Comments on: Ethanol Gas Problems

By: Noethanol

Noethanol — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:42:00 +0000

you may want to check buyrealgas.com for a no ethanol station near you

By: Buffy M.

Buffy M. — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:18:24 +0000

I own a 2009 Mini Cooper S….and live in N. Georgia in a very small town/area.
Name brand fuel stations are not abundant and I have experienced bad fuel…my engine indicator light flashes. It’s scary to know that the percentage of ethanol in the fuel can kill my car’s engine if I don’t stay conscious of where I buy fuel. I went on your website to find out what exactly is ethanol…and you presented far more information to me. Thanx and keep it going..pardon the pun.

By: gavin

gavin — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 04:05:56 +0000

spot on josh. i had the same problem too. our last govt heavily pushed for so-called biofuel. so being a environmentally friendly model citizen that i am, i gave the e10 fuel a go. yup, first start, nadda – zero ignition. tried a couple of times – she’s alive. bloody annoying if u ask me.

real problem began while i was driving. the engine suddenly stalled for no good reason. doesn’t matter if i was on a highway or in the process of overtaking, the car just went dead and ended up cruising to the side of the road (a heavily electronic optioned car like alfa does not allow re-start without a complete stop). after 2 days of this i realised it must be the new fuel.

floored my baby into the next petrol station and diluted the shit with good old standard 98 octane fuel.

after a week of dilution and reverting back to the crude fuel, the problem disappeared as swiftly as it came. when i looked it up on the net, it dawned on me that ethanol sucks up water like c*ck sucking blonde in a prom and will clog fuel lines, thereby stalling the engine. christ almighty what a dangerous fuel. imagine yr steering locks up while the car starts to veer into the opposite lane at 100km/hr…

and now, i wonder if my fuel pump has been damaged…bummer.

thanks for the heads up josh. u r alright. keep sharing with car afficionado like us!

By: Brian G.

Brian G. — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:58:05 +0000

Do they make ethonol blends with a 91 or higher octane as required by MINI and other car makers? If you’re putting less than 91 octane in your MINI you’re sure to have problems.

By: Robert Huntington

Robert Huntington — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:41:50 +0000

My Dodge van would not start, and upon inspection I found that the rubber grommet and the rubber hose where the gas fill goes into the fuel tank has disolved. This is shortly after Oregon mandated 10% ethanol in all gas sold in Oregon. The hose disolved as if melted, leaving a huge hole and drained all the gas onto the ground. The rubber grommet was soft, and could be spread like peanut butter. I hate to think what my fuel lines and fuel pump look like inside. Today I will begin the task of investigating what will be involved in rebuilding the carbuerator to survive ethanol. And I don’t even know if it will be possible to get the unique grommet (that seals the metal filler tube to the fuel tank) made from a material that will withstand ethanol. I may just take some 50 gallon drums to the nearby state of Washington, and bootleg as much as I can haul back to store in my yard, secretly of course, as there is undoubtedly a law against hauling and storing.

By: Chad Spooner

Chad Spooner — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:28:02 +0000

Just so you know, ethanol is a good thing. Reason? It is a solvent and a good one at that. It dissolves all the polar soluble elements that normally remained in the gas tank and clogs the filter. Your fuel pumps are dying due to their inability to pump fuel through the filter. Change your filters and after two or three changes (once a year at least) you should have no trouble. Ignore the mileage when you change the filter. Need to change depends on more conditions than just miles.
Did anyone ask him why he didn’t change filters when he got his new pump?

By: reg gaudette

reg gaudette — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 21:55:18 +0000

I am now starting to buy Citgo gas again because I know it has no ethanol added. Chavez is against ethanol & will not allow his company to use it.
I hope we will SOON see some truth in advertising at the pump to warn consumers when ethanol is added to gas.

By: Herb Dawrs

Herb Dawrs — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 09:22:06 +0000

On the island of Hawaii, boat owners are having problems like Tim Booth says, plus resins used in fiberglass tanks are being dissolved. Small engine shops report a surge in carb problems sinc 4/06 when all gas on this island went E10. Motorcycle engine fuel system problems climbed also. And we have lotsa humidty! We try to keep metal tanks full to help prevent condensation.

Bent valves and piston problems are occurring in fishing boat engines even during careful break-in running. And the Volvo warranties state they are void if running ethanol mixes. And you can’t just pull over and park with your flashers on.

My ‘99 Toyota RAV4 developed a leak in the high pressure plastic fuel line from the tank to the steel line system. We don’t know if it was fuel-related or mechanical, but dealer says this was the first ever replaced by them.. And the synthetic float needle tip seal on my riding mower went away, dumping a full tank of fuel through the intake valve into the crankcase and the rest onto the ground through the exhaust system. I was happy to not have piston or rod damage.

Aloha,
Herb

By: Tim Booth

Tim Booth — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 19:47:36 +0000

Was looking thru your blog about ethanol. We have seen a huge problem among boaters on the East Coast this season. Of course boaters have a bigger problem with moisture contamination than most car owners- constant sweating in the tanks.

Many boaters have tried K 100-MG fuel treatment as a way of neutralizing the moisture contamination. See k100 fueltreatment.com. Look at the Marine FAQ-ethanol on the waterfront.

In the interest of fair disclosure I am the president of Kinetic Laboratories, the manufacturer of K 100.

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 14:39:06 +0000

I was searching the web to see if anyone was having problems with ethanol. I don’t have a mini but I have 2 volvo wagons and they both have died with fuel pump failure at the same time. The problem was they both would just cut out while driving. What can explain this other than something wrong with the fuel. It’s like water in the tank. I am in Houston and we have recently been seeing ethanol here. I have other friends wondering what’s going on with their cars/ trucks running poorly. Best advice is to stay away from ethanol if you can, especially older cars that are not designed to eat corn…