Ethanol question
Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,354
Likes: 1
From: S.W. Florida
Not only the above, but the Feds are now talking about 15%. Neither one of our earlier 2000 year cars or my new 2011 Trike is setup for 15%. We have a problem coming here guys, that we had better get on or we are going to be screwed. I also use Startron with every fillup and Stabil in my Hurricane generator fuel.
Road Warrior
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,479
Likes: 4
From: SoCal
That is partly correct, the wicking action of EtOH absorbs water from the bottom of tanks and also the air. At first this may cause a lost of octane by 5-15 points and can result in pinging. Later the fuel can become separated, and a heavy milky sludge can clog fuel filters. Also, the high detergent action of EtOH can remove varnish, scale and oxides from the inside of tanks or containers and precipitate in the form of slime and crud that starts clogging fuel filters, carburetors and injectors. California has used 10% EtOH in its gasoline for so many years that I cannot recall when it started. Just as with any detergent-containing fuel, don't keep it in your tank more than a month without a gasoline stabilizer and there should be no issues from separation or water absorption.
Last edited by Firetender; Mar 9, 2011 at 04:43 PM.
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,109
Likes: 3
From: Chattanooga, TN
Any ethanol gas is bad stuff, bad for your vehicle and kills mileage. Most all gas now has up to 10% ethanol. There are only a very few gas stations without ethanol. I go miles out of my way just to get the non ethanol gas.
E85 is what you have to worry about. Don't ever put E85 in a motorcycle or any vehicle that is not a "Flex Fuel" vehicle. It will destroy all the "o" rings, in the fuel system, your fuel filter and anything plastic in the fuel system. The 10% is bad enough, does the same over time. You may want to change your fuel filter every couple of years regardless of mileage using the gas with ethanol.
E85 is what you have to worry about. Don't ever put E85 in a motorcycle or any vehicle that is not a "Flex Fuel" vehicle. It will destroy all the "o" rings, in the fuel system, your fuel filter and anything plastic in the fuel system. The 10% is bad enough, does the same over time. You may want to change your fuel filter every couple of years regardless of mileage using the gas with ethanol.
Cruiser
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 101
Likes: 1
From: Brazil
Here in Brazil all gas have 23/25% of ethanol. It's law. Our Harleys and other bikes have been runing this mix since the 90's. No harm until now. But rubber hoses suffers a little and have to be changed more frequently and mileage is poor, of course.
Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,655
Likes: 9
From: Northwest Arkansas
My 07 Electra Glide started running poorly, it had set for a month with 1/2 tank of gas so may have gotten some water build-up. Replaced with fresh gas and ran better but not great. My tech tells me to replace the fuel filter as they are seeing problems with filters and some fuel pumps do to ethanol use. Can anyone shed some light on why this is/ may happen due to ethanol use? I know the 10% ethanol is not great but does it really cause these type issues?
Thanks
Thanks
I do have almost 40,000 miles and I'm going to change the filter since it hasn't been done yet. I know it's supposed to be done at 25,000 miles, but it is running fine. Just don't want to push my luck.
How many miles do you have? Has the filter ever been changed?
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 11,615
Likes: 50
From: Baton Rouge, LA
Same here in S. LA, almost all fuel being E10 for the past two years or more. Ethanol produces 34% less energy (BTUs) than pure gas, so in an engine tuned for gas mileage and performance should be lower by around 3%. I have noticed a mileage decrease in both my car and bike in that time period. Since ethanol produces higher octane, an engine tuned for it can have higher compression which will produce more power than an equal-sized gas engine. Most vehicles produced in the past 25 years or so can run E10 without problems.
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Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 150
Likes: 0
From: Elysian Fields Texas
Thanks for all the input = most of you have my thoughts to much of this in use to be a real problem. I have 42k on the bike and will replace the filter and see-- sometimes here in east Texas you have to by from less than quality places when you out and about.