rumbleseat
Champion Author
Winnipeg
Posts:22,930
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Joined:Oct 2002
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Message Posted: Apr 3, 2011 3:31:55 AM
Gasoline leaves deposits, ethanol cleans them out.
Every regular pump in Manitoba is E10, which means every lawn mower, chain saw, generator, rototiller, snowblower, snowmobile, dirt bike, ATV, etc, runs on E10. There has been no rash of breakdowns. Mind you, most intelligent people know not to store equipment over the off-season with fuel in the tank, unless the tank is full and tightly sealed. Partial tanks are drained and the fuel used in another device of a vehicle, fuel in tanks that don't seal tight is also drained and reused in another device or vehicle.
Why would anybody think alcohol-enhanced gasoline should have alcohol added to compensate for the alcohol? Give your head a shake, if you are burning E10 you have absolutely no need to add HEET or any other gas line anti-freeze / moisture absorbent. Take it from me, I live in winter country, haven't bought a bottle of gas line antifreeze since I first used E10 in 1981.
Intelligent people also know not to use E85 in these devices until such time as the manufacturers build them to use E85.
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w5907
Rookie Author
Maryland
Posts:10
Points:300,100
Joined:Jul 2006
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Message Posted: Apr 2, 2011 9:19:52 PM
Aside from the corrosion and fuel separation facts discussed earlier one of the problems that can occur is leaning out the air/fuel mixture enough to cause engine damage. Ethanol does not have the same BTU content as gasoline so more must be injected to compensate for this. Flex fuel vehicles have a sensor in fuel system which measures ethanol percentages and adjusts fuel injecton quantity. Small carbureted or efi engine without the ability to detect ethanol content could suffer damage without proper adjustments made. using E85 in a non E85 application will cause damage from excessively lean mixtures if you could even get it to start!
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Gypsy_tech
All-Star Author
Minnesota
Posts:538
Points:15,675
Joined:May 2008
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Message Posted: Mar 17, 2011 5:16:11 PM
I live in MN where it's 10% and have run it in a lawn tractor, motorcycle, Lawn Boy lawn mower, outboard and snowthrower with no problems. Oh, add a dirt bike and 90cc ATV to the list anlong with a couple of snowmobiles.
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SilverStreaker
Champion Author
Twin Cities
Posts:11,944
Points:2,217,515
Joined:Mar 2006
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Message Posted: Mar 16, 2011 12:45:43 PM
raj_fl says "ethanol when combusted has water as a bi product and that is what breaks down the engine, so u need a larger engine to compensate for it"
When do you expect my 30 year old lawnmower to get a broken engine? It's been fine running on E10 for 10 years now.
and
"one way for smaller engines is to put HEET in every other car fillup and gas containing 10% or less of ethanol will not hurt it"
Why do you think adding methanol to E10 will help anything?
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raj_fl
Champion Author
Trenton
Posts:3,214
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Message Posted: Mar 16, 2011 12:04:44 PM
one way for smaller engines is to put HEET in every other car fillup and gas containing 10% or less of ethanol will not hurt it
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raj_fl
Champion Author
Trenton
Posts:3,214
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Joined:Oct 2010
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Message Posted: Mar 16, 2011 12:02:30 PM
that is because ethanol when combusted has water as a bi product and that is what breaks down the engine, so u need a larger engine to compensate for it
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Glasman
Champion Author
South Carolina
Posts:6,188
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Joined:Nov 2006
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Message Posted: Mar 16, 2011 6:29:41 AM
i have trouble with small engines-they are small !
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SilverStreaker
Champion Author
Twin Cities
Posts:11,944
Points:2,217,515
Joined:Mar 2006
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Message Posted: Mar 16, 2011 6:01:05 AM
This is the first time I have heard of "ethanol deposits". I have run E10 in my 30 year old lawnmower for over 10 years with no problems.
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goldseeker
Champion Author
West Virginia
Posts:19,550
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Joined:Sep 2005
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Message Posted: Mar 16, 2011 3:58:30 AM
No problems at all in all my small engines including 2-strokes for over 20 years.
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jacksfan
Champion Author
Lincoln
Posts:2,554
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Message Posted: Mar 15, 2011 8:16:16 PM
Nope. No problems. I run E-10 in all my engines by choice.
I did have a problem when I first got my Lawnboy and left E-0 in it over the winter, and the next spring it started spitting gas/oil out of the exhaust. The mechanic said never to leave gas in it over the winter.
[Edited by: jacksfan at 3/15/2011 11:19:00 PM EST]
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RedRider1OK
All-Star Author
Oklahoma City
Posts:943
Points:25,440
Joined:Mar 2008
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Message Posted: Mar 15, 2011 7:40:59 PM
The biggest problem with ethanol (E-10) and small engines is that you never know how much water you are purchasing with E-10. ONLY .5% of water at 60 degrees F will cause the ethanol to separate from the gasoline. Ethanol + water, separated from gasoline = corrosion, no ignition, lost lubricity and engine damage. Small engines have small carburetors, are open air vented, have small fuel bowls which all these can easily lead to phase separation. Use Stabil or some other ethanol separation additive and empty/run the engines out of gasohol during the off-season. That may help or find 100% ethanol free gasoline and forget what I just told you.
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FIREJKP22
All-Star Author
Pittsburgh
Posts:588
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Joined:Feb 2003
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Message Posted: Mar 15, 2011 5:56:03 PM
It's not a good idea to run E85 in a small engine like a lawnmower, tractor, pressure washer, etc. In automobiles, you can run E85 even if it's not a flex fuel vehicle if you blend it and do it correctly.
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