10% Ethanol Fuel

['03FordSVT]

I usually buy gas from HESS and it looks like every HESS service station is selling 10% Ethanol in there gas.

Whats the technical point of view?

Doesnt it affect the octane rating?

Will it effect our L's?

[phil6608]

I get my gas at Hess. It's 10% ethanol.
Never had a problem!

['03FordSVT]

I've bee hearing alot about 10% Ethanol.

Your engine will consume more gasoline(not noticable) and it will run slightly cooler.

But I heard that it's not good performance wise.

[lowflyingbird]

Yes, less power + more fuel consumption! I live in NYC and I can only get 10% When I go out of NY where they sell 5% My truck gets MUCH better economy! AND, I'm comparing highway driving to highway driving! The whole ethanol thing is BS!! The gas costs more and you get worse gas milage. As for any greenies reading, if a vehicle burns more than isn't the green factor a wash!! Plus its costing us all more. I now burn 87 and add like one Qt. Xylene to my full tank, at a cost of about $3.50 qt. The power is great, I dont know if the economy is up compared to reg 10% alone. But it also runs smooth as glass.

[72mach_1]

Plus ethanol is corrosive... it will eat rubber lines, and rust metal parts.... such as fuel lines, fuel sending units, ect....

[Gen 1 driver]

An awful lot of misinformation going on here.
Here in AZ we have been running 10% Ethanol for years.
A few observations.
I have been running early to mid 90's F series trucks for years. Gen 1 lightnings, Broncos and F 350. Some with over 200K miles.

No corosion issues and no fuel pump or filter issues. If there are milage issues I have not noticed them. I'm 13 to 14 city and 16 to 17 Hiway.
Remember this is at 10% Ethanol.

E85 or 100% Ethanol may be a big difference. The research I have done shows E85 at 30% less than gasoline. I've been trying to find out what if anything needs to be changed out to run in older F series trucks but have yet to hear from anyone who had actually run 85 to 100% ethanol. My understanding is Ethanol is corrosive to rubber.

Well just my 2 cents

Mike

Merry Christmas

[NEBFRD]

Here in Nebraska we have been running 10% blend for a long time. It is usually cheaper than regular gasoline(87 octane). Plus the 10% has a higher octane rating (89).I don't see a difference in any of my vehicles on fuel economy.Plus when you buy ethanol you are supporting an american made renewable product, not forign oil. The benefits of ethanol far outweigh the negatives. The "big wigs" all own oil stocks that is why ethanol isn't bigger. In Brazil they run ALL E85 now.

[lowflyingbird]

Yeah, Ethanol does have a higher octane rating, but it takes more ethanol to produce the same amount of power as gas. This is why people get worse gas milage on ehtanol. Octane was not the correct thing to say, I believe what is correct is BTU's when burned?

[MrBSS]

Hey Nebraska,...If ethanol is so great, why don't you back feed some of it to power the distillation process, instead of using natural gas? And why don't you run your farm equipment on it? And why do you need to heavily tax imported ethanol?

I'll tell you why: Corn derived ethanol cannot compete. And the biomass source will be even worse. If the government didn't mandate and tax the rest of us, nobody would produce this stuff. Nothing against your farmers, who are only producing what makes them the most money, but I'm really tired of paying the bill and still getting a poorer fuel.

Frankly, I don't see why the government forces these "solutions". If we agree that imported petroleum is a problem, then we should also be willing to tax that imported oil, or let companies drill domestically, or build clean coal or nuclear plants.

[NEBFRD]

MrBSS, They backfeed the byproduct of ethanol back into the distillation process. They burn the byproduct in boilers with natural gas. I didn't say that corn based ethanol is the best. I don't think it is. The best source to make ethanol is switchgrass. There is research plants that are making it. The corn based ethanol, I think is an interim deal, not a solution. They use diesel fuel in the farm equipment. They use another renewal fuel in soybiodiesel, even better than regular diesel.

[IcemanV8]

I know ethanol = less mpg, but I thought it gave more power. My friend has a flex fuel S-10 (chevrolet) and he says when he runs E85, his truck is more powerful, but gets worse mileage.

When I run 10% Ethanol gas, my truck feels more peppy. ??? But you guys are saying it makes your trucks feel weaker.

Doh, I just realized I was browsing the lightning forums (I'd love to have one) and maybe your guys trucks act different than mine running it.

[Trevor1]

in louisiana the gas pumps say that the winter blend contains up to 15 percent ethanol, my 1993 f150 4x4 5.8L always seems to get a little better mileage in the winter and it also feels peppier

['03FordSVT]

Originally Posted by Trevor1

in louisiana the gas pumps say that the winter blend contains up to 15 percent ethanol, my 1993 f150 4x4 5.8L always seems to get a little better mileage in the winter and it also feels peppier

Any car that is Turbocharged or Supercharged runs better when its cold out side. Color air= More HP

[92 f-150]

the e-10 fuel caused the carbourator on my atv to varnish up in bout a month.

[Ds7776]

Actually ethanol eats rust and cleans metal, Ive got a couple old and tractors when I started useing ethanol the fuel filters plugged up with redish brown sludge. Ethanol does make more power but out engine are made to work with gas many E85s arent even made to work the right way with ethanol.