Gas with ethanol in it

I've heard that gas with some ethanol in it is not good for older carburetors. Is this true?

 

it is not great
it breaks down fast
try to not use it
but if you have no choice you must
I have found that if I have ethanol gas and i have not started my bike
in a few days.. the carbs will gum up fast

 

I use the regular 87 octane gas from the pump every day. Have had ZERO problems. My sleds sit weeks on end if we don't have snow, sit all summer, bikes sit all winter, tractor sits outside all winter... Zero problems.

PERSONALLY, I think the issue stems more from people that neglect things......mowers, bikes, etc.... that sit outside uncovered, and rain can drip through the cap vent, get into airboxes, etc------

I'm know the ethanol CAN eat away at some of the rubber bits, and does have its drawbacks. BUT, I also have seen enough studies to say that I'm not convinced that its the whole problem.

The local yammy dealer even did a display to show just how bad it is: he put several jars on the counter with:
1. regular gas
2. high octane ethanol-free gas
3. regular gas w/ sta-bil
4. regular gas with star-tron
5. regular gas with yamaha brand ethanol treatment ( I can't remember what it was called)
6. regular gas with marine sta-bil

Then he put some fuel valves and needles in each one. Left them there for people to see. (next to them was a jar with old jets, etc....in it pulled from repair jobs for people to view all the green disease)

After a year, there was no change in any of the jars.

After two years, the jars disappeared. I asked where they were and what the results were----I wanted to see them again. I was told nothing had happened so they got rid of them. It was taking up too much space.

Dave

 

For safety's sake, I am now starting to put a splash of seafoam in occasionally, if the weather is really damp or rainy, but not because I feel I must. It's more a 'prudent thing to do', and probably a 'safe thing to do now....."

But if I don't put any in, I'm not worried about it, either.

Dave F

 

Good to know. There aren't many places around here that sell non-ethanol gas

 

Up here, most stations have The premium gas as non-ethanol 93 octane. But none of my engines need that. They run on 87 just fine

 

There is one station around here with non ethanol 93. And it's not that close to home. So 87 it is. Maybe carry bottle of seafoam with me

 

What quite a few people do is just that, put just a capful of seafoam in at each fill-up.

 

I've used E-10 for nearly 30 years. As long as you keep up on maintenance you won't have any trouble. I do use Stabil Ethanol treatment during storage.

 

I am a huge advocate of Seafoam
I have a can on me all the time

 

I don't know how you guys have gotten so lucky - but I've personally had Regular 87 gas with ethanol phase separate on me after 2 months. I've also seen the rubber in old fuel lines starting to degrade because of the ethanol. Even the Canadian government departments (Ministry of Natural Resources specifically) have mandated ethanol-free fuel for all small engines for over a decade.
I won't go near the stuff unless I have no other choice; and then I either burn through the whole tank as quickly as possible, or empty it out as soon as I get home.
And on that note, in Ontario the only way you can get ethanol-free fuel is by using Shell premium (V-power, Gold, Nitro+... whatever they want to call it this week).

 

The key is to not use rubber parts that are not meant for ethanol. E-10 has been in the US since the late 70's and most on-road vehicles built since then are e-10 ready when new.

 

It's okay if you use it. If you put your bike away for the winter and don't drain the carbs you will have to clean them in the spring. You can keep the gas in with stabilizer and run the bike a few times in the winter. The problem is when the gas evaporates in the carbs with Ethanol. It will crust up and block the idle ports and even the needle valves. You will not get the same power or gas mileage as gas without E in it but its what it is.

 

Long reply----

Well.... I fill the tanks up, park the bikes in an unheated garage, shut the fuel valve off if I have them, and then start them up in the spring.

The sleds--- park 'em, shut off the fuel valve let 'me run out of gas and stall. See them next winter. Same for mowers...

Chainsaw.... Use it a few times every couple years-- a few pulls it starts up. Same carb and settings as when I bought it 22 years ago. Never needed to do anything with carbs.

Like I said.... PERSONALLY, I am not totally convinced that ethanol is the whole problem.

The ONLY time I ran into a tank of water was with a sled I bought three years ago-----and you can not convince me it was an ethanol issue......

I bought a nice sled for dirt-cheap because, as the PO said " I'm sick of chasing it down.... It runs fun around the yard but but every single time the kids take it down over the hill to the lower part of the lawn it stalls and I have to tow it back up, and it won't start for a couple days. It'll run fine again unless they go down over the hill, and I have to go tow it up again.....". So I bought it...... Ran fine here, all across the field for 20 min. Went around the house and down to the bottom of the drive... Sure enough, it stalled. I towed it up to my shopand pulled the carbs. One was green, both with lots of water in the bowls. So I drained the tank (tank smelled of very fresh gas).... Drained 8 gal out ....and filled gallon juice jugs. Very cloudy gas, (I pulled the tank to flush and dry it) I assumed 'finally I see what the ethanol does.....' So I let the jugs sit for about two weeks. By the the gas was crystal clear, the water separated completely. I decanted the gas off into other jugs. Result was: 5 gal clean gas, 3 gal water.

I put the gas in my other sleds and they ran perfectly fine.

I drank the water.

I thought... " wait, there's no way the water content of the fuel would have been almost 50% ( 3/8 of it water), so there's got to be some other factor". Sure enough, the gas cap lense was. Not sealed and was loose. Water from melted snow, ice, and rain could run right in. I sealed it. After reassembling the tank, and clean carbs, the sled ran perfect. I put it on the trail for the rest if the season and the next two winters. Awesome sled for younger riders.... Sold it earlier this year to a fellow for ice-fishing.

Problem was not the ethanol, it was neglect of the cap seal.

BTW, just kidding about drinking the water.... I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid--well, maybe stupid.... But not ignorant----
well....

YMMV,
Dave Fox

 

that's the same things i do except i put a baggie over the fill hole and close the cap on it, done.
never had a problem.
i used to put 2 stroke oil in them but it doesn't seem to matter either way

 

You scared me a bit with the "Drink the water" comment... Thought you were aiming for a "Jonestown" (Davestown?) thing here. I'll follow you, but my loyalty and trust have limits!
MattV
non lemming
ps
What is "YMMV"? I'm not hip to your interweb jive!

 

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