Ethanol safe?

[pbouker]

Hey everyone

I'm not an ethanol fan by any means but the old stuff is getting hard to find.

Questions is:
Is ethanol safe to use long term on my '86 305?



Thank you all

[Mr.NastyTimes_86_eLky]

itll burn.. ethanol just doesnt burn clean.. alot of carbon build up.. but what can you do?

[69 SS396]

Not as many beety you's as gasoline but wont really hurt much as long as you dont let your car sit for very long.

When it sits it tends to sludge up and clog things. Also the rubber seals in older fuel systems dont care for it either.

[LOCKJAW]

Sure is ironic..half the world is starving.. we are converting food into fuel for our vehicles while huge deposits of oil are waiting to be pumped out of the ground. We don't have a dependence on foreign oil..we have a dependence on idiot politicians.

[mrblanche]

Well, as far as "safe" is concerned, if you mean for the environment, it's much better than...what was it, MBTA that it replaced? That stuff is poison. Ethanol can be safely ingested in moderate amounts, as you may know.

Now...as to the sense of making it out of corn, and all that sort of thing, that's up to the debaters to debate. Mostly it's made out of corn that would have been used as cattle feed. The cattle can't digest the sugar in it, and that's what the ethanol is made from. It's just as good for cattle feed after it's "spent" as it was before. In fact, a very popular cattle feed. If we made it out of something that wasn't food, that would be smarter.

Now, as far as your car is concerned, 5% probably won't be a problem. If you put a pint of dri-gas in your tank with 10 gallons of gas, that would be a little less than 3%. But the old hoses and carb parts and mechanical fuel pump parts, if they're original, could be affected.

You COULD put a blower on and run it on E85. About 105 octane for 10% less than regular gas.

I'm surprised there's any move at all to put more ethanol in the gas. The subsidies for ethanol production expired last year, and all the "conspiracy under every rock" types were sure that that was the only reason ethanol could even compete in the marketplace. Guess they were wrong.

[carlfan]

You got it right Lockjaw!

[WhisperPC]

Originally Posted by LOCKJAW

we are converting food into fuel for our vehicles

We don't have a dependence on foreign oil..we have a dependence on idiot politicians.

No to the first part. The sugar and starch are converted to ethanol. The protein is left behind after the brewing is done. I thought a Marine would know something about the brewing process.

As for the second part, unfortunately it's far too close to the truth for comfort

[Roy!]

I use non-ethanol in my Durango & Toyota - costs about 10% more - I save about 15% in gas mileage - you do the math! Also both vehicles run better/idle lower. I agree about growing an inferior fuel substitute instead of food on US farms

[Lostinwisc]

The stuff is just great for destroying 2 stroke engines---talk to the people who survice boats or snowmobile engines ... it just ruined a carb on my 460 rat rod engine (let it set in the carb for aprox 6 months ) my carb guy tried to rebuild it..told me to throw it in the can.

[aeilenstein]

Ethanol draws water. So if you don't use the 91 or 93 ethanol-free octane, like PhillipsConoco uses, then you need to make sure you drive your car often. You'll be dealing with both sludgy buildup and possibly rust issues.
I purchased my ElCamino about 2 years ago, and for about a year and a half of driving it, the bottom of my carburetor was getting filled with deposits the ethanol was pulling from the old fuel lines (car was not driven previously). This continually made my Quadrajet flood when the deposits built up on the needle and seat.

[FIRST ELKY 4 ME]

Hard to find ethanol free gas in these parts.

[87next2last1]

Here is a list of Ethanol-Free gas stations !!
Just click on your State !

http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?

[FIRST ELKY 4 ME]

Thanks, great link. Closest one to me is about an hour away.

[87next2last1]

Originally Posted by FIRST ELKY 4 ME

Thanks, great link. Closest one to me is about an hour away.

You could get one of those spare gas tanks for the back of pickups (or 55 Gal drum) & Go fill it up & Have your Ethanol free fuel at the house !!

[LOCKJAW]

Anyone have experience or opinion on octane boosters? I can only buy 89 pure gasoline locally.