Ethanol free gas

[john.mancini]

We live in Florida for about 8 months of the year. A new Wawa gas station just opened up here in Venice and they offer 89 octane ethanol free gas. I was thrilled to see this and now plan to use it in my 69 280SL. I would imagine that it would be better for the injectors and gas tank, especially since the car sits for 4 months of the year. Good plan or not? Does anyone run ethanol free gas in their SL? Is 89 octane enough? My SL has bronze valve guides.

[Garry]

In Australia there is very little petrol sold with ethanol in it and I personally would not use ethanol fuel in my car. I believe it is not kind on rubber in the long term.

Garry

[Bicbiker]

I agree with Garry - 113's are not happy imbibing ethanol over the long haul. Besides the rubber, the fuel tanks are more prone to rusting with ethanol fuel. Personally I use a 93 octane ethanol-free gas, and must go out of my way to obtain it. If I could get higher octane, I would.

[Jack Jones]

Many fuel providers offer high test free of ethanol (91 octane) in Canada and this information is available on the internet. I use it in everything including my small engines.

[badali]

I use 90 ethanol free gas since that is what is available here.  I noticed it seems to run better and start easier...

[cattledog]

Ethanol free gas is difficult to get in San Diego and seems to be sold as "racing fuel" by a few places at more than 2x the price of regularly available gas.

You guys use any fuel additives to combat the effects of ethanol?   I know some of the professional gardners  around here add fuel stabilizer to fuel they use with smaller 2 stroke engines, even if they plan to burn all the fuel right away because the stabilizer "helps manage the ethanol problem" (supposedly).

Ethanol is a type of alcohol - so it really is a very different thing than what our cars were designed to use in the first place!

Chris

[JamesL]

I did read of someone doing rallies/touring in places like Thailand and Burma who put engine oil (a small amount!) in his tank when he filled up to keep the pipes/IP more protected from the vagueries of the fuel.

I also heard yesterday that ethanol doesn't burn particularly cleaner than gas but does help the agriculture industry: can't do food subsidies but can mandate that fuel contains crops. No idea if true but knowing how Governments manage to dabble in everything...

[Bonnyboy]

If you have problems finding Ethanol Free gas try the outskirts of town where the farmers are more likely to purchase their fuel.  I have been lucky finding ethanol free gas off the beaten path away from where the tourists shop.

[Benz Dr.]

Funny thing is I've been running both fuels in my car for as long as it's been around ( 20 years maybe ) and the only thing I've had any problems with is the hose coming off of the fuel pump. That hose never seems to last long anyway. I have seen no effects on anything we run including tractors, lawn mowers, cars, trucks and weed trimmers. I think maximum is 10% here and more than that could cause problems. So, if it really is a problem, why haven't I seen it?

Field corn that is largely used as animal feed is the same corn used to make ethanol. After the starch in the corn is used as part of ethanol production the remainder DDG's ( dried distiller's grains ) is fed to animals; usually cattle. Part of the fermentation process releases carbon dioxide which is captured and used in the soft drink industry so nothing goes to waste. Many operations now include green houses which use the waste heat from fermentation and the CO2 to enhance plant growth.

[john.mancini]

I've run AV fuel in my 62 Fuel Corvette and other HiPo cars that I've owned over the years. What are your thoughts on running my 280SL on AV fuel? My gut tells me that AV fuel may clean out any possible "buildup" from ethanol in the injectors.

[Garry]

I would have thought AV? if you mean Aviation Fuel (Avgas) was a good way to burn out your valves..

Garry

[Flyair]

AVGAS 100LL is successfully used by a colleague in his Mustang. He actually mixes up the low octane (86) with AVGAS and his engine seems happy.
I prefer using a lead add-on that is available at each petrol station in small bottles.
Larger volumes can be sourced - at least in Europe - from producers such as Castrol or Miller

[john.mancini]

The high octane AV fuel is lead free, but so is all of the gas we are buying at the pumps.  I have bronze valve guides which should prevent any valve damage. I just wanted to get rid of the ethanol issue, which basically turns the gas into varnish if it sits too long.........I guess.

[Tyler S]

Here is a Google map of Fuel Stations offering Ethanol Free Fuel. It is not complete but its a start.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=12ji1gs1GXfMO6Pb6pWWiTXxPyHg&hl=en_US&ll=40.44547835311916%2C-105.20182578125002&z=2

[mdsalemi]

AVGAS 100LL is successfully used by a colleague in his Mustang.

A well known restorer of pre-war Classics (yes, Dr. Benz, Classics) in the Detroit area, used to bring a 55 gallon drum up to Oakland Airport and have it filled with AVGAS 100. Yes it was quite costly, but these were trailer queens, many worth millions, and the cost of gas be it $2 a gallon or $20 a gallon wasn't of the least concern--the stuff has a long shelf life and was well suited to their needs. About all these cars do is sit and look pretty, occasionally going on some short vintage tour or drive around the concours show field.

Unfortunately they stopped selling it to him, claiming some FAA rule that you can only put/buy AVGAS for use in airplanes here in the USA.

[hauser]

My local NAPA sells racing fuel.  They offer it in a variety of octane levels either in  gallon cans or will pump into your own can.

[Shvegel]

I'm with Dan (BenzDr) again this week.  Aside from having an affinity for water I see no issues with filling your car with 10 percent ethanol fuel. Keeping the tank full it allows less room for moist air in the tank and less chance of moisture damage.  Our tanks were galvanized at the factory so if your tank is rusting it is time for a new one.

[MikeL43]

I am a big fan of ethanol free gasoline and believe there must have been a lot of pressure placed on our legislators by the corn growing states to get a 10% ethanol requirement for gasahol fuel to be required throughout the US.  I wish I could bill someone for all the problems gasahol has caused in the small engines I use around my place.  I just returned from a 1600 mile road trip mostly on interstates and finding non ethanol fuel for my car was not practical. 

Having had my rant and having tried Wa Wa's 89 octaine 100 % gasoline fuel the only problem I found with it was that I got a spark knock with 89 octaine fuel under full throttle and I have gone back to 93 Octaine fuel which is available at various industrial fuel suppliers.  I think the compression on our cars was somewhat higher than 9/1 thus making the higher octane gasoline more desirable.  I realize I could retard the spark and eliminate the spark knock but I would miss the extra HP I would lose in doing that.  Two days ago I filled up with 93 octaine fuel for $3.00 per US gallon here in Florida.   

[Naj ✝︎]

Funny thing is I've been running both fuels in my car for as long as it's been around ( 20 years maybe ) and the only thing I've had any problems with is the hose coming off of the fuel pump. That hose never seems to last long anyway. I have seen no effects on anything we run including tractors, lawn mowers, cars, trucks and weed trimmers. I think maximum is 10% here and more than that could cause problems. So, if it really is a problem, why haven't I seen it?

This happened to me couple of weeks ago. The fuel hose from electric pump to the hard line came off.
Dumped about 60 litres of fuel on the road.

naj

[mdsalemi]

I share the opinion of Dr. Benz. No problems ever running fuel with ethanol in it, and it's the only commonly available fuel around here. I use it in all the cars, my boat, lawnmower, etc. w/o issue.

I did have a leak two years ago at the fuel pump connection (after about 10 years) and I simply changed the relatively inexpensive hose...

[Benz Dr.]

I think the hose is the problem and not the fuel so much. This hose is rubber impregnated cotton which doesn't stand up to fuel that well. I've replaced a few of them by cutting away the old hose and replacing with regular fuel hose.

[Raymond]

Shortly after I bought my car in 2003, I filled the tank with 100 octane, low lead AVgas.  Car ran great!  Right up until the head gasket blew.  Could have been a coincidence.