10% Ethanol, Heads Up!

[jinman]

It's hard for me to know for sure if each load of fuel is 10% ethanol or maybe more or less. I have no way of reliably measuring the content, so I just have to say that the fuel I purchase at the Murphy station at our local Walmart has been problematic. It has caused havoc with all my 2-cycle motors including my Stihl chainsaw, my Weedeater, and a hand tiller. All of those have shown dissolved hoses or carburetor components. My brand new John Deere mower started having carburetor float valve sticking problems. The needle valve had a rubber tip for sealing and that tip became soft enough that it would stick shut and not allow fuel into the float bowl. I had to pressurize the inlet tubing with compressed air to blow open the valve everytime I went to use the mower after it sat for 24 hours. Also, our Kawasaki Mule would not idle properly. At low rpm, it was erratic and would often die. I adjusted the idle up slightly so it would idle and still let me put it into gear without grinding.

A couple of months ago, I found a station in town with non-ethanol added fuel. I bought 15 gallons of gasoline from them since I was out of the ethanol-added fuel. The most immediate and unbelievable response was the JD mower. After running 1/2 tank of fuel, the starting problem vanished. The float chamber needle valve has worked perfectly since with over a dozen starts without a single problem. My Stihl chainsaw was fixed and now seems to start and run easier on the non-ethanol fuel. I know our Weedeater is not nearly as hard to start and keep running, and the Kawasaki Mule idles perfectly. I don't know if any of this is due to ethanol for sure, but would anyone blame me for not buying the ethanol added fuel at Murphy USA for my small engines? The ethanol fuel seems to work fine in our cars, but I just feel there is too much evidence that something does not work well with that gas in our small engines. I will be happy to buy and pay extra for the non-ethanol fuel for as long as I can buy it.

 

[Bird]

Jim, I figure whatever works. With your experience, I'd probably stay away from Murphy USA gas. I've used their gas before with no problems, but I quit buying from them for different reasons: (1) they have that loud obnoxious "gas station TV" going, (2) the layout makes them a little more awkward to get in and out of that the two much newer Quik Trip gas station/convenience stores in the area with prices just as cheap as Murphy USA and the Quik Trip facilities are not only newer but cleaner.

Of course, as you said, I don't know just what percentage of ethanol is in either gas, but they both have signs showing they have ethanol. If I knew where I could buy gas without ethanol, I'd probably do so.

 

[MossRoad]

It's hard for me to know for sure if each load of fuel is 10% ethanol or maybe more or less. I have no way of reliably measuring the content, so I just have to say that the fuel I purchase at the Murphy station at our local Walmart has been problematic. It has caused havoc with all my 2-cycle motors including my Stihl chainsaw, my Weedeater, and a hand tiller. All of those have shown dissolved hoses or carburetor components. My brand new John Deere mower started having carburetor float valve sticking problems. The needle valve had a rubber tip for sealing and that tip became soft enough that it would stick shut and not allow fuel into the float bowl. I had to pressurize the inlet tubing with compressed air to blow open the valve everytime I went to use the mower after it sat for 24 hours. Also, our Kawasaki Mule would not idle properly. At low rpm, it was erratic and would often die. I adjusted the idle up slightly so it would idle and still let me put it into gear without grinding.

A couple of months ago, I found a station in town with non-ethanol added fuel. I bought 15 gallons of gasoline from them since I was out of the ethanol-added fuel. The most immediate and unbelievable response was the JD mower. After running 1/2 tank of fuel, the starting problem vanished. The float chamber needle valve has worked perfectly since with over a dozen starts without a single problem. My Stihl chainsaw was fixed and now seems to start and run easier on the non-ethanol fuel. I know our Weedeater is not nearly as hard to start and keep running, and the Kawasaki Mule idles perfectly. I don't know if any of this is due to ethanol for sure, but would anyone blame me for not buying the ethanol added fuel at Murphy USA for my small engines? The ethanol fuel seems to work fine in our cars, but I just feel there is too much evidence that something does not work well with that gas in our small engines. I will be happy to buy and pay extra for the non-ethanol fuel for as long as I can buy it.

Makes you wonder if there are different types of "ethanol", doesn't it?

 

[Skyco]

It's hard for me to know for sure if each load of fuel is 10% ethanol or maybe more or less. I have no way of reliably measuring the content, so I just have to say that the fuel I purchase at the Murphy station at our local Walmart has been problematic.

I read somewhere that someone did some testing and found a huge variation in ethanol content...IIRC as much as 30% at one station. Actually it is real easy to measure the ethanol content with a graduated container and some water...
I buy only ethanol free for everything I have that runs on gas except for the wife's car...
I've had my fill of hardened plastic fuel lines on small equipment- the ones that poke through the wall of the tank and the OD is supposed to seal by interference fit...turns out they shrink as they harden from the ethanol...makes a mess and simply won't run in some cases if they leak because instead of a fuel pump the tank is pressurized slightly by another line.

 

[keegs]

Well ...if the wholesale price of ethanol was say ....20% < than the wholesale price of motor gasoline then I guess there'd be every incentive for the refiners to increase their bottom line and the ethanol content in their blend.

But again ...I've been using it for years and haven't had any problems with my small engine tools.

 

[rswyan]

It seems to eat up fuel lines. I worked on one older chainsaw that the fuel line had turned into a brown puddle of goo in the bottom of the fuel tank. And I just had to replace the fuel lines in my weedeater- they were the consistency of cooked pasta.

I just replaced the in-tank fuel pickup line on my Echo blower about a month ago ..... same deal ... it was almost like play-doh .....

On the otherhand, I just rebuilt the carb on my Stihl chainsaw which is probably a good 15 years older than the Echo blower - the fuel lines were really all in good shape, although I did replace the one from the tank to the carb, since I had it apart.

 

[keegs]

http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-6015/BAE-1746pod.pdf

 

[weldingisfun]

Interesting. Thanks,Keegs.

 

[jinman]

Yes, Keegs, it is an interesting paper and my feelings are summed up in the final conclusion:

"E10 ethanol blended fuels may or may not make engines more
susceptible to problems. There is no clear evidence one way or the
other. In the absence of perfect knowledge, diligence in the form of
routine inspection and maintenance is the best way to avoid problems."

 

[Chuck52]

I read somewhere that someone did some testing and found a huge variation in ethanol content...IIRC as much as 30% at one station. Actually it is real easy to measure the ethanol content with a graduated container and some water...
I buy only ethanol free for everything I have that runs on gas except for the wife's car...
I've had my fill of hardened plastic fuel lines on small equipment- the ones that poke through the wall of the tank and the OD is supposed to seal by interference fit...turns out they shrink as they harden from the ethanol...makes a mess and simply won't run in some cases if they leak because instead of a fuel pump the tank is pressurized slightly by another line.

I've got a Ryobi tiller with one of those fuel lines that got hard and just broke. However, I've only used high test fuel in it because it runs the same 50:1 oil mix as my Stihl trimmer and Stihl recommended high test fuel. I don't know for sure, but I thought the high test was ethanol free. The mid range fuel around here is 10% ethanol, but the higher octane doesn't specifically say.

Chuck