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Re: E-15 Gas- Very Important
Reply #1
Yahoo Message Number: 136856
Very informative video, but maybe more important is that 10% ethanol gas has some of the same problems, albeit to a lesser extent.  We have a local care care show around here with 3 or 4 of the repair shop owners helping with car problems and they are very clear about all the problems they have seen caused by 10% ethanol gas.  While not a big problem in later year cars using better hoses and fuel injection, older vechicles especially carburated ones can have big expensive problems.  I sometimes wonder if some of the generator problems we hear so much about on this list are ethanol created.
 Since ethanol just doesn't contain as much energy per gallon, it also reduces our mileage, AAA says by 5% for 10% ethanol but as much as 25% for E-15.
 We're lucky here in NW Washington as pure gas is fairly widely available but in some areas like southern California it is non-existant.  It may cost a little more, but may be well worth it.  There are several web sites that list gas stations that carry ethanol free gas, one I like is pure-gas.org, it even has a POI file to download.
 Personally, I'd much rather eat my corn than burn it in my vechicles.

Rich - 2000 MB - Birch Bay, WA
Former 2000 MB- Now Bullet Crossfire 1800RB trailer pulled by a Chevy 2500HD

Re: E-15 Gas- Very Important
Reply #2
Yahoo Message Number: 136858
Rich Gort  wrote: We're lucky here in NW Washington as pure gas is fairly widely available but in some areas like southern California it is non-existant.
--- CA eliminated MTBE in gasoline by March, 2004; since then, the "oxygenate" has been ethanol, in concentrations from 5.7%-10%.  AFAIK, currently, virtually all gasoline available at the pumps to the public everywhere in California contains 10% ethanol.
 http://www.arb.ca.gov/fuels/gasoline/faq.htm

(The "pure-gas" website lists only one source of 87 octane non-ethanol gas, and that, apparently, is only available in 25-gallon drums.)
 The upshot of all this is that if one fuels a vehicle with gasoline in California, that gas will contain 10% corn squeezins, and it will cost over (usually WELL over!) $4.00 per gallon.

Joan
2003 TK has a new home

Re: E-15 Gas- Very Important
Reply #3
Yahoo Message Number: 136885
If AAA really claims a 5% to 10% loss in mileage with E10, I think they have bad information. The articles I've read show about 3%, what you would expect for with the lower caloric value of ethanol (about 70% of gasoline). E15 should reduce mileage by 5%, compared to gasoline. My 1989 Dodge Caravan, 1997 E350 RV chassis, and 2002 Camry all seem to run fine on E10, and have for many years. These values are for fuel-injected engines; if you have a vehicle so old it is carbureted, "YMMV".
Personally, I would not drive out of my way just to get E0 fuel.
 Ethanol-free fuel is sought after by many general aviation pilots, who can use it in their airplanes at a substantial cost savings ($2 to $3 per gallon) over the standard piston engine fuel ("100LL" - 100 octane low lead). Besides being cheaper, the absence of lead extends the time between oil and plug changes, and the life of the engine in general.
These pilots also report it is becoming harder to find.
 I saw my first E15 pump at the Casino station just east of Pendleton, OR. It was well marked. The other 10 pumps had standard fuel. All the pumps have a sign that delights me - "Self-serve" - as I detest the Oregon requirement that a station employee fuel my vehicle. I'm assuming it's that way because it's on reservation grounds.

I, too, prefer to eat my corn than burn it, and we can be glad the government finally halted the subsidy of ethanol production last year.

Eric Greenwell
2005 Jayco 24SS

Re: E-15 Gas- Very Important
Reply #4
Yahoo Message Number: 136890
I believe your E15 may be our E85!  The price of 'E85' has never come down enough for me to even consider it here.  The price would have to be less than 75% of gasoline prices to be tempting.
 Another good site for information on fuel values and consumer information is:
 http://www.hho4free.com/gasoline_vs_ethanol.htm

Be careful of fuel additives also.  Many of the sensors


Re: E-15 Gas- Very Important
Reply #6
Yahoo Message Number: 136896
"I believe your E15 may be our E85!"
 The naming scheme is simple: the number indicates the maximum percentage of ethanol. E15 has 15% ethanol, while E85 contains more than five times as much. Using E85 in an engine rated for E15 is likely to do quite a bit of damage.

Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"

Re: E-15 Gas- Very Important
Reply #7
Yahoo Message Number: 136902
Our 2011 LD prohibits any ethanol use above 10%. It is clearly signed at the fuel receptacle. I do not like to use 10% at all but I have no other easy options. I guess ethanol is here to stay.
James 2011 TK

Re: E-15 Gas- Very Important
Reply #8
Yahoo Message Number: 136904
On fuel efficiency - locally, there is a station that has gas with no ethanol, and another with 15% ethanol.  I drive a 2011 Subaru Forester.  Driving the same roads, using the fuel with ethanol, I get 27 mpg.  Using fuel without ethanol, I get 31 mpg.
 So what does that mean?  Consider a 1000 mile drive.  Using the fuel with no ethanol, I would burn 32.3 gallons of gas.  Using the fuel with ethanol, I would use 37 gallons of fuel, of which 31.4 gallons will be gas.  I will have reduced my gasoline consumption for that 1000 mile trip by 0.9 gallons, but will have consumed an additional 5.6 gallons of ethanol.
 I am a believer in ethanol as an alternative fuel source.  Brazil is proof that it can be done.  There may be a benefit from E15 in the cleanliness of the emissions in cold weather, but my own very limited test shows no benefit in the carbon footprint from the use of E15.  In fact, considering the energy needed to produce the ethanol, there is almost certainly a net loss.  Now, E85 is different.  The energy cost of producing it is still a subject for debate but in terms of replacing the consumption of gasoline in appropriately equipped vehicles, the benefits are huge.

Ken F in NM
'08 MB

E-15 Gas- Very Important
Reply #9
Yahoo Message Number: 136906
Just my 2 cents worth.

I think the concerns about the use of E10 may be overstated.
I have run a heck of a lot of E10 through my V10 over the last 13 years with no adverse effects so far. However I will not be using E13, regardless of the price, unless I have to.

Tom

Re: E-15 Gas- Very Important
Reply #10
Yahoo Message Number: 136911
The problem here is cars burn gas by weight not volume.  In fact about 13 parts more or less air to one part gas.   And to add one more twist - energy is measured in calories.  The real question is what is the cost of the same amount of calories burned to move a object from point a to point b.
And more twist -- major gas suppliers formulate the gas we buy depending on the location and weather in the place its is sold.    I.E.  gas brought in Bend Or is different then gas brought in Redding California.
personal fine art photo stuff
TF Mack | Flickr
It's all good .......
2014 Twin King

Re: E-15 Gas- Very Important
Reply #11
Yahoo Message Number: 136912
This thread has enlightened me to the difference between E15 and E85.
I admit I thought they were the same thing. E85 is common is southern Utah and we have bought it, thinking it was 85% gasoline. How wrong we were. Nickel to a dime it caused the intermittent engine loss of power problems we had last summer in Utah and Nevada. In the future, I will pay up for whatever grade has the least corn in it. Hoping this is not the year of $5 gasoline, but I will not be surprised if the price tops $5 in some states.

I wonder what at price gasoline will make all RV's candidates for homeless shelter?
Don & Dorothy
Sold our LD in June of 2023

Our boring always non-PC travel blog
Traveling Dorothy


 
E-15 Gas- Very Important
Reply #13
Yahoo Message Number: 136916
Don wrote:

Quote
I wonder what at price gasoline will make all RV's candidates for homeless shelter?
I'm thinking $10/gallon would end my motorhomeing days.
Who know? Maybe not. Have to cross that bridge when I come to it.
Tom