Ethanol Free Gas

[EddieWalker]

In another thread, I asked about a chainsaw which led to talking about what fuel to put in it. This led me to spending the extra money to buy Ethanol Free Gas for my Kawasaki Mule, lawn mowers and log splitter. In every case, they all start easier, run better and seem to have more power. That's just my opinion, which is based on my observations.

I've been so impressed with these results that I put it in my 2012 Ford F150 with the 5.0 gas engine with 155,000 miles on it. When I bought the truck new, I was getting 18 mpg, but over the years, that's worked it's way down to 14.1 mpg. I really didn't think too much about the gas that I was buying, but it was the cheapest that they had at the gas stations. I'm wondering if they have bee increasing the amount of Ethanal over the years that has led to my decrease if fuel mileage?

The last two times that I've filled up, I spend the extra money on Ethanal Free Gas. It's a separate hose, just like when you have the option for gasoline or diesel. The first tank didn't really change anything. It might of started quicker, but it's always started pretty quickly. Power seems the same. Yesterday I had to drive to Dallas and back. It's a 4 hour round trip. I filled up with Ethanol Free Gas, and this time I noticed a difference. It was quicker off the light, faster getting on the Interstate and the Miles Per Gallon reading on my dash started increasing. By the time I got to Dallas, I was up to 17.5 mpg!!! That's almost 3 1/2 Mile Per Gallon increase, which is just amazing to me.

In Lindale Texas, Regular Gas was $2.32 a gallon. Ethanol Free Gas was $2.96 a gallon. I haven't done the math, but I think the increase in mileage makes a good argument to continue buying it.

 

[MattB4]

Since a lot of my gas powered equipment sits for some time I never fill it with ethanol laced gas. My 1 ton Chevy (2000) may not be driven but once a month and with its 40 gallon tanks that would be a problem to have it all go bad.

So, chainsaws, lawnmowers, my baby Ex, the quad ATV, and a few other gas powered doodads are all running on E0. The extra fuel cost is no big deal.

Yes you will get less mpg from ethanol gasoline (especially so if your vehicle was not tuned for it) and yes the amount has increased with E15 being more common at the pumps.

 

[Ricn]

i too use E-free gas in all my gas powed tools and mowers, also my ford truck. It is very expensive here and I have to drive 30 miles to get it so try and do my other shopping when needing gas. My state of Wash hates E-free gas making it hard to get in many areas without travel. I think we pay the highest prices here as well for all gas and diesel, like Kalifornia and Hawaii.

 

[mrmikey]

I never fill it with ethanol laced gas.

I wish, that's the only crap you can get around here. I thought that maybe the local yacht club...nope, regular, crap infused pump gas.
So now my routine, instead of making sure everything that's going to be parked for awhile is full of stabilized fuel, is drained, run dry and spray the inside of any metal fuel tanks with some sort of rust preventative.

 

[700R]

Anything that goes into 5-gal cans is pure gas for me. With my Mazda commuter car, I fill it up with pure gas as well, and noticed a nice improvement in fuel mileage and driveabliity.

Someone please make me president....I'll do away with that ethanol **** for good!

 

[kozal01]

E-Free gas has been popping up at more and more stations near me so Ive switched from using regular gas with stabilizers to just using E- Free in my equipment. My truck however I run premium 93 octane E-10 because that's what the tune is written for, E-Free is 90 octane. Ethanol in vehicles has minimal affect in my experience.

 

[Jstpssng]

It's my understanding that the ethanol has something to do with cleaner air, not more efficient engines. I run E-0 in all of my small engines except my snowsled, which takes a minimum of 91 octane. It's only 3 years old though, any engine made that recently should be able to handle the ethanol.

 

[CliffordK]

Someone recently wanted to borrow my old 1999 yF150 with 200K miles. I had parked it outside under a tree in the fall of 2020, three years ago.

The fuel lines were a little dry, but the thing fired right up with the 3 year old gas. Ok, admittedly not running real great, but I don't think it was running like a top when I parked it.

I added a bottle of fuel system cleaner. That made it run a little worse initially, but then I filled it with a tank of Premium with ETHANOL. I was debating on getting the ethanol free vs ethanol gas. I decided that the ethanol gas would help suspend any water that was in the system which might not be a bad thing. Anyway, apparently it is slowly getting a little better now with a little driving.

If you are driving your vehicle once every month or two, then I wouldn't worry about it too much. Get a battery cutoff switch.

If you're planning on parking a vehicle for a year while a college kid is off on a European vacation or in the army, then go ahead and fill with the ethanol free gas and run a tank or two through.

Around here the ethanol free gas is about $6 a gallon, much more expensive than anything else.

 

[etpm]

i too use E-free gas in all my gas powed tools and mowers, also my ford truck. It is very expensive here and I have to drive 30 miles to get it so try and do my other shopping when needing gas. My state of Wash hates E-free gas making it hard to get in many areas without travel. I think we pay the highest prices here as well for all gas and diesel, like Kalifornia and Hawaii.

Though we pay more for gas it has nothing to do with the state government. I wish it did, then maybe we could put pressure on some politicians ti get the price lowered, more in line with other states that have refineries 30 miles from some of the highest priced gas on the west coast. I can't speak to the availability of E0, whether the state has anything to do with that.
Modern cars and trucks should be able to handle E15 gas with no operation problems. But small equipment seems to be a crap shoot. I have spoken to folks who have found no difference between E15 and E0. But in my equipment I have. I have found that my Stihl chainsaw, my Kohler powered log splitter, my John Deere lawn tractor, my Briggs powered push lawnmower, and my Kohler powered Troy-Bilt rototiller all became much more reliable after switching over to E0.
My 40 some year old Johnson outboard motor also likes E0 better.
I am careful with my gas powered stuff because I truly HATE working on small engines now. Bad arthritis in my wrists and fingers contributes to my HATE of working on small engines. Anyway, I really pay attention now to what makes my small engines start and run better. I don't care about anecdotes I hear about this and that product, this and that gas formulation, and so on. I care about what has worked for me. And E0 works the best for me for making my engines start easily and quickly, and running trouble free.
Eric

 

[ericm979]

It's my understanding that the ethanol has something to do with cleaner air, not more efficient engines'

Ethanol has less energy per unit volume than gasoline. However the difference between E10 and E0 is small, about 3%.

It makes old carbureted and early FI engines run leaner. Often that means they run cleaner as a result. But there's not a lot of them on the road.

Making fuel from plants that got carbon from the air is better for climate change than making it from carbon that had been safely buried far underground for millions of years.

The main reason for ethanol in fuel these days is the powerful big ag lobby that makes money off it.

. I run E-0 in all of my small engines except my snowsled, which takes a minimum of 91 octane. It's only 3 years old though, any engine made that recently should be able to handle the ethanol.

Any gas powered machine built in the last 30 years uses fuel system materials that can handle ethanol. However phase separation can be a problem if the fuel gets water in it and gets cold.