Not illegal. Use ethanol free gas in my 1939 Chevy pickup and all my small engine equipment, e.g. boat motors, lawn mowers, generators, etc.

https://www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp

 

that is so far from the truth, it's a wonder why I deal with clients that spew those same myths. Ethanol will clean out deposits left by gasoline, your engine will run cooler and longer. You will make more power, however your fuel economy will go down slightly. It is true, ethanol production is not the cleanest, but it helps reduce on dependence on foreign oil.

Sythetic oil used to take out engines because they were not using the right EP and AW additives in the chemistry. Today's Ethanol does not have the problems of ethanol from 2008. The ethanol fuels have plenty corrision inhibitors and all sorts of additives that would cover an entire forum board.

illegal to buy non ethanol fuel, unless you're buying it through some speciality route. Pump stations are not allowed to sell this raw gasoline without restrictions. You occasionally will see a gas station with race gas and they have to go through a lot of things to sell that fuel.

The advantages to running ethanol are huge, your engine running cleaner, producing less emissions and lasting longer, cancels some of the production downsides of ethanol. Also ethanol production is primarily sourced from coal and natural gas, so some big considerations there since they are not being produced with the use of fossil fuels like gasoline is. As ethanol production becomes more efficient we will see these downsides go away, gasoline production has been in the works for decades, ethanol is relatively new stuff and the tech is still catching up.

So in short, running ethanol is great for this engine, I'd tune this thing for E85 if possible. E15 should be adopted nationwide ASAP as anything past 2000 can run it very easily. E20 is a decade out at best.

 

small equipment is not the same as a car, they do not have the same standards and are made completely different. I love when industry pros try and grill me at trade shows in the middle of presentations with their lawn mower cases.

Your LC has a no E85, because it doesn't have the proper fuel system for enough delivery.

E85 creates around 80,000 BTU's
E10 93 creates 112,500 BTU's

You need 1.4 gallons of ethanol to create 1 gallon's worth of energy for E10 93. It is not because your LC engine can't run it. If this engine could be tuned for E85, I'd do it in a second.

 

I'd guess you deal with clients to make money, perhaps.

In re "spewing myths"...It IS NOT illegal to sell non-ethanol fuel per se under federal law. States, counties, and / or cities may pass their own laws re: ethanol or no-ethanol. I'd expect that in the gimme'-mo-money corn belt states. Idaho grows more seed corn than any other state and no ethanol is no problem here. If you have a local ordnance against no-ethanol gas, please post a link.


Take a look at BTU's per gallon here...https://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy...ison-test.html . Diesel still has both ethanol and non-ethanol gas beaten soundly, with ~ 130,000 BTU's per gallon. Diesels also produce a relatively flat torque curve v. gasoline engines. It's nice to have 500 ft.-lbs. or more available at only 1800 rpm.

I'm aware that small engines are not the same as those in vehicles. They are notorious for crappy fuel lines with gasoline, but the crap appears sooner with ethanol mixes. The only material resistant to gasoline I'm aware of is Viton, a fluropolymer that's not especially cheap, and probably not flexible enough for small power tools. Draining the tank and running the tool dry is suggested if you're not planning on using the tool in the next month.

 

But what you're missing is that diesel is like gasoline in that it is hard on engines. Ethanol cleans out deposits and is very easy on internals, runs cooler and allows advancements in timing.

I don't run ethanol in my little law mower as it wasn't designed for such fuel.

Correction it is not mandated under EPA law, rather laws set up amongst the midwest.

 

also ethanol needs it's own engine design like a diesel to really shine.

 

I don't think I'm missing that correctly designed diesel can run for a very long time...I have 3 with 2 on large tractors and one in a Dodge Ram...this doesn't mean early Oldsmobile engines based on SB gas motors, or Jeeps' attempt a few years ago. Diesels may not like timing advances, but they love a little boost.

I understand that your little mower was not designed for a gas-ethanol mix.

 

EGR and DPF and ULS Diesel is leaving today's diesel limited in life. Those three factors are destroying engines nationwide. They're good but not what they used to be.

 

I'll limit my comment only to your assertion it is illegal to sell ethanol free gas unless you are selling race gas. You are so full of BS I can smell you from here and I don't even know where you are. You are just wrong about the legality. I challenge you to show a reference documenting the statutes making selling ethanol gas illegal.

 

I'm waiting for the same citation(s). OP did admit he's seen it in states growing corn specifically for ethanol.

Crickets...

 

...when you do your own research. Some perhaps were forgotten by other poster(s) in this thread.

Check https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2015/0...u-might-think/

As of June, 2015, 7 states require ethanol in gasoline. 6 of the 7 are nowhere near the "corn belt". Most allow exemptions for "special uses"...antique vehicles, small engines, racing, and boating are examples.

 

I do see ETHANOL FREE gas sold in "some gas stations" in MS. Enough of theses around you should have little, if any problems locating these. They DO ADVERTISE this in BIG signs with price clearly posted. The price is about 20 cents more vs the regular 87 Octane ethanol gas. The ETHANOL FREE GAS is rated at 87 Octane (if I remember correctly). A lot of people buy the ETHANOL FREE GAS not only for their boats, jet skis, small power tools, but also for their cars.

I don't see but just a few ETHANOL FREE GAS stations in SoCal. IDK, MAYBE I'm just not seeing these bc I needed to keep my eyes on the look out for all these drivers on the roads in SoCal vs vehicles are more spread out??

What about RV's? Would it be bad to a full tank 55+ gallons of this ETHANOL GAS in the tank at the end of the trip and park the RV for a few months until the next outing? With my cars, I gas up at least every week (maybe two to three weeks maximum) so no problems.

Anyone it there can shed some light on the RV?

 

@redhorse, it's why I corrected my comment. My original comment refers to another EPA mandate(Renewable Fuel Standard) that pretty much has forced fuel companies to blend ethanol. so it is not a direct requirement but rather an indirect requirement that affects everyone even with those that don't have state laws mandating so. It's illegal for them not to buy and blend the 10% of ethanol, which in turn basically forces them to sell it as such. They are not allowed to not buy it, so why wouldn't they use it? For speciality apps it's not regulated. You're right in saying it's not in all states dependent on the gas station, but I don't usually deal with gas station, I deal with Shell and BP. It's very confusing and I got my facts wrong on that one. Hard to keep up with state laws vs federal laws, not to mention they are constantly changing and I don't really care at the end of the day. Laws don't dictate science.

Just drove from Chi - ATL - ORL - DC - NYC and back home. Didn't see one ethanol free gas station along the way. As the years go on, you will likely see E15 adopted in your state soon, and E20 eventually. The average fuel economy loss with E20 is 7-8%. Illinois already has E15 in a lot of stations.

Ethanol does not hurt RV's, cars or other vehicles. It is different in little law mower stuff. In general ethanol will become more accepted as time goes on. Ethanol reduces emissions, runs easier on engine internals, your engine can advance timing for more power and the engine is also running cooler. Oh and we reduce the purchases from overseas.

 

I refuse to believe that there is anything good about ethanol in our gas except due to the pressure from the corn lobby. Ethanol is crap and degrades engine power and will suck water where ever it can find it. If they move to E15 or worst E20 we will all end up paying even more for E10 that they will have to keep offering for a long time.

 

Well then you will stay in the past along with all the people who said the same about synthetic oil. You can refuse to believe all you want like the Catholic Church lol There's only so much you can keep refuting before the science continues to say otherwise. Might you tell us why you are so reluctant?