The title may look like something and advertiser might do, but that was just my way of trying to help the Search Engine on here - I haven't had the best of luck with it some days.

Rgds, D.

Thanks I will look into that I don't want to be taking apart and cleaning my carb regularly.
 
   / Does ethanol blended gas gel? #9  
You guys are lucky who can get straight gas. I have not seen any around here for 10 years for atleast 200 miles each way.

Chris
 
   / Does ethanol blended gas gel? #10  
ethanol will not cause a gel situation but it will seperate with gas.They make a product you can get at the parts stores called K40 that is supposed to eliminate this.Ethanol can cause moisture to separate in gas and if it sits can cause bacteria to form.We can only buy ethanol mixed gas here in maine.When it first started being used there were a lot of warnings for snowmobiles,lawn equipment and all things with smaller engines.I called Husqvarna worried about my chainsaws. all they recomend is to shake the devil out of your chain saw before use
 
 
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