Tbizz
ArboristSite Lurker
2005 Mazda3
Gas has a month shelf life?
- Thread starter Tbizz
- Start date
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I ran old mix gas in my 2000 Nissan Frontier, and my 95 F-150. No problems in either. Do you just have the one car?
Tbizz
ArboristSite Lurker
yep
16:1mix
Addicted to ArboristSite
For sure:
Ethanol alcohol does absorb water.
Ethanol alcohol has poor long term storage characteristics.
I'm in Iowa which is a corn state that produces a lot of ethanol alcohol for use as motor fuel - but I bet you could cop a buzz like no other if you knew just exactly which pipe to tap at the plant that makes the stuff.....it is moonshine you know! :hmm3grin2orange:
I've used 10% blend, so called "Gasohol" for 20+ years and continue to in everything EXCEPT the engines that I feed from a portable gas can such as all the 2-cycle engines, mowers, trimmers, etc.
I did have a tank of 10% blend get stale one summer after my mowing tractor sat in the hot sun for about a month during a long dry spell. To get it running had to drain the fuel and replace the spark plugs. This would be an extreme example because the tractor is a 1942 John Deere model "B" that starts by hand cranking the flywheel and is already known to be a bit fickle about starting.
Water absorption can be an asset under certain conditions, such as condensation in the fuel tank. The water is carried out of the fuel system with the fuel, much like products made for that purpose - "HEET", etc.
Bottom line:
Ethanol = Okay
Ethanol in saws = probably not the best idea
dave
Ethanol alcohol does absorb water.
Ethanol alcohol has poor long term storage characteristics.
I'm in Iowa which is a corn state that produces a lot of ethanol alcohol for use as motor fuel - but I bet you could cop a buzz like no other if you knew just exactly which pipe to tap at the plant that makes the stuff.....it is moonshine you know! :hmm3grin2orange:
I've used 10% blend, so called "Gasohol" for 20+ years and continue to in everything EXCEPT the engines that I feed from a portable gas can such as all the 2-cycle engines, mowers, trimmers, etc.
I did have a tank of 10% blend get stale one summer after my mowing tractor sat in the hot sun for about a month during a long dry spell. To get it running had to drain the fuel and replace the spark plugs. This would be an extreme example because the tractor is a 1942 John Deere model "B" that starts by hand cranking the flywheel and is already known to be a bit fickle about starting.
Water absorption can be an asset under certain conditions, such as condensation in the fuel tank. The water is carried out of the fuel system with the fuel, much like products made for that purpose - "HEET", etc.
Bottom line:
Ethanol = Okay
Ethanol in saws = probably not the best idea
dave
AZLOGGER
ArboristSite Guru
- Joined
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OK ladies & Gentlemen here is a inexpensive homemade way to test if you have alcohol in your gasoline or suspect there may be alcohol in the gasoline you are purchasing. you can buy test kits on the internet but this will work just as well and is cheap to make (after the olives are eaten).
:bang: :jawdrop:
:bang: :jawdrop:
Ray Bennett
ArboristSite Guru
first, do not put in you car, it may gum up the catalytic converter. Second, like many have said here, It it has been kept with the lid on in a dry spot it will be fine for well more than 3 weeks. Finally if you are using good 2 stroke oil then it should have stabilizers in the oil. Im sure everyone here has started saws for people that have not used them in over a year and they generally fire right up and run fine. I swear the dealers put this stuff out half the time to sell more oil.
We make sure to use mix oil that has stabilizer in it, and for 4 cycle equipment, we add stabilizer to all of our plain gas. I'm not sure if it's just a state law, or if it's federal law, but around here you have to post on your pumps if you use ethanol and how much.
I bet Ive burned well near 20 gallons of mix just milling. All the gas we get around here is 10% blend (not sure where Brandon is getting non ethanol gas, but Id like to know!)
I mix all my stuff close to 40:1, and have yet to have any issues with fuel. Sometimes the 660 sits for a month before I get a chance to use it, and it never has an issue firing right up.
I mix all my stuff close to 40:1, and have yet to have any issues with fuel. Sometimes the 660 sits for a month before I get a chance to use it, and it never has an issue firing right up.
ive said it before--i believe the stihls boys problems with alcohol is this--when you are mixing 50-1 and theres alcohol--though it runs cooler--its also "dry" and that is what scorches pistons--the stihl dealer down the road said that anyone running alcohol around there was burning pistons-- ive been running alcohol in my olys since it first came out--and nary a problem--but im at 35-1 mix--and i believe the extra oil is stopping harming the engine---just my 2c's
Woodie
"Cap'n Bullcrap'n"
Casey,
I'm just down the road from you, and virtually none of the gas in Detroit is 10%. Michigan state law requires it be labeled on the pump if it isn't pure gasoline, and here only the off-brand stuff (????go, etc.) is ethanol. Any Shell/BP/Amoco/Marathon/etc. is 100%. I'm surprised it's different up there, but then again, you're in the state capital, and nothing surprises me around ANY state legislature!
It's probably a little harder to move the 10% stuff down here, too, so it may be a market-driven thing. Most Detroiters won't touch gasohol with a barge pole. Your mileage suffers, your seals suffer, and it attracts water.
No thanks.
16:1mix
Addicted to ArboristSite
This is not true.
Magnum783
ArboristSite Guru
It is a federal law that it be posted on the pump when Ethonal is contained in the fuel being sold. This was dicussed in another post. Don't know which one it is. Not sure about saw but I put ethonol containing gas in my truck once and two miles later had to replace a fuel filter. Just my two cents.
Jared
Jared
Jim Mesthene
ArboristSite Operative
Woodie
"Cap'n Bullcrap'n"
Jared,
There is no ferderal regulation that requires 10% gasohol to be labeled as such. The Fed boys consider 10% or less to be simply "gasoline."
It is the individual states that usually require labeling. Feds only require octane labeling, or in the case of things like E-85, that it be labeled as such. Again, 10% or less is the magic number.
At present, only 34 states require ethanol labeling. As a result, many will not even be aware when they are getting ethanol.
Casey,
I'm just down the road from you, and virtually none of the gas in Detroit is 10%. Michigan state law requires it be labeled on the pump if it isn't pure gasoline, and here only the off-brand stuff (????go, etc.) is ethanol. Any Shell/BP/Amoco/Marathon/etc. is 100%. I'm surprised it's different up there, but then again, you're in the state capital, and nothing surprises me around ANY state legislature!
It's probably a little harder to move the 10% stuff down here, too, so it may be a market-driven thing. Most Detroiters won't touch gasohol with a barge pole. Your mileage suffers, your seals suffer, and it attracts water.
No thanks.
Interesting. I guess Im going to have to pay closer attention to the pump. I swear the Marathons and Speedways I get fuel from all have the 10% sticker on them. Ill have to check and report back.
Woodie
"Cap'n Bullcrap'n"
Too, (East) Lansing being a college town, therefore giving you a much higher VPCI,* it may be that the 10% is what people want to buy there.
Speedway is one of the 10%ers here in Detroit. Racetrac as well.
* Volvo Per Capita Index
there are some gas stations in Virginia that have stickers about 1 inch long and posted about knee high. They are hard to see even if you are looking. (Not all stations, but some do)
The ones here are pretty obvious. About 4x4 and right next to or above the handles. One sticker for each grade on each pump.
