10-18-2012, 12:29 PM
quote:
Originally posted by birdmove
Ethanol gas has other negatives besides just damaging o-rings. It supplies less horsepower than "pure" gas. This causes some to push the gas pedal/twist the throttle that much more probably offsetting the savings of gasoline it's meant to do. It also causes the gas to degrade much quicker, and traditional fuel stabilizer doesn't prevent it. If you use the vehicle/garden tool or whatever often enough you may run the ethanol/gas mix through and add new often enough that you may not have a problem. But leave it sit too long and you may have to remove and clean the carb. I have heard someone makes a special fuel stabilzer for ethanol gas, but have no knowledge of it.
Jon in Keaau/HPP
Yes, there is a product made by Sta-bil. Their original formula was made to keep gasoline from breaking down, as gasoline starts to degrade in as little as 30 days after the refinement process. They also have formulated a higher end product called Sta-bil Marine especially formulated to defeat the damaging effects of ethenol. I use it on my boat which has twin fuel injected outboards and have with no ill effects from the ethenol. A buddy of mine with newer boat and fuel injected Yamaha had major fuel system problems and costed him a couple grand to resolve the problem...mainly fuel injector problems due to ethenol absorbing moisture and creating a corosive and rust problem, mainly because boats are not used on a daily basis, unlike a vehicle that was a daily driver. In any event, non ethenol gasoline is more expensive than the 10% blend. Sta-bil Marine is about $30-$35 a bottle and treats up to 320 gallons.