[MarkS57]

FWIW, seems Ultra 94 is popping up again at Sunoco in NJ & PA. has ethanol but say its capped at 10%. I may try some.

[4dblnkldude]

Yeah me too! Thank you!

[Formulabruce]

Blending middle grade with 10% ethanol can get the octane up easily. Doesn't mean its more dense. Its a sales gimic actually.

[Formulajones]

I used to run sunoco 94 in everything back when I lived in Ohio. Was good stuff when I used it up through the early 2000's.
Don't know how good it would be today but if I had access to it I wouldn't hesitate to run it again.

[Cliff R]

Ethanol fuels are EXCELLENT for higher compression engines and I've used them with perfect success for many years. I even use 92-93 octane E-10 for my 2 stroke power equipment and never once had a single issue despite the fact that EVERYONE says you should use it them.

Of course folks still avoid them due to so much miss-information on the Forums and such. In reality it's an EXCELLENT octane enhancer just needs a little more of it compared to straight gas......

[Don 79 TA]

Ohhhhh that 80s/90s era smell of Ultra 94 was hypnotic, just as much as the ole "camII" and "GT100" fuel that used to be at some pumps....
Man..... i guess i really am old....

[i82much]

I find ethanol fuels are fine as long as you use your stuff and the fuel doesn't sit. If your stuff is going to sit for a long period (e.g., winter) put Stabil in it.

For all my small engine stuff (lawnmowers, chainsaw, trimmer, etc.) I just use ethanol free. It's expensive but I only use what, maybe 10 gallons per year? Not worth the risk of forgetting to either drain or stabilize one of them before winter and end up having problems in the spring.

For my GTO, I have been running ethanol free but truthfully it is getting expensive. And since it isn't available everywhere, I wind up running E-10 when I am far away from home anyway. So for the GTO, I am thinking of going back to E-10 since it is much cheaper, I use a LOT of gas wacking on my 505 with the 850 double pumper, and I'm not likely to forget to stabilize it before winter.

[nas t eh]

Originally Posted by Cliff R

Ethanol fuels are EXCELLENT for higher compression engines and I've used them with perfect success for many years. I even use 92-93 octane E-10 for my 2 stroke power equipment and never once had a single issue despite the fact that EVERYONE says you should use it them.

Of course folks still avoid them due to so much miss-information on the Forums and such. In reality it's an EXCELLENT octane enhancer just needs a little more of it compared to straight gas......

You haven’t found that ethanol damages the small passages in aluminum carburetors over time and especially in long storage situations?

I’ve had lawnmower, chainsaw, string trimmers with difficult starting issues that the repair shop said were ethanol related.

How about ethanol damaging fuel line hose in older equipment? Eg. Lots of old boats and cars with the wrong type of hose or rubber parts for ethanol I’m told,

Is this all bad info and I don’t have to worry?

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by Don 79 TA

Ohhhhh that 80s/90s era smell of Ultra 94 was hypnotic, just as much as the ole "camII" and "GT100" fuel that used to be at some pumps....
Man..... i guess i really am old....

Yes it did smell good back then.

[Formulajones]

My experience has been much like Cliff's. I've never had any ethanol related fuel issues at all, and that's running it in a dozen cars and all the lawn equipment. Some of those cars do sit for periods of time as well. Ethanol mixed fuel is all I've run since moving to Arizona in 2007, it's all we have at the pumps.

[dhcarguy]

Not sure how you would know, but make sure you don't get the bottom of the under ground tanks. I think that is how all three carbs of mine had a slimy, milky substance in the bottom of the float bowls.

[dataway]

Up here in the cold areas where lawn equipment sits for 5 months every year non-ethanol has made a huge difference in spring starting for me. With non-ethanol (and stabile) I have equipment sit two years and still start and run fine.

I'm in NY where most of the fuel is E15, a local station starting carrying non-ethanol and it's made a big reduction in my spring startup problems.

I think a lot of people's experience with non-ethanol depends on their location, temperature swings, humidity levels, local ethanol content etc. Most of my outdoor equipment is 20+ years old, likely before they started adapting the materials to ethanol fuel.

[JLMounce]

Outside of some GT100 fuel at about 4 total pumps in all of colorado, there is basically zero non-ethenol fuel in this state. Unless you've got a hookup at an airport.

The issue we run into at higher elevations with e10 is that it's more volatile and boils at temperatures around 175 degrees, sometimes making its use in carburetors problematic. I've never seen fuel system damage from it though.

[i82much]

There is no doubt that letting ethanol fuel sit for long enough will cause problems. I have pulled carbs off of a generator and dirt bike to deal with it. And seen the inside of a holley looking rough too.

Non ethanol fuel makes a huge difference. But so does sta-bil.

[leeklm]

"I find ethanol fuels are fine as long as you use your stuff and the fuel doesn't sit. If your stuff is going to sit for a long period (e.g., winter) put Stabil in it."

100% my experience. Only time I have had an issue with 10% ethanol is when leaving it sit for months untreated, which I did in the generator recently. I have a 5hp push mower from 1991 and a 17hp JD rider mower from 2000, never had either carburetor off and both running strong.

I use BP-93 with 10% ethanol in the firebird. I have tried 91 octane ethanol free in the car, but motor likes the BP 93 better.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[68WarDog]

I always believed that ethanol blends were a better fuel system cleansing agent compared to straight gas. Is that not true? Some years ago I almost lost a bass boat engine after sitting all winter with the ethanol blends. Almost hydro lock the engine.

[The Champ]

I'm up in the north country and my toy cars sit from November through March or April - possibly longer depending on when spring really arrives. There are some stations that sell pure gas, but usually 91-93 octane E10 is all you can get.

Spring start up has never been an issue with E10. I store my cars with the tanks full.

I've already done the start up on both the GTO and the Camaro this year. When available, I will put pure gas in, but I sure don't stress out about it.

All I've run is E10 in my lawn/snow blowing equipment for at least the last 15 years. But we sold our place out in the country and I didn't need that equipment on the .35 acre lot I have now. Bought a 21" 40 Volt electric lawn mower (came with 2 batteries) and a 24" 80 volt snow blower (came with 4 batteries) so don't need to worry about an empty gas can anymore.

The lawn mower and the snow blower use the same batteries, so I've got 6. That came in handy having a spare set for the blower a couple of times this winter.

[MatthewKlein]

Originally Posted by dhcarguy

make sure you don't get the bottom of the under ground tanks

Wouldn't the sump pull from the bottom of the tank no matter how full or empty the tank was

[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by i82much

I find ethanol fuels are fine as long as you use your stuff and the fuel doesn't sit. If your stuff is going to sit for a long period (e.g., winter) put Stabil in it.

For all my small engine stuff (lawnmowers, chainsaw, trimmer, etc.) I just use ethanol free. It's expensive but I only use what, maybe 10 gallons per year? Not worth the risk of forgetting to either drain or stabilize one of them before winter and end up having problems in the spring.

For my GTO, I have been running ethanol free but truthfully it is getting expensive. And since it isn't available everywhere, I wind up running E-10 when I am far away from home anyway. So for the GTO, I am thinking of going back to E-10 since it is much cheaper, I use a LOT of gas wacking on my 505 with the 850 double pumper, and I'm not likely to forget to stabilize it before winter.

Same here. I used it as fast as possible so it doesn’t sit. The only fuel I will keep for a month or more is ethanol free 90 octane.

[hurryinhoosier62]

There was a local refiner here in S. IN back in the 1980s and 1990s that refined their own 96 octane unleaded. Bought it as often as I could. My ‘72 GP ran fantastic on it! They went out of business about twenty years ago.