Ethanol Pearls

[JoeM 7,874]

The Ethanol Monster strikes again!

Got out the pressure washer and went to start it, "no dice"

Opened the carb and found those typical ethanol pearls, as I call them.

I used an additive in my fuel last year, Ethanol Shield, did not seem to work very well.

Not wanting to drive 30 miles for fuel, and still skeptical about if it is true ethanol free.

Switched over to Lucas additive now.

Will see.

FYI

Joe

[JAinVA 4,619]

 Trust me ethanol free is the way to go.That is all I use in the air cooled engines.I bought a 4stroke post hole auger last year and we used it and I put it up.I turned off the fuel and let it run until the fuel in the carb was gone.Turned on the fuel this year and it fired right up.I have had treated ethanol fuel destroy a Briggs carb in six months.Never again.Corn should be used to feed livestock and to make adult beverages only.Ethanol in gasoline may be good for the grain farmers in the Midwest but it is the dumbest thing adopted for fuel.

It can't be shipped by pipeline so it has to be transported by rail or road.If not for the gov't support and if it's true price were reflected at the pump no one would buy the crap.

Edited May 18, 2019 by JAinVA

[953 nut 55,243]

1 hour ago, OILUJ52 said:

Not wanting to drive 30 miles for fuel, and still skeptical about if it is true ethanol free.

 

Do you have a marina or general aviation airport near by? Both would sell real gas.

[ebinmaine 67,508]

1 hour ago, 953 nut said:

Do you have a marina or general aviation airport near by? Both might if the government lets them sell real gas.

 

I'm very lucky to live only about 15 minutes away from one in New Hampshire. Here in Maine it is difficult because of red tape, to sell ethanol free fuel.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, OILUJ52 said:

Lucas additive

I can't speak for or against the Lucas additive but I've done a fair amount of research online and I have never once found any chemical for sale that negates the effects of ethanol. All of the articles I'm seeing state that you need to remove the ethanol from the fuel.

No one has yet been able to prove that they can counterbalance the damage that it's doing.

 

 

[formariz 11,987]

3 hours ago, OILUJ52 said:

Opened the carb and found those typical ethanol pearls, as I call them

Ethanol Pearls. I think you just coined the name. Good one.

[JAinVA 4,619]

Hate to get on my soap box again but the true price of ethanol fuel has been offset by the government.We can get ethanol cheaper from Brazil than what can be produced in this country.The Brazillians use their surplus sugar cane to produce ethanol.Their cane stalks are used as fuel to distill the ethanol.In this country land that was once taken out of production and paid to lay fallow by uncle whiskers has been used to grow more corn to fuel this joke.Input BTUs are greater than outputs so go figure.

Edited May 18, 2019 by JAinVA

[JoeM 7,874]

7 hours ago, 953 nut said:

Do you have a marina or general aviation airport near by? Both would sell real gas.

We have both, the marina is pretty tough to get fuel having to tote the cans to the dock. Plus they were about 50 cent more a gallon the last time I looked. As far as airport, not sure will have to check it, it is small craft only and I am not sure there is a full time attendant. My brother told me last night there was a place 15 miles down the interstate. Might have to confirm that one. I use 15 to 20 gallons of fuel a month in rainy season. Sure would be nice to pull up to a pump though.

Not sure, if it is But is seems the Kohler engines are not as sensitive?? I do have a couple Briggs that jamb up pretty regular like the pressure washer I used. Might just have to reserve a couple cans for those machines. I am getting pretty good at cleaning out those carbs, got the extra gaskets and wrench size on hand. Like NASCAR.

[lynnmor 7,306]

I really don't believe in additives.  When you buy 10 gallons of fuel, you get 9 gallons of gasoline and 1 gallon of ethanol.  If you think that a tablespoon of additive will somehow make that gallon of crap go away, think again.  I now see that some Rutters convenience stores are selling 15% crap and folks are lining up to buy it for 4 pennies less per gallon.

[clueless 2,993]

11 hours ago, formariz said:

Ethanol Pearls. I think you just coined the name. Good one.

[Cvans 1,009]

   Fortunately ethanol free gas is less than a mile from here. I don't run ethanol in anything if I can help it.  It costs more to make than it will ever save the taxpayers. 

[JAinVA 4,619]

If they say 15% take that with a grain of salt.It actually could be much higher.Local fuel distributer here claims our 10% is much higher.If any of you use on road diesel in the north east you know when winter comes fuel mileage drops.They put something like kerosene in the mix to keep it from jelling.Just ask anyone what fuel milage is like on E-85l.If it didn't help big agribiz I don't think we would have grain in the gas.I am all for helping the family farms but I don't think the gov't corn subsidies are the answer.JMHO

Edited May 19, 2019 by JAinVA

[ztnoo 2,298]

On 5/17/2019 at 9:50 PM, ebinmaine said:

I'm very lucky to live only about 15 minutes away from one in New Hampshire. Here in Maine it is difficult because of red tape, to sell ethanol free fuel.

 

I guess you've turned into one of those notorious Maine border fuel smugglers, eh Eric?

 

On 5/17/2019 at 6:46 PM, OILUJ52 said:

ethanol pearls

 

Is that anything like a Pearl Necklace???

(You have to know about ZZ TOP, to get the gist of my query).

[illinilefttackle 399]

Sea Foam- works as advertised for me, both to extend fuel life & clean up existing problems.

[ebinmaine 67,508]

5 hours ago, illinilefttackle said:

Sea Foam- works as advertised for me, both to extend fuel life & clean up existing problems.

Yes it does. It works well. I use it for cleaning up a gunky engine and their tune up product is excellent.

 

But it has no effect on ethanol or it's effects on rubber.

 

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

I absolutely can't stand the stuff, fortunately we have one station here in town that sells 100% gas. I buy all my fuel there for everything, including both my pickups and my RV. My 94 F150 351 averages roughly 16 MPG on the 100% gas, had to fill it up with E10 at the grocery store a couple weeks ago (the station I usually go to had something wrong with their pumps) and saw a drop from 16 down to 12 MPG with no change in driving habits. People think I'm crazy paying $2.99 a gallon vs $2.59, but I figure that extra 3-4 MPG each tank I'm probably saving money in the end 

[ebinmaine 67,508]

3 hours ago, Professor1990 said:

I absolutely can't stand the stuff, fortunately we have one station here in town that sells 100% gas. I buy all my fuel there for everything, including both my pickups and my RV. My 94 F150 351 averages roughly 16 MPG on the 100% gas, had to fill it up with E10 at the grocery store a couple weeks ago (the station I usually go to had something wrong with their pumps) and saw a drop from 16 down to 12 MPG with no change in driving habits. People think I'm crazy paying $2.99 a gallon vs $2.59, but I figure that extra 3-4 MPG each tank I'm probably saving money in the end 

Do the math out on that and you win anyways.... Even if the numbers don't quite line up.

 

The repairs you are NOT doing are the savings.

 

[ZXT 2,401]

I'm fortunate to have two stations within 10mi of me that sell ethanol-free gas. It's .40 a gallon more, but for everything except what I drive daily, it's worth it. Both stations are Walmart stations, and recently tore down both stations just to add ethanol free tanks. Ethanol isn't nearly as environmentally friendly as the greenies make it out to be!

 

The alcohol draws insane amounts of moisture, and results in exactly whats in your fuel bowl, and often far, far worse. Aluminum and the moisture drawn in by ethanol gasoline cause havoc on a fuel system.

 

Edited May 25, 2019 by ZXT

[adsm08 2,062]

5 hours ago, ZXT said:

 Ethanol isn't nearly as environmentally friendly as the greenies make it out to be!

 

 

 

Like many efforts to "go green" ethanol fuel works against itself and is actually doing more harm than good. Ethanol was added to the fuel as a way to reduce carbon output from vehicle exhaust, but when you take into account the entire life cycle of the fuel it is a net carbon producer.

 

When burnt ethanol releases less CO2 than a comparable amount of gasoline. But it is an alcohol, and so it has to be fermented, and the fermentation process releases CO2, lots of it. Then, because it is highly corrosive it has to be shipped by truck, rather than pipeline, and the trucks produce CO2 in their exhaust. After that, once it is mixed with the gasoline that fuel again has to be shipped by truck, more exhaust, more CO2.

 

We have known since the end of the first year of doing this that we were not saving an carbon production, that we were damaging vehicles that weren't built for it, and we were causing a lot of other problems like higher food prices, but by then the government corn subsidies had the farmers hooked, and nobody in Washington was willing to back down from it because they are more concerned about keeping their jobs, rather than doing their jobs.

 

 

Now alcohol made from sugar cane would get us closer to the original stated goal, but the US can't produce enough sugar cane to make enough alcohol.

[Tuneup 1,433]

Anyone ever try the old youtube 'shake 'em up' method? Add 10-15% water and shake it up to pull the alcohol from the fuel and then drain it all off. Seems to make sense. Never tried it. Out here, I pay $3.99 a gallon for the privilege of using non-E fuel.

[adsm08 2,062]

2 minutes ago, Tuneup said:

Anyone ever try the old youtube 'shake 'em up' method? Add 10-15% water and shake it up to pull the alcohol from the fuel and then drain it all off. Seems to make sense. Never tried it. Out here, I pay $3.99 a gallon for the privilege of using non-E fuel.

 

I've had to do that before and it does work, but I was not trying to get ethanol free fuel. 

 

When you are diagnosing rich or lean running conditions these days one of the first things you have to do it get a fuel sample and measure the ethanol content to see if some dingus put E-85 in a non-flex fuel vehicle.

 

Anymore it is basically, make sure the MAF isn't lying, make sure it has the right fuel in it, smoke the intake.

[ZXT 2,401]

2 hours ago, adsm08 said:

 

Like many efforts to "go green" ethanol fuel works against itself and is actually doing more harm than good. Ethanol was added to the fuel as a way to reduce carbon output from vehicle exhaust, but when you take into account the entire life cycle of the fuel it is a net carbon producer.

 

When burnt ethanol releases less CO2 than a comparable amount of gasoline. But it is an alcohol, and so it has to be fermented, and the fermentation process releases CO2, lots of it. Then, because it is highly corrosive it has to be shipped by truck, rather than pipeline, and the trucks produce CO2 in their exhaust. After that, once it is mixed with the gasoline that fuel again has to be shipped by truck, more exhaust, more CO2.

 

We have known since the end of the first year of doing this that we were not saving an carbon production, that we were damaging vehicles that weren't built for it, and we were causing a lot of other problems like higher food prices, but by then the government corn subsidies had the farmers hooked, and nobody in Washington was willing to back down from it because they are more concerned about keeping their jobs, rather than doing their jobs.

 

 

Now alcohol made from sugar cane would get us closer to the original stated goal, but the US can't produce enough sugar cane to make enough alcohol.

 

And on top of all of that, you have the harvesting of the corn and the rest of the production process. I've been told that it takes around 2 gallons of diesel to produce 1 gallon of ethanol. 

[JoeM 7,874]

My daughter dropped off a pressure washer with a Honda engine. Newer machine had not run in a couple years. The carb was army green inside and probably the worse one I seen. the main jet is ate away around the delivery ports. I did get it to run but only on half choke. Parts are more than a new carb. Ordered one and moving on.

I just wish I took some pics of the gummed up carb. What a shame.

[adsm08 2,062]

9 hours ago, ZXT said:

 

And on top of all of that, you have the harvesting of the corn and the rest of the production process. I've been told that it takes around 2 gallons of diesel to produce 1 gallon of ethanol. 

 

There are a lot of things that aren't nearly as green as we think. I was watching Adam Ruins Everything the other day, and there was an episode about going "green", and they claim that 54 calories of petroleum fuel must be burnt to raise 1 oz of beef.

[cod 120]

Any chance that someone knows of a gas station in Harford County, MD that sells ethanol free gas?  Only places I've found so far are stations in PA (York County) and it would be neat if that was a more local station.

 

Thanks!

[ebinmaine 67,508]

3 minutes ago, cod said:

Any chance that someone knows of a gas station in Harford County, MD that sells ethanol free gas?  Only places I've found so far are stations in PA (York County) and it would be neat if that was a more local station.

 

Thanks!

Have you checked out pure-gas.org?