Regular vs ethanol free gas

[danielspivey]

Was curious if anyone had any experience with ethanol free gas and it’s Benifits. I remember back when everything was ethanol free. A local shop by me just started carrying it for 12% more price wise and wonder if it’s worth the difference in performance (mpg and power).

Anyone with experience in their JT?

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[FLUndertaker]

Here in OK ethanol free is far more common than gas with ethanol. We have 3 grades of pure gas and typically 1 of corn juice. I only use ethanol free in everything I own.

 

[LaterGator]

Tried it several times and had misfire codes pop up each time. No misfires with 10% ethanol.
And with no improvement in mpg, I didn't keep trying.

 

[TroutFishingInAmerica]

I have ran several tanks and did notice a slight increase in mpg, guessing 5-7%, didn't keep any kind of notes. Ran fine, it was 93 octane. Unfortunately near me it just hit astronomical prices.

 

[rr11]

I tried it several years ago in my F250 and got 1 or 2 mpg better gas mileage. But it is a dollar a gallon more so it does not pay to use it in my trucks. I burn enough of it in my boat to keep me complaining.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Another ethanol thread.........
I run it in EVERYTHING. That includes my lawn tractor, my JT, our WK2s, my Javelin, my SX4, and in fact my 70 when I had it actually performed better, pinged less, on Walmart 93 which was an ethanol blend premium.
I've tried a tank of pure a couple of times to see what the fuss was - no difference I could tell.
Over the years ISU has had several studies and papers on 10-15% blends and show minimal difference in mpg in modern vehicles, and fewer deposits.

I have tried non-ethanol fuel a couple of times- the "what the heck, let's see if we can prove anything" and run a tank of pure gas of the same octane in my wife's WK2 and in my SX4 (with a 94 4.0) and I never noticed a difference and in my wife's vehicle, she got the same MPG. I never told her what I did and never kept the receipt so she'd not see the much higher price for the non-ethanol blend. Having seen no difference, it became a one-off thing. Meh, no different, keep running the much cheaper blend. I think I tried it in my 73 once when someone tried to convince me my carb troubles were ethanol related. No difference at all. Went back to ethanol.

So I can say I've used ethanol fuels for 40 years. I've never seen a mpg difference in the 10% blend and ISU studies agree with my experiences.

 

[u-joint]

Here in OK ethanol free is far more common than gas with ethanol. We have 3 grades of pure gas and typically 1 of corn juice. I only use ethanol free in everything I own.

That's odd. In my part of the state it's the opposite. Fewer stations have ethanol-free gas, and the ones that do only care 87. Every place sells E-10 in 87, 89, and 91 octane.

Either way, the only thing I run is ethanol-free gas in my lawn tools. And that is simply because the smaller engines run worse with blinded gas, and E-10 doesn't store as long (even with stabilizer). For the automobiles it's all E-10.

 

[TrainMan]

Ethanol free gas is hard to find here. I know of one station across the border in Maryland, but it's too expensive imo. My favorite Exxon station says "May Contain Up To 10% Ethanol". So, I'm guessing it's pretty close to the upper limit. We have 87, 89 & 93. It's supposedly "Top Tier" gas with advertisements calling it "Synergy Fuel" supposedly the best, more detergents yada yada yada... I'm using it with no issues. I also believe in going to busy gas stations as the gas should be fresher.

 

[mazeppa]

I use Ethanol free fuels because in my area because it is available and isn't overly expensive, realistically probably no measurable difference in performance between the two fuel types. I'm too busy with life to hand calculate and log my actual MPGs, the JT MPG display is good enough for me.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

That's odd. In my part of the state it's the opposite. Fewer stations have ethanol-free gas, and the ones that do only care 87. Every place sells E-10 in 87, 89, and 91 octane.

Either way, the only thing I run ethanol-free gas in is my lawn tools. And that is simply because the smaller engines run worse with blinded gas, and E-10 doesn't store as long (even with stabilizer). For the automobiles it's all E-10.

I'd actually recommend people run straight non-ethanol fuel in small two stroke and certain other lawn equipment. Chain saws, trimmers, etc. - they don't respond well to ethanol for multiple reasons - the tiny working parts of the carburetor and the compounds used in the diaphragms many have, the fuel lines, etc. - don't hold up well and the fact they sit a lot, and ethanol does nothing for the lubrication of 2 stroke engines. They are prone also to drawing moisture from sitting - with partially full tanks.
So if I had to make a recommendation - I'd suggest ethanol-free fuel for chain saws and other 2 stroke engines, and small lawn mowers, tillers, etc. stuff that sits with partial tanks of fuel and the old style carburetors.

I run 10% in everything here because it's a pain to keep multiple gas cans and mixes - and I have to drive into town to fill gas cans. If I run out of gas for my chain saw - I hate to run into town when I have another 5 gallon can of ethanol blend sitting here I can use to make up my chain saw mixture. So I break my own recommendations, I admit.

 

[Garemlin]

After just having to spend $200 for a new carburetor for my mower I'm going to start running ethanol free in it. Closest place that has ethanol free gas is 25 miles away in another state. I just started running a premix ethonol free in my weed whacker too.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

After just having to spend $200 for a new carburetor for my mower I'm going to start running ethanol free in it. Closest place that has ethanol free gas is 25 miles away in another state.

Wow - 200? What do you have for a mower?
My John Deere is EFI and I hate to think what would happen if the injector system failed on it. It's almost 7 years old, no issues at all so far. I did have carb issues on my prior V-twin JD mower but they took care of it for free because they said they knew the carbs on those Kawasaki engines had some issues. I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[Garemlin]

Wow - 200? What do you have for a mower?
My John Deere is EFI and I hate to think what would happen if the injector system failed on it. It's almost 7 years old, no issues at all so far. I did have carb issues on my prior V-twin JD mower but they took care of it for free because they said they knew the carbs on those Kawasaki engines had some issues. I was pleasantly surprised.

It's a Husqvarna. My particular model has a carb that's super expensive. As I just found out. They said they usually run $60-$80 max. Lesson learned.

 

[Munkey Boy]

Carb prices are all over the place, Honda in particular travel the entire gamut. The little 1000 watt generator carb was around $150 a couple years back while their ubiquitous mower carb was only about $20. It's actually cheaper to switch out a carb instead of overhaul it in parts alone. Plus, mechanics that can actually overhaul a carb are a dying breed.

As for the ethanol issue with small engines, I can attest to @ShadowsPapa assertions. Those small engine carbs are definitely not the highest grade of aluminum and are easily prone to the ethanol pulling moisture from atmosphere. White powder (aluminum oxide) = trash bound. Also, the high speed jet is nothing more than a tiny hole that lacquers up way too fast; so, even the plastic carbs will fail to work, and they're equally pricey for no reason other than they can be. As for a vehicle though, that replenishes more often, it's fine. But for anything that sits, I would recommend a stabilizer and/or run the equipment dry.

 

[Garemlin]

Carb prices are all over the place, Honda in particular travel the entire gamut. The little 1000 watt generator carb was around $150 a couple years back while their ubiquitous mower carb was only about $20. It's actually cheaper to switch out a carb instead of overhaul it in parts alone. Plus, mechanics that can actually overhaul a carb are a dying breed.

As for the ethanol issue with small engines, I can attest to @ShadowsPapa assertions. Those small engine carbs are definitely not the highest grade of aluminum and are easily prone to the ethanol pulling moisture from atmosphere. White powder (aluminum oxide) = trash bound. Also, the high speed jet is nothing more than a tiny hole that lacquers up way too fast; so, even the plastic carbs will fail to work, and they're equally pricey for no reason other than they can be. As for a vehicle though, that replenishes more often, it's fine. But for anything that sits, I would recommend a stabilizer and/or run the equipment dry.

This is pretty much what my shop told me. They said even the stabilizers don't help much anymore with how crappy gas is. They recommend either running it dry, or make your last tank ethanol free and run it for a bit. Personally since I have to cut grass every week, I'm going to run regular gas up until November. Then start running the ethanol free up to my last cut of the year.

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