The "truth" about ethanol

[fromario]

Freaking ethanol lobby... STOP RUINING MY SHIT!!

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyl...514_058678.htm

I try to take everything i read/see with a grain of salt, but i have had problems with my mini since they introduce ethanol fuel blends... i am slowly turning into a crotchety old man

[Woodsy]

Trust you government folks! their wisdom comes from the highest bidder

[typeone]

we were just discussing this issue last night, a friends boat motor is potentially sick. ive also been curious if ethanol levels in gasoline have wreaked havoc on my '06 GMC... i had a new head installed, fuel rail cleaned, injectors cleaned and it ran OK... for a day or so... something is up with the injectors again. poor performance in slow idle or low speed running scenarios. getting lame for sure. warranty is up very soon.

Pushed into it by the corn growers' and ethanol refiners' lobbying organizations, today the EPA is starting to go through the public comment phase on increasing the level of ethanol in our gasoline from 10% to 15%. Time and time again we have heard from these groups, who now claim that there is zero scientific evidence that a 15% blend of ethanol would do any damage whatsoever if the mandate for ethanol were raised. As with all statements made by vested interests, few outsiders have actually taken the time to look and find out whether this statement was true.

In fact, it's false.

yeah, just like its completely safe to pump our society full of cheap, processed, genetically-modified-corn-laced products (High-fructose corn syrup). check out the flick 'King Corn' for more fun tidbits on this BS industry.

[richw]

1st I am the Crotchety Old Man Plow your own fields boy !!

Brazil using sugar cane and a good chunk of rain forest land has ethanol down to almost the price of oil based gasoline. They didn't dwell on the less energy per gallon so not sure if its really on par.

Remember the purpose is to little by little make driving less attractive to us peasants and this fits right in. Maybe we can feed the Mexicans on tortillas made out of oil.

[palanon]

Another fun fact they didn't cover - it takes a hell of a lot more energy to produce ethanol than you can get from it. If I remember, something in the order of double or even more.

Great, crank up the use of oil, gas and coal to get less than half the energy. Only the Government and the corn lobby could think that's a good idea and sell the notion to the general public.

[schleppy]

I really don't see many pros to ethanol. Older carb'd bikes don't like the new higher blends, and it sounds like the higher the ethanol ratio gets, the worse the gas mileage gets.

But who cares what the public thinks/wants right? The corn lobby has spoken and it's ethanol for everyone!

[RandyO]

growing sugar beets rather than corn is a much more efficient way to manufacture ethanol in out temperate climate

[toocrazy2yoo]

So given that, is there an additive you doods are adding to the tank to "soften" the effects of E-10?

[lrrs313]

And the article didn't even touch on the damage Ethanol has done to snowmobile engines. Whoever patrols the trails for the state of Maine (not sure if its State Police of F&G) lost 5 machines in one day. Burned motors, all of them ethanol related. Rumor has it Jackman Powersports had 100+ sleds outside with toasted motors in the middle of January.

[sandman]

And the article didn't even touch on the damage Ethanol has done to snowmobile engines. Whoever patrols the trails for the state of Maine (not sure if its State Police of F&G) lost 5 machines in one day. Burned motors, all of them ethanol related. Rumor has it Jackman Powersports had 100+ sleds outside with toasted motors in the middle of January.

was it really cold out?

this was the first year were i couldn't find non ethanol fuel.

out of our crew 15 or so sleds 2+4 strokes we had no problems.

the coldest we rode in this year was -10ºf

[lrrs313]

was it really cold out?

this was the first year were i couldn't find non ethanol fuel.

out of our crew 15 or so sleds 2+4 strokes we had no problems.

the coldest we rode in this year was -10ºf

Has really nothing to do with temperature. Ethanol will separate from the gasoline if it is not stored properly (ANY moisture exposure) or if it sits too long. What I suspect happens is that some of the smaller, more rural gas stations don't sell a lot of high-test fuel most of the year, so the gas and ethanol separate; somebody gets a tank with a higher ethanol % and the motor goes bang. I had some episodes where my sled was not running all that great after fueling up, and it was always when I got higher octane fuel at a small gas station (the kind that nobody really uses except during snomobile season).

[HIGHONSTRESS]

i just bought a big ass ECHO leaf blower.. the kind that you wear on your back (it's awesome). And the dealer told me to mix in Stabil with the gas/oil mix because the ethanol would eventually mess it up if i didn't.

i've seen some pretty impressive dyno runs (with cars) using E80 or whatever the high percentage ethanol gas is they sell in other states. apparently it's very knock resistant.

[lrrs313]

i just bought a big ass ECHO leaf blower.. the kind that you wear on your back (it's awesome). And the dealer told me to mix in Stabil with the gas/oil mix because the ethanol would eventually mess it up if i didn't.

i've seen some pretty impressive dyno runs (with cars) using E80 or whatever the high percentage ethanol gas is they sell in other states. apparently it's very knock resistant.

Make sure you buy the Marine Stabil; I think it's green. The traditional (red) Stabil does nothing to counteract the ethanol. Ethanol is a form of alcohol; it burns quite hot. There's a reason why top fuel dragsters run alcohol fuel. There's also a reason why they do a complete engine rebuild after each RUN.

[HIGHONSTRESS]

thanks mate, he left that part out. and I used the red stabil, so thanks for the heads up i'll check it out.

[lrrs313]

No problem. If you can find it, Spectro makes a fuel additive they came up with to combat the ethanol's many bad qualities. It's far from cheap, but then again so are motors.

[seth399]

this is why I have been teetering on just running VP in my crf even though the internals are stock. hmmm

[RandyO]

apparently it's very knock resistant.

yes, cause ethanol is only one compound and its ignition point is stable unlike gasoline that is comprised of several volitile compounds that all thave different ignition points some very susceptable to ignition by heat & compression

[Cerberus]

well with modern engine manufacturing, they need to do SOMETHING to give the shops more work and/or force new car sales..

[rbrais]

And the article didn't even touch on the damage Ethanol has done to snowmobile engines. Whoever patrols the trails for the state of Maine (not sure if its State Police of F&G) lost 5 machines in one day. Burned motors, all of them ethanol related. Rumor has it Jackman Powersports had 100+ sleds outside with toasted motors in the middle of January.

Maybe that's why my friend's sled lunched 2 times in one weekend. I was going to blame it on a bad gasket/air leak but maybe it was the fuel.

Don't know what CT just did to their fuel, but my truck went from about 250 miles per tank to about 305-310 miles per tank in the last 3 weeks. The first time I hit 306, I thought I may have tossed in 5 or 10 bucks and just forgot that I did, but the next week I hit 308 miles. That's about an extra 3 miles/gallon. Not complaining, but in the 8 years that I've owned the truck I have not seen those numbers.

[Cerberus]

Maybe that's why my friend's sled lunched 2 times in one weekend. I was going to blame it on a bad gasket/air leak but maybe it was the fuel.

Don't know what CT just did to their fuel, but my truck went from about 250 miles per tank to about 305-310 miles per tank in the last 3 weeks. The first time I hit 306, I thought I may have tossed in 5 or 10 bucks and just forgot that I did, but the next week I hit 308 miles. That's about an extra 3 miles/gallon. Not complaining, but in the 8 years that I've owned the truck I have not seen those numbers.

summer fuel blend is less volatile and often causes a difference in realized mileage

[rbrais]

summer fuel blend is less volatile and often causes a difference in realized mileage

That I know, but I have NEVER hit close to 300 miles on a tank.

[Cerberus]

That I know, but I have NEVER hit close to 300 miles on a tank.

maybe your O2 sensor went bad and now it thinks its richer than it is, so the ECU is leaning down your A/F ratio..

did you change anything on the vehicle? tires or pressures? air filter?
aerodynamics? weight load in vehicle?

[markbvt]

My XR650L runs noticeably smoother on real gas than that ethanol shit. Thankfully we still have a few independent gas stations up this way that have non-ethanol gas, and it's all I buy whenever possible.

--mark

[TheIglu]

I haven't noticed any difference in any of my vehicles over the last few years.

[richw]

When you buy oxygen you Are buying pre burnt fuel for more money to get worse mileage.

Your downtown betters know what's good for you and the planet. They have seen pictures