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Pro-tip, if you're driving very, very little look up an ethanol-free gas station on pure-gas.org and fill up there when your tank is nearly empty. It'll cost m
by exhilaration 7y ago
Pro-tip, if you're driving very, very little look up an ethanol-free gas station on pure-gas.org and fill up there when your tank is nearly empty. It'll cost more but you don't want ethanol sitting in your gas tank, fuel filter, and engine for months. An alternative is fuel stabilizer but make sure you do your math correctly and don't add to much or or too little.
I predict a surge in cars that won't start when the stay-at-home orders are lifted.
- joezydeco 7y agoFriend of mine is in the car battery business and he's gearing up for a huge surge of dead battery replacement business when this is all over. Doesn't really make up for the lost OEM business from the car manufacturers but it's something.
- andruby 7y agoI make a habit of driving my car at least once every month to combat this.
- bluGill 7y agoI have my truck on a battery maintainer. Saves having to start it for a trip I otherwise wouldn't make (or would use a car for). I use it only when I have a task that needs a truck which only happens a few times a year, everything else I take the bus.
- tricky 7y agoThis is 100% correct. After about 6 months in the tank, ethanol gas starts turning into sticky garbage that doesn't want to burn. I have a few classic cars that sit a lot. A couple times a year I drive an hour to my nearest ethanol-free gas station with a trunk load of gas cans. I'm sure it is incredibly dangerous, but I haven't had any fuel system problems since I started doing it.
- 0xff00ffee 7y agoA relative collects Duesenbergs and he uses a fuel additive plus preservative since there is no ethanol-free gas where he lives.
- londons_explore 7y agoFrom a science perspective, why does ethanol become sticky? Whiskey doesn't get sticky when it gets old...
- tricky 7y agosorry, "sticky" is wrong in the context of ethanol gas in a modern-ish tank for a few months. However, when any gasoline is exposed to oxygen it forms solids called "gums." My 1971 car has a tank that's vented to the air so it did form a layer of sticky gunk after about 15 years of sitting. Ethanol absorbs water which makes it "not want to burn," corrosive to metal components and it will deteriorate plastics and gaskets. Modern fuel systems are designed with this in mind. But, my '79 Porsche 928 with its mechanical fuel injection (an analog computer that runs on fuel and air pressures) really hates it.
- tsomctl 7y agoIf you live in California, don't bother. It's illegal and they won't sell to you if it's going into a vehicle.
- spuz 7y agoDo you mean don't bother using fuel stabilizer? I can't see anything about it being illegal in California.
- unethical_ban 7y agoI cannot fathom the supposed environmental reasons for disallowing ethanol-free gasoline. It is an ag industry subsidy via federal mandate to have 10% ethanol in gas, and in a politics-free world we would remove that requirement.
- 93po 7y agoI don't think it's illegal for environmental reasons
- hanniabu 7y ago> An alternative is fuel stabilizer but make sure you do your math correctly and don't add to much or or too little. Why would too little be an issue? Won't it still be better than not using it at all? > I predict a surge in cars that won't start when the stay-at-home orders are lifted. I'm sure they're still being used to go to the grocery store and possibly trips to the pharmacists, laundromat, or pick up take out.
- war1025 7y ago> Why would too little be an issue? I assume because if you don't add enough you don't get the benefits and it's just a waste of money.
- bluGill 7y agoIt isn't ethanol at fault, it is the cheap low grade gas in the ethanol that degrades. Pure ethanol is very shelf stable.
- beervirus 7y agoEthanol is hygroscopic. It is indeed the ethanol at fault.
- bluGill 7y agoYou are mixing facts. Ethanol absorbs water, but it does not turn into varnish over time, that is the gas. Ethanol that absorbs water separates out from gasoline but it is still liquid fuel that flows just fine. (it burns fine too, but you will have a hard time starting the engine on that mix)
- beervirus 7y agoSure, pure gasoline will eventually go bad too. But that’s on a much longer timescale than the ethanol water problem.
- bluGill 7y agoGasoline is not a single molecule. It is whatever the refinery wants. Plenty of ethanol advocates have successfully stored ethanol fuel (no gasoline) for years without issues. It can have problems, but they are over pushed by oil shrills.
- Niccizero 7y agoI went to the grocery store yesterday and couldn't start my car! turns out I left my phone charger in the 12v socket and after 5 weeks without driving it drained my battery.
- nostromo 7y agoWith oil being basically free, it seems crazy that we're still putting corn in gasoline.
- EForEndeavour 7y agoOil has only been this basically free for roughly a month.
- petersellers 7y agoEthanol has a much higher octane rating than conventional fuel so mixing it in with regular fuel provides for a higher octane rating without needing more additives.
- GaryNumanVevo 7y agoit's also a HUGE govt subsidy for farmers with excess corn
- dsfyu404ed 7y agoCars don't care. They'll run on 3+yo gas (though I wouldn't risk it in anything that needs premium for reasons beyond the scope of this comment). It's stuff with carburetors that you have to worry about, particularly two strokes, marine 2-strokes seem even more finicky for whatever reason. Also, modern car fuel systems are well enough sealed that there's not much moisture ingress. The whole "gas goes bad in X months" this is basically an urban legend at this point but it's continuously propped up because most white collar people's experience with gas older than a few months is trying to pull start some piece of garden power equipment that has the cheapest carburetor known to man on it, a compression ratio in the ballpark of "maybe" and barely runs on a good day and then can't start once you make the gas even mildly less volatile. Old carburetor vehicles could certainly gum up but they'll do that with premium too. If you don't daily drive a moped, motorcycle or bicycle with one of those engine kits you'll be fine. Source: Formerly employed in an industry where filling up your vehicle with free junk gas was one of the perks of the job.
- chasd00 7y agoi think the main issue is seals/gaskets dry out, crack, and fail without oil pumping around. After not driving for a while, it's not so much the gas that screws things up but the lubricants. /disclaimer: any time i raise the hood on a car the repair cost is automatically 2x the cost had i not raised the hood. I am not a car guy not matter how much i wish i was.
- agumonkey 7y agoHow regularly and how long should the engine run to avoid this ?
- stunt 7y agoIt depends how old is your battery and car etc. If you don't use your car, or all you do is just going for groceries, Old advice is to drive 10km once a week. Go to a road or motorway. Let the engine work.
- agumonkey 7y agoYeah I guess I'll make a trip to a store with long traffic free spans.