10% Ehtanol
 

Is ethanol bad for the newest cars on the road? Any reason not to use it? My gf has a 2024 Lexus and she's been using Costco gas with ethanol for the last year.

OK? Bad? Why?

My understanding is that the fuel lines, parts, etc... on modern vehicles are fine as long as the ethanol content doesn't exceed a certain amount (10%, 15%, something like that).

Here, it's almost impossible to find gas that doesn't have 10% ethanol. I'm only aware of one gas station that has ethanol free gas (used to be 91 octane, but I noticed the other day that it's now 87 octane).

Unlike older vehicles that have parts that degrade in the presence of ethanol.

I want to say that the change is ~2000. But I can't give you any specifics other than the vague recollections that I've posted above.

For some reason the ethanol is hard on small engines like chain saws and weed eaters. Ive never had a problem with cars.

Small engines and carbureted vehicles have fuel systems vented to atmosphere so water and condensation makes its way in due to the hydroscopic nature of it. Like an open can of brake fluid. It has its way with rubber components aswell but its not as big of a problem as some make it out to be. On a newer car forget about it they are designed for it.

As far as I know, most pump gas has at least 10% ethanol in it unless you get the ethanol free stuff. I run ethanol free in my lawn equipment.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

I would say most gas here in MA is real gas and only small no name stations use ethanol along with Costco, BJs, etc. Mobil, etc. are all real gas. Pumps with ethanol have a big white sticker 10% Ethanol warning text on them.

Hi Shaun,

I would say you’re in the lucky minority. Most of us have to search out ethanol free gas. I wouldn’t and don’t hesitate to use ethanol in a more modern car and also don’t worry about it on long trips in the Porsche as it is not going to stay in the system long enough to absorb moisture.

Rutager

Unless you are riding a lawnmower down the east coast tomorrow, I wouldn't sweat it.

***Edit... If you are, make sure to hit the PTO button and mow Virginia as you come by.

Thanks. R

Nah. 23 stations in total across Massachusetts. Look up high for a little tiny-ass sticker on the inside of the pump vertical panel. Ten times that in Ohio but never use them as I don't care

You have to be released from EPA Ozone non-attainment status and then refineries have to decide to make non-ethanol gas in volume and lose margin by shipping to your region.

All hail Archer Daniels Midland.

Edit: https://www.pure-gas.org/ It seems wonky with very old dates, I trust the ones that are marinas but otherwise it's dependent on the person reporting it to pure gas.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1736471507.jpg

I’ve ran 100k km running 10% ethanol in a jdm Mazda 121… i wouldn’t worry about a new car with the corn alcohol.

Yep. That car is as boring as my old RAV. We should start a support group.

I saw a rich guy putting 87 in a beautiful new Mercedes last year at Speedway. I'm like (nicely) Dude, WTF you doing? He says my pal owns the MB dealership in town and said I don't need 93. I've been doing this for decades with no problems.

Trust this info as much as you paid for it but if you are not a speed racer I don't think you need it.

I think the RAV is an order of magnitude more fun than a Mazda 121. There’s no frills with that car, but it’ll start in single digits keep you warm. ��

On the flip side, what do our 60s-80s 911s require….Non ethanol gas?

I have heard of several guys having to replace fuel lines after failure/leaks that they believed was due to gas with ethanol.

I’ve started to use non ethanol on my 944S2 with OEM fuel lines I’d like to preserve. Fortunalty its not a daily driver since it’s about a $1 more per gallon where I live.

For non ethanol gas, the marina at the cottage has it. I grab a 5 gallon jug for the snow blower in the fall.

Don't want this to go to PARF, but ask yourself why do we need Ethanol?

Farm lobby is very powerful in Washington.

Nothing built even semi-recently will have any issues. Like the last 20 years. If I had an older car I would probably want to update the fuel lines and still avoid ethanol if possible.

Most people dont need ethanol but if you have a high compression or turboed/supercharged engine it is really nice.

For what it's worth, the gas station at our Walmart sells 90 octane ethanol free gas, and there are several local stations that sell ethanol free gas as well.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

Ethanol burns but does not leave the pollutants to the level regular unleaded gasoline does. It has high octane but burns very (too) fast so you blend it with lower octane 85 unleaded and the overall octane is 87(and up). Works fine but with a slight degradation to fuel mileage.

A few ways to blend the ethanol from blending at the refinery in a precise manner to 5000 gallon trucks splash blending with two hoses going into the truck.

SOHIO kept that name in use at marinas only after BP bought them in the late 80's.

I have to run 10% ethanol to get the 93 octane my '88 Carrera demands. The only pure gasoline we can get around here is at Casey's stations and it's only 90 octane.

Shaun is really lucky to have sources of high octane pure dino fuel.

Most newer cars don't.
They used to use lead, and then MTBE, to increase octane, but both of them were banned. Lead is poisonous and MTBE contaminated groundwater. So they turned to ethanol to raise the octane. That turned out to be a boon to farmers because it's made from corn and corn is easy to grow as an industrial crop. Compared to growing food for humans, it's a piece of cake. Plus, the government subsidizes its production.
Newer cars with computerized fuel injection, knock sensors, etc for engine management can use lower octane fuel just fine, so they don't need ethanol to boost the octane.
Basically, we have ethanol because some older cars need it and farmers make money producing the corn it's made from.

For reference, I think they have been selling gas with ethanol since the 1920s so this is not a 'new' thing...(pre-dates moving away from lead and MTBE).

The required reason:

The 1970 Clean Air Act. Richard Millhouse Nixon.

Not PARF. Just data.

Is this possibly a little overblown ? I agree the crap seems to cause havoc with my rarely used generator carb, but I have 2 oldies from 1972 and they've been running on 10% ethanol (and 91 octane only) for 10yrs now and.... nothing... at all... Granted MFI, not carburated, and I check fuel and oil lines as part of regular maintenance, but all I ever do is add some stabil marine if the car will not be running for a month due to a repair, nothing else..

Would I prefer no ethanol and not subsidising the corn lobby, sure... But you'd expect burning MGBs at every corner and I'm not seeing that. Just wondering.

I think it’s overblown. Some rubber deteriorates in gasohol, but not all. The problem is knowing what is at risk and what isn’t. The forward fuel line (from the tank to the steel line that runs to the engine bay) on my ‘65 VW dissolved, but the ones from the steel line to the fuel pump and from the pump to the carb weren’t bothered at all.

I am very much against using corn to make ethanol. The way they farm it to get huge yields tears the hell out of the soil and they dump tons of poisons and fertilizers on the earth. It can’t be good in the long run. We may need that soil to grow food one day - if they haven’t ruined it.

Plus, I hate to see all those subsidies going for the benefit of ADM, Cargil, and Monsanto.

Agreed with WD! Monocrop agriculture is absolutely horrible for the soil, its one of many reason why huge industrial farming operations are bad for our country. A byproduct that many have probably forgotten was the spike in food prices associated with ethanol fuel subsidies. It spiked the price of just about everything because more farmers switched to subsidized corn for fuel, corn went to fuel instead of food and feed, and the quantity of many other food products went down because of the land being used for corn production.

owned a 2012 f150 coyote V8 that was e85 approved. Sure it was cheaper to run, but is also got 4-5 mpg worse mileage so the tradeoff was zero . the Ford manual tells you to only run three tanks of e85 then run tesl fuel do to harm to the system

My experience/observation is if you often don't drive your older 911 or allow it to sit for any length of time, ethanol will cause your fuel tank to rust and ruin your fuel system (tank, CIS, etc.). I had to have both my WUR and my FD rebuilt for just that reason. Might as well pour a cup of water into your tank every now and then.