Gasoline - Ethanol or Non-Ethanol

[sixdogs]

Well is does state that at the pump,,,, so I'd say it is.

You are lucky to have that.

 

[Zerk]

I have been using Non-Ethanol fuel for the last couple of years, after having to replace the fuel lines on every gasoline powered lawn tool I have; a major headache. However, my local non-ethanol supplier has discontinued selling non-ethanol. Now the nearest source is 20 miles away and the cost is over $0.40/gallon more than ethanol added fuel.

Price on ethanol added is $2.45/gal (87 octane) - Non-ethanol is $2.89 (90 octane)

Do you use only non-ethanol gasoline in your lawn implements?

How much grass you cutting that $.40/ gallon matters?

It is about 20 miles for me too. I try to pick it up in my travels. But I have bought ethanol when I had to.

 

[RalphVa]

I mostly use non alcoholic fuel because the Exxon station where I get it also has diesel fuel side by side. I usually time it so that I get the gasoline and diesel for my generator and/or tractor at the same time. I've sometimes gotten alcoholic gasoline when refueling my pickup with same, but this is rare. Only have my pickup and Honda and JD walk behind lawn mowers that need gasoline. Gave away all my chain saws and weed whackers because I'm not supposed to have engine ignition systems close to my ICD. Only use rechargeables for these and actually mostly use a rechargeable lawn mower. My wife uses the motor lawn mowers.

Ralph

Ralph

 

[TomSeller]

Here in MI, ethanol is added to all fuels for clean air reasons. Exception to that is premium fuel

That makes a lot of sense (Premium non alcoholic fuel). More states should do that.

 

[CurlyDave]

As much as I can I use nothing but non-alcohol premium treated with a triple dose of Sta-Bil in all small engines. It has never failed me yet. Put the additive in before you fill the can and it doesn't have to be stirred. Just pumping it in agitates it plenty.

The cost of the gas is nothing compared to the cost of getting the carb rebuilt like my friends have had to do, and some have even thrown out otherwise good lawn equipment from having the gas go bad. The frustration around here is that there are not really that many good small engine mechanics. Anyone can hang out a shingle and after 3 or 4 trips back to the same shop to get a carb fixed right, they just give up.

20 miles to get the right gas is nothing compared to the time to take the engine back a few times.

The only exception is my generator in hunting season where it is not possible to get non-ethanol premium. Then I have to rely on the triple Sta-Bil and that seems to work, although I try to run that gas out of the generator right after the season is over and get the good stuff in the tank and carb.

Now, why do I put Sta-Bil in gas that I know I am going to use up completely this week? Well, many years ago I had a family emergency come up and I had to put down the saw I was using and take care of an extended illness. When I got back to the saw, a few months later, it was trashed. The cost of the stabilizer is very low compared to the cost of new equipment.

 

[sixdogs]

I also put Stabil in the can before I fill it and it mixes well and there never is a question if it was done or not. Separately, I have found that a mix of pure gas and oil in my two stoke equipment will often solve starting problems if you try to start the item and then let in sit in the tank for couple of days. I have read that the pure gas can dissolve "gumming" or deposits or whatever was left behind by the ethanol blend. It won't fix rotted seals or lines but apparently fixes some problems.

This worked a couple weeks ago with a friends newer 2stroke Echo $240 weed whacker that he neglected to run dry before storage last year. It just wouldn't start or run right and I just about gave up but I seemed to be making progress. Out of frustration I let it sit for three days with the pure gas and oil mix and it now runs dramatically better. In this mix was some "Sea Foam" fuel treatment as well. Beats me but that combination works and I almost have the engine running normal. For what it's worth.

 

[TomSeller]

I have purchased used small gas engines in the past that were not working and if they had a carb problem, I just bought a new carb. I would research the cost of a new carb before buying the engine.

 

[Gary Fowler]

New carbs are sometimes much cheaper than a shop visit to rebuild/clean the carb. My BIL once had a generator that wouldn't run so he bought a new carb for it for $25. It still wouldn't run, it would start up and then stall in a few seconds. We tried everything we could think of and finally while tilting the generator over to get at a bolt on the fuel tank, I noticed something white inside the muffler. After poking at it with a long screwdriver I found that a dirt dauber had stopped up the muffler. I removed the muffler and it started right up. I then ran the muffler full of water and flushed out all the dirt dauber nest, reinstalled it and it started right up, problem finally solved. Now it sets with the muffler taped closed to prevent the little rascals from attacking the muffler.
SO, not all starting problems have to do with bad gas. I also had a muffler carbon up and the engine would only run at about half throttle, this one finally went to the shop to find out what was wrong.

 

[Wa11banger]

I wonder how many carb rebuilds are the result of poor maintenance vs fuel type..

It seems we all have an experience or two that favor either situation.. But one or the other thing has happened with one or the other situation. I have never had a carb gum up that I didn't leave fuel in. It is fact that even properly mixed Non E fuel can gum up a small engine if left in the carb. It is not the fuel, simply the oils from the additive that are left from the evaporation of the fuel can gum up a carb.. Ethanol or non ethanol fuel being used is irrelevant in this statement. Run em dry either way and they don't gum up

 

[dickfoster]

Ethanol is a cheap way to oxygenate the fuel.
Other methods cost more money
In my area too hard to get pure fuel
Add stabilizers and deal with ethanol

Ethanol is just a way to use up subsidized corn that we don't need or want. It's not really useful for anything and accomplishes nothing. I call it the great ethanol debacle. BTW by the time its all said and done it costs more oil to produce ethanol than it saves. Another funny was the fact that the greenies were applauding Brazil for going to Ethanol to run their cars but of course brazil was ravaging the rain forests to grow sugar cane to produce the ethanol to run their cars then the price of sugar went up and they had no more fuel for their cars. The more the loony left gets into the problem solving the more they screw things up. It's time to leave solving engineering challenges to the engineers and not the tree huggers or politicians.