At one of the boat docks I get ethanol free gas at for storage of the stuff i don't use much in general or over winter saw this website on their door. Pretty good site.
I can't recall ever having to clean a carburetor or having fuel issues in stuff that sets when I put 0% e90 in them.
Or look for a Sheetz.
Thst pure gas website is great.
im still wondering why ethanol is called "gas" and real pure gasoline is called "non-ethanol".
In florida at least, Wawa has made non-ethanol available and much cheaper. Previously i had 1 independent old cracky corner store that sold it at about twice the cost of ethanol. Now that a few wawa's are around, REAL gasoline has gotten cheaper all around.
EvanB said:Or look for a newly built or renovated Sheetz.
Ftfy
In reply to RevRico :
This. But the closest Sheetz to the house is 20min one way.
IMHO, it would be better if we held the small engine makers more accountable for not being robust to the most common fuel in the market. It's not as if E10 is even marginally new. Cars don't suffer this problem.
In reply to alfadriver :
Cars that set all winter or arnt driven often definitely have this issue. I will clean 20 sets or more of injectors every spring for people from the goop that ethanol produces. That's just in cars/trucks.
I've never had a problem with ethanol gas. My El Camino has burned it exclusively for the past 16 years without a carb rebuild. The trick is actually driving and using your stuff on a regular basis. If you let a car, engine, or boat sit, just put stabilizer in it.
Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to alfadriver :
Cars that set all winter or arnt driven often definitely have this issue. I will clean 20 sets or more of injectors every spring for people from the goop that ethanol produces. That's just in cars/trucks.
what about when using fuel stabilizer?
Many Stewarts have eth free, but then it goes from 93 to 91 octane. Pick your poison.
Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to alfadriver :
Cars that set all winter or arnt driven often definitely have this issue. I will clean 20 sets or more of injectors every spring for people from the goop that ethanol produces. That's just in cars/trucks.
Not nearly the same way. The goop you are cleaning isn't nearly the same goop that is seen in carbs. That, and I don't see 20 has a massive amount of cleaning required. That, and I've driven my fuel injected Alfa maybe 5 times since 2014, and it starts and runs every single time- very unlike my chipper.
I'd also wonder if the goop you are cleaning actually needs cleaned or not. Does it prevent the car from running, or does it just change it. Let alone, the exposure you are cleaning is not the same as a small engine carb- fuel injector tips are not constantly exposed to fuel- once the pressure drops enough, IF (and that's a big if) the injectors leak, there's hardly any fuel coming out compared to what is in a float bowl.
What you are cleaning is long chain HC's that have a tough time evaporating off of the tip of the injectors- the metal isn't reacting with the fuel. Whereas in small engines, the crappy metal used actually reacts with the fuel.
I don't know what you guys are doing but I have so many small engine powered devices running fine on E10, or whatever it is now, that I only have a problem if I let it sit more than a handful of years, and even then it's out of the ordinary. Otherwise, the chainsaw, trimmer, tiller, generators, and bikes start up just fine every spring. I do put stabilizer in the big generator, but it's run exactly twice in the last 3 years, and the fuel is probably the better part of 5 years old.
There is place in the San Fernando valley , near Van nuys airport that has E-free gas that is sold as Racing Gas ,
its $9.99 a gallon when I looked last week.
alfadriver said:Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to alfadriver :
Cars that set all winter or arnt driven often definitely have this issue. I will clean 20 sets or more of injectors every spring for people from the goop that ethanol produces. That's just in cars/trucks.
Not nearly the same way. The goop you are cleaning isn't nearly the same goop that is seen in carbs. That, and I don't see 20 has a massive amount of cleaning required. That, and I've driven my fuel injected Alfa maybe 5 times since 2014, and it starts and runs every single time- very unlike my chipper.
I'd also wonder if the goop you are cleaning actually needs cleaned or not. Does it prevent the car from running, or does it just change it. Let alone, the exposure you are cleaning is not the same as a small engine carb- fuel injector tips are not constantly exposed to fuel- once the pressure drops enough, IF (and that's a big if) the injectors leak, there's hardly any fuel coming out compared to what is in a float bowl.
What you are cleaning is long chain HC's that have a tough time evaporating off of the tip of the injectors- the metal isn't reacting with the fuel. Whereas in small engines, the crappy metal used actually reacts with the fuel.
The goop I'm cleaning is definitely the goop from ethanol, ill grab some pics of the stuff. Often times does prevent the car from running. I notnally don't see the same cars yearly, but every few years.
In reply to Peabody :
I Often buy all my stuff broken (generators, chain saws, motorcycles ECT) most need a carb kit/clean and they are good to go. When you dump the fuel out and it's sperated it makes me not want to put the same stuff back in.
ClearWaterMS said:Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to alfadriver :
Cars that set all winter or arnt driven often definitely have this issue. I will clean 20 sets or more of injectors every spring for people from the goop that ethanol produces. That's just in cars/trucks.
what about when using fuel stabilizer?
I have not tried any.
We've talked to Sunoco a bunch about ethanol and non-ethanol fuel. Here are a few articles that I think could help:
Peabody said:I don't know what you guys are doing but I have so many small engine powered devices running fine on E10, or whatever it is now, that I only have a problem if I let it sit more than a handful of years, and even then it's out of the ordinary. Otherwise, the chainsaw, trimmer, tiller, generators, and bikes start up just fine every spring. I do put stabilizer in the big generator, but it's run exactly twice in the last 3 years, and the fuel is probably the better part of 5 years old.
Yeah I can't remember the last time I did anything to winterize my lawn mower and it has yet to have any issue starting after sitting for 4-6 months. It does live inside though so it doesn't see quite the temperature lows and fluctuations that it could, but still. It is newer, I think 2014 vintage, so maybe small engine manufacturers *are* finally starting to make their stuff ethanol-proof.
In reply to Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) :
Post the pics. Ethanol is a solvent to both water and fuel, and it's an incredibly small HC- so it doesn't leave deposits anywhere near like the longer chain HC's in fuel do.
And deposits are not what is happening in small engines- those are chemical reactions that leave precipitates, clogging the passages.
When I worked at Chevron in the summer of '89, I was involved with deposit research- and the nominal fuel we were using was E0, since that's what was used then. E0 deposits quite a bit- but it's very dependent on the engine.
In reply to alfadriver :
This is one from a set I got setting at the house to do, the injector clicks when powered but does not spray fuel.
Ill also say it's probably less of a issue with the ethanol in the fuel, but the water that comes with it.
Neither alcohol nor water deposit anything. If you can clean those to run, that isn't corrosion, but deposits- which, as I've mentioned, are long chain HC's in the fuel. If it's the alcohol's fault, then it's because the fuel maker has cheapened out the base HC mix since alcohol brings a lot of octane rating with it.
Water needs minerals to be conductive so that it can cause corrosion- and those minerals would have to be present in the fuel- since the water vapor is pure H2O and is non-conductive.
And the ethanol corrosion I've seen is more blue/green and powdery where I've seen it happen.
If you think that "pure fuel" is the best solution, that's fine, though. It's your money. Just make sure the pure fuel is rated for road/car use, as it will most certainly have a decent detergent mix in it.
In reply to alfadriver :
I guess I need to do some more research then. I know with my small carbureted things I get the blue/green crystals and sometimes gets the dark green sludge.
I'll yank the injector out of the parts car, now that I'm curious when I am around it next. I know when I was tuning the GLH the 93 by the Dyno was marked e10 but was closer to e25 when tested, and after it set all winter it did have the cristals on injector tips, they didn't clean up.
The black goop that's on the injector above feels and acts just like the stuff I have found in a bunch of carbs.
Good chance I am wrong. Now to research deeper into the subject.
Per my past holley efi class, the instructor made mention that "gas" today has more "plastic", or very long polymerized carbon chains, in it than something resembling real gas. It's why diesel is 5.50/gal. You can't "fake" it with additives.
But back to the original question, Bucee's.
I happen to have a local gas station that has all ethanol free gas, but the highest octane they have is 89. And yes, their 89 is more expensive than the typical ethanol added premium around here at 92 octane. I've got a tune on my car specifically for running 92, so I've never gone there to get gas for the car, but I do go there to pick up gas for my lawnmower, pressure washer and other small engine stuff.
My friend takes care of a collection of 25 1950s-60s cars , a few get pulled out for a car show , but it can be a year or two before all of them will get used.
What would you do ?
run the fuel out of the carbs ?
empty the gas tank ?
add something to the fuel ?
E-free fuel ?
Thanks for your advise
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