Does ethanol blended gas gel?

[Fordman1981]

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?

 

[puckgrinder85]

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..

 

[creekbend]

Mechanics see ethanol damaging small engines - Business - Consumer news | NBC News

 

[Leejohn]

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.

 

[KYDan]

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.

 

[Fordman1981]

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.

 

[3930dave]

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.

 

[Fordman1981]

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.

 

[Diamondpilot]

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

 

[carmedic310]

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

 

[3930dave]

Thanks I will look into that I don't want to be taking apart and cleaning my carb regularly.

You're welcome, anytime.

Even if you know how to service carbs (many don't, today), there are other things most of us would rather do !

Growing up in the North, I was taught to park with a full gas tank. The condensation issue seems intuitive if you have to deal with Winter, but the reality is that unless you live in the middle of the Mohave, you probably have to worry about condensation in fuel tanks. This issue mattered even with olde school gas, but it became ultra critical once the ethanol dilution game came along.

Another thing to consider is that as the % ethanol climbs, the lubricating properties of the "gas" declines. To combat that issue, I run Lucas Upper Cylinder lubricant in the road vehicles that I run E10 in.

These new fuels definitely remind me of the "Ounce of Prevention....." saying.

If you really want to scare yourself, read through this material about the impact of E15 - one of the links on that page takes you to a very detailed test of fuel pumps (2001 and newer). Not pretty.

Tests show E15 use may harm fuel systems in millions of vehicles

Rgds, D.

 

[Looking4new]

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.

Shell V-Power is straight gas....NO ETHONAL. you WILL pay a premium for it. It is they're high test/super.

 

[Fordman1981]

Shell V-Power is straight gas....NO ETHONAL. you WILL pay a premium for it. It is they're high test/super.

Thanks I'll see what the closest shell is later.

 

[kevin37b]

We had a little FS station selling it here and the supplier made it to expensive .The problem with corn is it fuels livestock well , not so much a vehicle .

 

[don45640]

FordMan,I hope you're right,but ethanol is so prevalent down here in SHIO that I would have to test Shell Super to believe it,NO OFFENSE.
The test is so easy,it's laughable. We have it posted on the site. don-ohio ^)

 

[Copperhead]

Mechanics see ethanol damaging small engines - Business - Consumer news | NBC News

that article was updated in 2008. Boy that is really current. Find something related that is more like in the last year?

I have been using 10% ethanol in everything that runs on gasoline from my chain saw to my portable generators to my vehicles since the late 70's / early 80's. Even ran a 30% blend in a 2002 Chevy Cavalier (non flex fuel) that the wife had and never had an issue. I have NEVER had a fuel related problem. Never added anything to the mix either. There are some things that get attributed to being caused by ethanol like the manufacturer used poor quality components, owner did not do regular maintenance issues like changing fuel filters, etc. Phase separation and such are over blown issues with no real merit. Some even claim that the standard aluminum tanker trucks need special tanks to haul ethanol. As a person who had tanked fuel, I can tell you that is absolute rubbish. The same aluminum tanker hauls, straight ethanol, blended, dino diesel, and bio diesel.

Anecdotal stories make for nice copy in the newsroom, but hardly pass for scientific analysis. Groups like the Technology and Maintenance Council, who is the de facto industry standard regarding fleet vehicle maintenance from small vehicles up thru class 8 trucks, has shown no real problem in their testing of ethanol fuels in vehicles which were built using industry standard components. Only when substandard components were used or improper maintenance performed did issues crop up.

But I am confident that I did not make a dent in anyone's perception who has a conspiracy theory type of mindset.

 

[cmore]

I have had the snot issue in one mower and it took two carburetor tear downs to correct the problem. Also have had issues with 3 chain saws, the fuel lines disintegrated and on one the seals did also. A power washer and one lawn mower had the same issue. All of these issues were caused not by manufacture or user defects but were ethanol caused from the gov mandate. The mower with the snot issue was fairly new the other engines were 8 or more years old. If u have had no issues, good for u.

 

[don45640]

Copperhead,ethanol attracts water and the result is a corrosive mixture(I'm glad you had no ill effects,but many of us have) and remember that Stihl chainsaw several years ago would test your gas and void your warranty if they found ethanol. Now everyone has to be politically correct, but ethanol is still a gas mileage liability and causes storage problems especially in small engines.Worse in high humidity. don-ohio ^)

 

[Fordman1981]

that article was updated in 2008. Boy that is really current. Find something related that is more like in the last year?

I have been using 10% ethanol in everything that runs on gasoline from my chain saw to my portable generators to my vehicles since the late 70's / early 80's. Even ran a 30% blend in a 2002 Chevy Cavalier (non flex fuel) that the wife had and never had an issue. I have NEVER had a fuel related problem. Never added anything to the mix either. There are some things that get attributed to being caused by ethanol like the manufacturer used poor quality components, owner did not do regular maintenance issues like changing fuel filters, etc. Phase separation and such are over blown issues with no real merit. Some even claim that the standard aluminum tanker trucks need special tanks to haul ethanol. As a person who had tanked fuel, I can tell you that is absolute rubbish. The same aluminum tanker hauls, straight ethanol, blended, dino diesel, and bio diesel.

Anecdotal stories make for nice copy in the newsroom, but hardly pass for scientific analysis. Groups like the Technology and Maintenance Council, who is the de facto industry standard regarding fleet vehicle maintenance from small vehicles up thru class 8 trucks, has shown no real problem in their testing of ethanol fuels in vehicles which were built using industry standard components. Only when substandard components were used or improper maintenance performed did issues crop up.

But I am confident that I did not make a dent in anyone's perception who has a conspiracy theory type of mindset.

The thing is all these test that says it's fine may be true for people that use their vehicles often. I think where you run into a problem is when a vehicle sits. I mean look at the pictures in my first post. I never seen that before ethanol blend when I pulled a carb apart. It is defiantly not poor parts either that is an Edlebrock carb. I have never had anything but great service out of them.

 

[maxwell1]

as others said, just run the non ethanol gas in all engines not designed for ethanol gas.

but if you have to run the ethanol gas there is a material sold at the parts store that you can mix with the gas to stop some of ethanol's effects.

i had the fuel system on my old 1958 johnson boat motor reworked so it could use ethanol gas if i had to use it. cost me $100 on an old motor that only on a good day might be worth $50.