hmmmm.......(biodiesel discussion)

[Guest]

Well if you ran an ethanol and castor oil mix, you could just re-jet and run the engine as-is...the only drawback is you'd go from 150 mpg's to around 50.

Plus, I think it would be cost prohibitive from the standpoint that castor oil ain't cheap and neither is ethanol.

 

[gone_fishin]

it's only "not cheap" because we haven't put it to good use yet, no?

plus...i think you could do better than 50mpg. my original assertion that intake is the big issue still stands.

 

[rcjunkie]

You won't need to triple the size of the jet.

Gas engines run at 14.2:1 fuel:air ratio
Ethanol runs at 9:1 approximately fuel:air ratio

Since E100 isn't commercially available and would contain 4% water content (it is impossible to obtain 100% pure alchol from distillation, see your chemistry class notes regarding azeotropes) your best bet is E85 which is easily available.

Note: ethanol engines don't last as long because the ethanol washes off residual lube off of cylinder walls in 4 strokes but don't know if same applies to 2 strokes are mixed with oil in the fuel.

 

[bamabikeguy]

I vapor locked my engine ONE TIME, hiccuped for 30 roller coaster miles on Highway 36, traveling west out of Oberlin Kansas.

Stopping at a small engine/ATV dealer, he told me to dump the "corn blended gas" I had in my tank and spares, gave me enough major brand mid grade to get me 100 miles farther up the road.

rcjunkie's comment is one the mark, because blended gas is prettymuch unregulated, and water content is such a problem that later, in Oklahoma, I heard of entire towns that banned the sale.

Note: ethanol engines don't last as long because the ethanol washes off residual lube off of cylinder walls in 4 strokes but don't know if same applies to 2 strokes are mixed with oil in the fuel.

Thank you Saab for providing me the answer to all future questions by interested customers:

As dumb as it sounds its going to be hard to find something cheaper than gasoline, easy to get, and energy efficient