ethanol

tailgaterdude

tailgaterdude

Member
Is anyone using or trying to avoid using ethanol ? I would like to hear some input . Use or not use? If using are you adding any countering additives. I have went through 2 fuel pumps in 100 miles in my '48. I have heard that marine grade Stabil will counter act the ethanol. I also have been adding lead substitute. Dude-")
 
And just how would you propose to avoid ethanol? I know of NO PLACE in Indiana that sells anything but. Lead substitute certainly won't eliminate the ethanol that's already blended into pump gas. Besides lead substitute serves only to boost octane which is NOT a problem with ethanol. Yeah, I know all about the conspiracy theory/paranoia about valve seat recession in early engines-wonder how all those old Fords survived when running on "Mfrs recommendation: white gas"?


OTE=tailgaterdude;44268]Is anyone using or trying to avoid using ethanol ? I would like to hear some input . Use or not use? If using are you adding any countering additives. I have went through 2 fuel pumps in 100 miles in my '48. I have heard that marine grade Stabil will counter act the ethanol. I also have been adding lead substitute. Dude-")[/QUOTE]
 
It seems like all the western states say on the pumps "may contain 10% ethanol" hasn't hurt my fuel pump yet, it's at least 6 years old. when traveling I use MMO, still I wish we did not have the ethanol though. I also carry a spare pump just in case. the repo.fuel flex lines go out on a regular basis. I had one made up with some NHRA rated fuel line.
 
Dale Fairfax said:
Yeah, I know all about the conspiracy theory/paranoia about valve seat recession in early engines
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You don't think this is for real?? I had it happen to me when I took my 56 TBird on a trip to Oregon from NJ. The valves literally pounded out the seats and I had to have the heads redone with hard seats.

I don't know what stabile does other than supposedly help the gas from going bad, but I never had a problem with gas going bad. I am currently using some fuel for my weed wacker that i mixed up last summer and didn't add a thing to it. And the gas I put in my cars in November was still good in April, again with nothing added.
 
Luckily in upstate New York, we have 100% gas ethanol free. Very limited stations, about 4 that I know of. They say they should be able to have it for about another year. I use it in lawnmower etc. along with the my old car.
 
tailgaterdude said:
I have went through 2 fuel pumps in 100 miles in my '48. I have heard that marine grade Stabil will counter act the ethanol. I also have been adding lead substitute. Dude-")
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No amount of additives will counter act the effects of ethanol on the incompatible rubber parts in the fuel pump. Have heard that NAPA pumps are compatible. I have been running my flathead pump for over 12 years on ethanol fuel. The only time I use additives is when the car is not going to be used for a period of time.
 
I am using Star-Tron and also use a little MMO. My neighbor has been using Star-Tron in All his gas powered things and has had no problems. Boats - I/O , Outboard, Leaf blower, Snow blower , weed wacker etc. It is supposed to treat the gas and get rid of the build up. The marina heard I put in pump road gas and said I should really add it to prevent problems. They sell a special gas as do all the Marina on Winnipesaukee, N.H. as far as I can determine. Get it at Walmart.
 
I seem to recall reading or hearing that they put ethanol in the military's gas during WWII and the soldiers were distilling it out to satisfy their personal chemical dependencies. Am I right here?
 
I'm assuming you are speaking of regular fuel with 10% ethanol added and not E-85. I have been using the same stock fuel pump and lines for about 17 years now. Most of the old flatheads had hard seats because there was no lead additive. In the early 50's, they started phasing them out. You do need hard seats in the exhaust - period.
 
tailgaterdude said:
Is anyone using or trying to avoid using ethanol ? I would like to hear some input . Use or not use? If using are you adding any countering additives. I have went through 2 fuel pumps in 100 miles in my '48. I have heard that marine grade Stabil will counter act the ethanol. I also have been adding lead substitute. Dude-")
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I have been using 10% ethanol for years and have not had any problem with fuel pumps or fuel lines. Maybe you just got some bad fuel pumps.

After hearing this debate several times about the problems of ethanol, I put regular gasoline without ethanol in a '59 Chrysler for a few tanks. I was having problems with the fuel boiling out of the carburator when engine shut off. The ethanol-free gasoline made no difference. From this I drew the conclusion that it is the gasoline that is as much of the problem as is the ethanol.

Neal
 
Regarding the story abut distilling the ethanol out of gasoline in WW II; Highly, Highly unlikely! Consider: Common rubbing alcohol is also called denatured alcohol. "Denatured" refers to the process of adding a small percentage of gasoline to ethanol to make it undrinkable, so you will use it for "rubbing" and not drinking. If that small amount of gasoline were easily removed, all the bums would be doing it! And, can you imagine trying to boil off one flammable liquid from another without proper equipment (probably canteens and acetylene torches)?!
 
Thanx for the input guys. I have the no ethanol available for now (going in morning to get some AM) and I heard they have it some of the marina's in this area. I read of some mower and weed eaters. That reminded me both my weed eater and pressure washer stopped and had to have the carbs rebuilt. I have a carb coming fron Ken CT and a new tank.
Thanx again for the answers. Dude-")
 
There is no longer any Corn free fuel available here in East Texas. I got a yard blower a couple of weeks ago and the instructions say to avoid Corn gas! The small engine places are getting rich selling new carbs and parts.
 
Ross in East Texas said:
There is no longer any Corn free fuel available here in East Texas. I got a yard blower a couple of weeks ago and the instructions say to avoid Corn gas! The small engine places are getting rich selling new carbs and parts.
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You are absolutely right. I worked at a small engine shop and that stuff was destroying carbs and fuel lines. In some instances it turns the rubber parts into mush. Now if a vehicle is set up for it and has the proper material for lines and other fuel delivery parts,its fine. Personally I avoid it in any of the old vehicles and small engines.
 
I think when things go wrong, blame the gas. I've been using 87 octane with 10%ethanol in my car, lawn mower and snow blower ever since it was introduced. Everything is still running, but I probably just jinxed myself.
 
I use 10% all the time, do add some MMO in tank also, but not for the fuel. I use for the valve train......
 
Several months ago i had an issue with fuel pumps in our '51 F-1, I actually had a total of four pumps go bad in just over a week. I went to NAPA and got an electric fuel pump and regulator and have had no trouble so far and I've put several thousand miles on the truck in that time. On the other hand, I've had two fuel pumps (built by Ken CT), one on our '39 CS and one on our '39 Zephyr, for over three years with no trouble, that is until yesterday. I took the Zephyr out for a drive and the fuel pump quit. I pulled the hose from the pump to the carb and found chewed up rubber in it. I always carry an extra fuel pump so after a quick change I was on the road again. I think my next stop will be NAPA to get another electric fuel pump. I also installed a Top Oiler in the two '39's and I use MMO in them as well as Seafoam in the gas tank.
 
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