ethanol damaging our engines?

[happyjourney]

i've been reading again folks. just wanted to know what you guys know about this. i'm just learning about engines so i haven't got much experience or knowledge on the topic. this article says ethanol is destroying engines and smaller engines and such are more susceptible. http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/may2009/bw20090514_058678.htm

 

[Al.Fisherman]

Ethanol fuel is the least of the problems with these low $ engines.
Don't worry about it!

Make sure you buy racing fuel when you head out for Bonneville and a new speed record in your class!
Good luck to you.
rc

My thoughts exactly. Worry about something that cost more then $200.00 to replace, like automobile engines, motorcycles, boat engines etc. Ethanol is the least of our problems, engine will most likely craaaap out before Ethanol is a factor.

 

[tone2crazy]

i used e85 in my racing days. never hurt my engine. the main problem wit e85 is it rots out rubber and plastic parts. although i never had problems. but the octane ratings are like 115 or something. and its alot cheaper then race gas, **** even regular gas.

usually e85 will ruin the GAS LINES in a car. i never heard of it ruining the engine when the proper gas lines are used. if you used the standard gas lines in your car they can gum up and send peices to your engine. but i never had problems like that on my goped.

 

[Al.Fisherman]

i used e85 in my racing days. never hurt my engine. the main problem wit e85 is it rots out rubber and plastic parts. although i never had problems. but the octane ratings are like 115 or something. and its alot cheaper then race gas, **** even regular gas.

usually e85 will ruin the GAS LINES in a car. i never heard of it ruining the engine when the proper gas lines are used. if you used the standard gas lines in your car they can gum up and send peices to your engine. but i never had problems like that on my goped.

The problem is not in the engine themselves...it's the older engines that have original fuel lines used with non ethanol fuel and possible damage to seals. Although this would be suited in another post, but, the 15% ethanol we use is less efficient, cost more per gallon in energy to make then what we get out of it, destroys more of the environment and drives up the cost of everything made with corn.

 

[back2theborstal]

i drive a 1974 chrysler newport. and since i have old cars that this is a more important factor with, i have researched this some. what i have come up with is yes it does rot plastic and rubber. it can mess with the carburetor (which cars havent used since the late 80's). it will also clean the whole fuel system out. which can cause gunk and rust that had built up in the gas tank for years to come loose and damage or plug up the fuel pump, and filter. ethanol also being an alcohol atttracks water. which will make your engine run like ****. and if enough gets in, will do damage. gas with ethanol has a shelf life of about 30 days before it gets polluted enough to make the car, (or whatever engine) run bad. ethanol also has less energy stored in it. which means less power, and less mileage for the same amount of fuel. you get about 10-15% less miles per gallon when using E10. also ethanol cumbusts quicker. which means although it may have a certain octane rating, it really is less. and can cause the dreaded engine pinging (pre detonation).

really all around ethanol is ****. i think its all well and good for new cars that are made to run on it. but what about us with old cars? and yes with small engines. because there is alot said about how it is bad for small engines. and especially boat and airplane engines. i think its bull that we dont have the option to buy pure gas. there are very FEW stations that still sell pure gas. and there are none in my area any longer. they stopped selling it at the "kwik fill" staions in november. and i really like them because they produce the gas about 60 miles away. and use 100% american crude oil. there is a site where you can find stations that sell pure gas. although the site hasnt gotten updated and probably 50% of the few listed dont sell pure gas any more. but check it out... www.puregas.com

you can even buy kits to test if there is ethanol in the gas. but the easy way to do it is fill a clear bottle up with water and put a mark on the bottle. then put the gas in. the gas will seperate from the water. and if there is any ethanol in the gas, it will mix with the water. and you will be able to see the water level get higher. this is also a way you can seperate the ethanol out of the fuel. mix with water and shake it up hard and let it settle for an hour. then take the (almost) pure gas from the top. there will always be a tiny amount of ethanol left. but probably less than 1% of what was in there.

 

[happyjourney]

that might be the ticket to cleaning up the gas if i feel worried about it. but won't i have to let the gas sit to dry up the water thats still left in the gas i siphon out? another thing to worry about is wether everyone is going to try and kill me so they can get my motorized bicycle when gas goes up to 6 dollars a gallon. i'm gonna have to get some guns. oh well, more money i gotta spend. the saga continues... lol

 

[happyjourney]

i thought that puregas.com site was going to show me some sites selling pure gas, not gas testing equipment.

 

[RedBaronX]

there is only one place in my general area that sells "real" gas (but it's still like 50 miles out of my way). Luckily I will be driving past there Wednesday on a nearly empty tank in my car. My car is old enough that it runs better on gas with no ethanol, but I'm not going to worry too much about it with my HT

 

[RedBaronX]

"real gas" not "pure gas"

Real Gas

 

[happyjourney]

thanks for clarification. conch harbor marina is the only place around me that sells real gas supposedly. it looks pretty fancy dancy from the web site. i'm gonna love walking up in there unshaven with grease on my hands holding a gas can.