Fuel Question

[Herkloader1]

In the summer I run high octane ethonal free fuel.
During second summer in AZ I had to run high octane that had ethonal in it.
Now there is regular octane ,ethonal free available.
Just curious as to what everyone thinks about running the lower octane but ethonal free over the higher octane that has it.

 

[Remington]

Just use Rec fuel and be done with it. Dont make it more complicated than it needs to be

 

[trigger]

I'm no expert but from what I've read in this forum octane doesn't really matter in these machines, there's no real benefit. The fuel system is designed to run on 87 ethanol gas just like a car, being fuel injected would be my guess? The problem with ethanol fuel is when it's old or stored, stabilizer is recommended.
With that said I still run rec fuel in all my small carburated engines. 🤷‍♂️

 

[dweber23tr]

I run non oxy premium in all my gas engines because they can sit for months at a time, minus the cars. Everything but my 1000-5 is carburetor and it's just easier to keep one type of gas around.

 

[906UP]

I'm no expert but from what I've read in this forum octane doesn't really matter in these machines, there's no real benefit. The fuel system is designed to run on 87 ethanol gas just like a car, being fuel injected would be my guess? The problem with ethanol fuel is when it's old or stored, stabilizer is recommended.
With that said I still run rec fuel in all my small carburated engines. 🤷‍♂️

Ed Zachary ^^^^

Unless the buggy is gonna sit for several months there is absolutely no benefit to running ethanol free. Run higher octane if you want but the engine doesn't require it, you're just wasting your money unless you've modified the engine with higher compression or tuning.

 

[Mopower58]

I run ethanol free 87 year round in all of our small (non automotive) engines. No stabilizer and no fuel related problems ever. Of course it stays above the teens here almost every winter.

 

[DRZRon1]

Just use Rec fuel and be done with it. Dont make it more complicated than it needs to be

What he said - we use “don’t make an engineering project” out it at work

 

[DRZRon1]

Just use Rec fuel and be done with it. Dont make it more complicated than it needs to be

apparently has never been to Hatfield and McCoy where you drop into some town, the gas pump is analog, the nice lady behind the desk has to come out, take the lock off the pump after you hand her cash, stands there while you fill up, puts lock back on - not sure the reaction if I asked the % ethanol, octane and what other flavors of gas do you have?

 

[Scrappapotamus]

Alchol burns at a higher BTU than gasoline. Retailers advertise no more than 10% alcohol content in regular pump gasoline. Stihl came into our area and sampled fuel from various locations and found ethanol levels approaching 40% content. The alcohol absorbs moisture as well, and can be detrimental when purchased from retailers who don't turn their fuel as often. I had a Ford GT500 track car that would run flawlessly in the cooler times of the year and overheated quickly late spring into early fall. I replaced the radiator and intercooler radiators with triple pass radiators and the problem persisted. Talked with an engineer with Ford Racing who explained that the fuel was my issue. Once an engine gets heat soaked, the only way to cool it off is to shut it down. I was told that running ethanol blended fuels was my heat issue and to run non ethanol fuel to resolve the issue. Did so and it cured the issue. Ethanol also attacks plastic and rubber bits in the fuel system and will corrode anything metallic. Lastly it also causes carbon deposits with regards to the top end. I only run ethanol blended fuels sparingly in my bikes, SxSs, 2 stroke and power equipment. I occasionally have to run ethanol based fuels in my 4 Runner and bikes considering where I am, but never let anything sit with out filling up with non ethanol fuel.

 

[Tom_C]

As for Carb engines, my old 2008 foreman was carb and I ran regular ethanol gas with stabilizer. When I would pack up to leave my property I would turn off the gas, run it until it started sputtering, pulled the choke and rev it until it cut off. It would sit like that for the entire winter, outdoors (under a cover), sometimes for 5-6 months. When I got back, I'd turn on the gas, let the carb fill up, and it would start on the first push of the button... as long as the battery still had a charge. I had that machine for 14 years and never had to clean the carb once.

 

[Soaz1000]

In the summer I run high octane ethonal free fuel.
During second summer in AZ I had to run high octane that had ethonal in it.
Now there is regular octane ,ethonal free available.
Just curious as to what everyone thinks about running the lower octane but ethonal free over the higher octane that has it.

@Herkloader1 If you can find e free fuel in Southern AZ your doing good. As far as I know there's only one place that sells it.Thats in Marana. A 40 mile one way drive for me. Stabil in the emergency cans I keep on hand, and premix canned fuel for chainsaws and weed eaters.

 

[Herkloader1]

@Herkloader1 If you can find e free fuel in Southern AZ your doing good. As far as I know there's only one place that sells it.Thats in Marana. A 40 mile one way drive for me. Stabil in the emergency cans I keep on hand, and premix canned fuel for chainsaws and weed eaters.

Circle K in Yuma just off the freeway on Araby just started carring it.
In Montana it is easy to find.

 

[eolesen]

I've never run ethanol free in my small engines because it's hard to find in Illinois and Arizona (last place I lived).

My rule is to run the tank empty and carb dry if the engine is stored over 45-60 days.

I've got 20 year old Honda generators that still start on 2 pulls wet and 6 pulls dry, so it's worked for me. Same with my Kohler engine on the rider, and my Onan generator on a since scrapped RV.

Sent from my SM-S911U using Tapatalk

 

[Stevo]

I've never run ethanol free in my small engines because it's hard to find in Illinois and Arizona (last place I lived).

My rule is to run the tank empty and carb dry if the engine is stored over 45-60 days.

I've got 20 year old Honda generators that still start on 2 pulls wet and 6 pulls dry, so it's worked for me. Same with my Kohler engine on the rider, and my Onan generator on a since scrapped RV.

Sent from my SM-S911U using Tapatalk

 

[Stevo]

Here is a picture of our Honda xr80 carb that had ethanol gas in it and sat for a year without running it. Just ordered a new carb. And will use non ethanol gas in it from now on which is hard to find in the land of stinking.

 

[John Mc]

Here is a picture of our Honda xr80 carb that had ethanol gas in it and sat for a year without running it. Just ordered a new carb. And will use non ethanol gas in it from now on which is hard to find in the land of stinking.

View attachment 410364

It looks as though you had phase separation going on with your fuel: the ethanol in the fuel eventually absorbs enough water that the water/ethanol mix settles out of the fuel. (Could be contaminated fuel to start with, or the moisture can come through condensation in the tank or the fuel can from which you filled, or the ethanol can pull moisture out of the air.) That ethanol/water mix is corrosive.

If you are looking for E0 (ethanol free) gas in your area, try this site: Pure-gas.org - ethanol-free gasoline in the U.S. and Canada It's a user-updated site listing gas stations that sell E0 gas.
(Don't forget the hyphen in the URL. Leaving it out takes you to a scam site that tries to download some malware on your computer, claiming it is a security check.)

 

[DRZRon1]

Alchol burns at a higher BTU than gasoline. Retailers advertise no more than 10% alcohol content in regular pump gasoline. Stihl came into our area and sampled fuel from various locations and found ethanol levels approaching 40% content. The alcohol absorbs moisture as well, and can be detrimental when purchased from retailers who don't turn their fuel as often. I had a Ford GT500 track car that would run flawlessly in the cooler times of the year and overheated quickly late spring into early fall. I replaced the radiator and intercooler radiators with triple pass radiators and the problem persisted. Talked with an engineer with Ford Racing who explained that the fuel was my issue. Once an engine gets heat soaked, the only way to cool it off is to shut it down. I was told that running ethanol blended fuels was my heat issue and to run non ethanol fuel to resolve the issue. Did so and it cured the issue. Ethanol also attacks plastic and rubber bits in the fuel system and will corrode anything metallic. Lastly it also causes carbon deposits with regards to the top end. I only run ethanol blended fuels sparingly in my bikes, SxSs, 2 stroke and power equipment. I occasionally have to run ethanol based fuels in my 4 Runner and bikes considering where I am, but never let anything sit with out filling up with non ethanol fuel.

im gonna call bs on the Stihl nonsense - the local StiHL dealer here is NE PA has been spewing what I call BS for years - same deal - big oil is lying at the pump - maybe - I haven't seen the lab sheets - so lab sheets or it didn't happen - lol , I have numerous pieces of Stihl power equipment of various ages from new to 30+ years old and and had to replace 1 carb on a line trimmer - every time I walk into the shop he is spewing to a customer about buying his ethanol free gas, I just smirk and tell him to get Stihl on board and design the stuff for the available fuel which happen to be ethanol\gas if its an issue, which it isn't. all the modern cars, power sports, whatever is designed and the seals\gaskets to operate on the ethanol stuff, and that is all that seems to be available at most gas stations.

to each his own

I've never run ethanol free in my small engines because it's hard to find in Illinois and Arizona (last place I lived).

My rule is to run the tank empty and carb dry if the engine is stored over 45-60 days.

I've got 20 year old Honda generators that still start on 2 pulls wet and 6 pulls dry, so it's worked for me. Same with my Kohler engine on the rider, and my Onan generator on a since scrapped RV.

Sent from my SM-S911U using Tapatalk

smart man - if the bowl is empty - nothing can happen -

As for Carb engines, my old 2008 foreman was carb and I ran regular ethanol gas with stabilizer. When I would pack up to leave my property I would turn off the gas, run it until it started sputtering, pulled the choke and rev it until it cut off. It would sit like that for the entire winter, outdoors (under a cover), sometimes for 5-6 months. When I got back, I'd turn on the gas, let the carb fill up, and it would start on the first push of the button... as long as the battery still had a charge. I had that machine for 14 years and never had to clean the carb once.

thats because you have a brain and use it - 50 years ago my grandad taught me that - I said why do you pull the gas line offthe outboard engine and run it dry - he said if there isn't gas in it - nothing to gunk it up - stuck with me since then

 

[DRZRon1]

Here is a picture of our Honda xr80 carb that had ethanol gas in it and sat for a year without running it. Just ordered a new carb. And will use non ethanol gas in it from now on which is hard to find in the land of stinking.

View attachment 410364

always more to the story - hard to understand if there was actually fuel in it since there is not fuel residue- looks like it was filled with water - a little vapor blasting, passage cleaning, rebuild kit and that carb will trickle fuel - lol

 

[Tom_C]

thats because you have a brain and use it - 50 years ago my grandad taught me that - I said why do you pull the gas line offthe outboard engine and run it dry - he said if there isn't gas in it - nothing to gunk it up - stuck with me since then

Several years after buying it I read 'somewhere' that the seals would dry rot without fuel in it. I thought for a second and decided to not fix what aint broke.