VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc Ethanol

I recently read that Shell premium does not contain ethanol.

Is that true?

Hagerty Insurance says ethanol costs more to refine, shortens engine life, melts fuel pump parts, produces fewer MPG, less horsepower and higher CO and hydrocarbon emissions, clogs carburetor jets and fuel injectors with a gummy residue, corrodes gas tanks and exhaust systems and for antique and classic autos is a constant source of trouble.

The Shell preimum in this area contains ethanol. There is one exception. There is a station 25 miles out in the country that sells Shell premimum at a high cost. Another station across the street from that Shell sells regular grade with out ethanol for a small added cost. I believe this is legal in rural areas for farm equipment.
Personally I have used ethanol for the last 25 years with no problems. I do get the non-ethanol for my small engine equipment for winter storage.
Shell stations are disappearing in this area......note it should say "contains up to 10% ethanol" on the pump.

If Ethanol is that great and it does no harm then you should not have to replace it with non-Ethanol in your small engines for winter storage.

By the way, the Shell stations in my area all have Ethanol in their premium gas.

Because they have smaller passages to plug up and every body around here does it.
Never had a car problem
The only time I had a problem is when I added Stabil to my garden tractor.

If the Ethanol gas was that fantastic you should be able to use it in anything all year long.

Even the gas stations down here have a sticker on the "E10" pump saying "Not suitable for small or Marine engines". My question is "does this tell you something?"
Tony

Yes the manufactures do not want to build there products that are comparable with E-10

But the sticker is from the oil company though I have seen some new small engines with a "Do Not use Ethanol Fuel".
Tony

Ethanol is just one of many reasons we know that Washington runs on bribery and extortion.

My experience is you can run ethanol fuel in your small motors...
BUT...Then run them dry, then add a part of a quart of ethanol free gas ($6 bucks/quart) you can find at your local hardware store, start it up again then leave it for an extended length of time...Will start...Run for a few minutes...Add the ethanol 'till your done...Dump the remaining out...repeat...

If the Ethanol gas was any good then there would be absolutely no need to do any of those procedures.

Well, that is correct...This was just a way I try to keep the damage that ethanol causes me and my small motors...I now have 5 chainsaws that won't even run...!

That is a very good reason to avoid ethanol detracted fuel like the plague.
Tony

I agree. With a storm coming in my neighbor went to start his generator which he had added Sta-bil to and when he opened the gas shutoff valve the gas just ran thru and onto the ground. It had been 6 months since it last ran.

Last week I went to a gas station that just started caring ethanol free gas. I only bought 2 gallons and mixed the oil in it for my snow thrower. So my cost for this was about $2.20 a gallon more than gas with enthanol. I used around a gallon of gas to get there and back. My total costs were approx. $14.00 more than the corn juice. It cost me $107.00 to have my two year old Toro carb rebuilt because of the e-junk. Money well spent in my opinion.

Funny thing is it doesn't seem to effect my lawn mower...Weird

I agree.

When I mothball my small engines (chainsaw, polesaw, generator, log splitter, string trimmer) I turn off the gas supply or empty the gas tank then run the engines out of gas, emptying the carb. That was worked on all of those tools so far, most about 15 years old or older.

It's hard to imagine how ethanol would effect a carburetor differently whether it's on a car, motorcycle, or "small" engine. In all cases it's a casting with various orofices, a float controlled needle/seat and in the case of garden/logging tools a diaphragm.

I think the difference is the rubber parts that may be in them. The only trouble I have had is a rubber diaphragm in a small push lawnmower seemed to soften up and shrink. I replaced it a couple of times. I think the small engine industry is behind the times as far as building carburetors that are ethanol tolerant. I don't believe the metal parts are affected by ethanol in any engine.

The die-cast and steel parts are rusted due to the water attracted by the ethanol. It can destroy a carburetor in a few months given the right conditions.

Well, sorry to disagree but, the water either pools in your gas tank as condensation and rusts it or it is blended with the fuel as in products like gas line antifreeze and burned in the engine. I have still never had metal damage from ethanol and I have used it in my modern cars since 1990. I normally don't use it in my old cars because of the fuel pump diaphragm but I have when nothing else was available. My '99 Jeep with 95000 miles on it has never had anything but ethanol in it (ever) and I have not touched the engine or fuel filter, just change oil every 3000 miles and go.

I agree with Chipper. I have personally seen aluminum and pot metal carburetor parts that came out of some small engine carburetors that ran Ethanol and the parts were disintegrated almost to the point that they were not recognizable.

Hmmmm, guess I'm just lucky as I've never seen that.

The smaller the engine the smaller the orifices in the carburetor that either block up with corrosion material or corrode larger. Ethanol also burns hotter which the air cooling cannot dissipate.
Tony

Ed and others,
The ethanol blended will link with water both in the tank and in the carburetor when it is not used for a while. As the gasoline blend evaporates the more volatile gasoline and ethanol evaporate before the water leaving the water and polymerized gasoline behind. The gums and varnishes (poly gasoline) plug ports and coat other parts. The water and air react with the metal producing salts (corrosion). It is the occasionally used engines that are most prone to these problems.