10% ethanol

**gnomee** · 01-28-2008, 05:34 PM

Hello,

Recently a local gas chain Quick Trip started to run 10% ethanol in there gas. My 98 seems to run horrible on it along with getting almost 50 miles less per tank.

Is this something I can fix with the fuel tables?

I switch my gas to a chain that does not cut there gas yet and she runs great and gets typical mileage. So I know its the gas.

**TransAm11973** · 01-28-2008, 05:53 PM

i am curious to know how that 10% affects the engine as well, been wondering if I should stay away from the eth. I did here that over all the eth. has a higher octane, but i beleive it has to be at least 85% for that......

**ss~zoso~ss** · 02-01-2008, 11:57 AM

correct me if i'm wrong but isnt all gas up to 10 % ethanol, doesnt it say that on the pumps?

**Frost** · 02-01-2008, 12:14 PM

Originally Posted by ss~zoso~ss

correct me if i'm wrong but isnt all gas up to 10 % ethanol, doesnt it say that on the pumps?

it does here in VA and the cars run fine on it.

**ss~zoso~ss** · 02-01-2008, 02:10 PM

i think thats a nation wide thing, i may be mistaken, but it is like that here in CT too

**gnomee** · 02-01-2008, 04:29 PM

No it all gas is not 10% ethanol. Maybe in some states. Here in oklahoma Wal-mart was the only 10% ethanol. Recently our biggest chain Quik Trip started using 10% ethanol. It was a big deal they even ran a news special on the fact that they were not telling us but Quik Trip said OKlahoma state law did not require them to disclose this so they chose not too.

They also had the other big chains Kum & go (Yeah funny name) and Shell come on and say that the gas they distribute in Oklahoma has no Ethanol in it.

I can't hardly get 200miles per tank on the QT/Wal-Mart gas but the other guys net me 220-260 or more depending on how I drive in the city.

I've taken some big trips across the country and gotten very good gas mileage and I have to have driven thru states that only have 10% ethanol so I don't know exactly what is going on but my car runs like crap on the gas from QT/Wal Mart

**Nestromo** · 02-05-2008, 02:04 PM

Quit buying gas at QT and Wal Mart. Don't get it from Race Trac if you have those either. They are the cheapo joints and don't give a damn about quality.

**chuckie669** · 02-05-2008, 02:22 PM

Down here in Houston 10% ethanol is all you can find now from my understanding.

**cdorch** · 02-05-2008, 04:23 PM

In MA weve had it for over a year now and once you change over completely your all set. I was told the only problem is to have a tank mixed with regular gas and the 10% ethanol crap because it doesnt blend and mixes up the octane levels. You could could be getting like 100 octane at one point and then it could go down to like 80 or less cuz they dont mix right.

So if your state is switching try to run the old gas as low as possible. We didnt know this when it switched over and mixed the two gasses on our mercury outboard (a really high compression motor with dome pistons) and destroyed the #2 and #6 cylinders. Our cars wont be as sensitive but still, try to empty the tank before switching and there should be far less power/mpg issues

**gnomee** · 02-05-2008, 05:09 PM

That makes alot of sense. I'm going to stick with the non-ehthanol guys for now since its not real hard to go across the street

. If there becomes a favorable price difference or everyone switches I'll keep that in mind.

Thanks!

**Hot Black Trans-Am** · 02-06-2008, 12:55 AM

Here in WI it's all 10% except for premium. Some station have the premium with 10% also. The top tier gases all have 10% in it too. It's a pain to find places that don't have it anymore.

**Nestromo** · 02-06-2008, 05:15 AM

With the price of gas so high these days anyway I'm just going to keep two 54 gallon drums of C12 in the garrage and run 67% 93 octane and 33% C12. Well, that is in a couple of months when it gets on the road.

**Firebirdjones** · 02-06-2008, 07:37 AM

It's been 10% ethanol here in Southwest Ohio for a few years now. There is one station,,,and I'm am friends with the owner as well right here in a small town,,,that doesn't advertise 10% ethanol on their pumps.

I'm not sure if it's because it is pure gas or if it's just because he's not required to advertise it. I would have to ask him to be sure, but I rarely buy gas from there anyway since he only has 93 octane.

I have always bought 94 octane Sunoco for 20+ years now,,,,and when it switched to 10% ethanol I didn't notice much difference in performance but I did notice at first on the older cars,,,some of the rubber sections of fuel line were getting deteriorated and soft. I found it hard on rubber parts after a while.

I never buy gas from the foodchain stores like Walmart, Kroger,etc....they advertise cheaper prices for a reason,,,it's crap gas.

Granted I have noticed the quality of pump gas going down hill,,,but that stuff from the grocery stores is no better than cat piss.

My wife drove my car into work one day,,,(and it requires 93-94 octane) and has always ran fine. Well she stopped to fill up at the local foodchain store,,,she knew she had to pump in the 93,,,,but she called me half way home complaining the car would barely idle,,,and it was pinging bad.
When she told me where she filled up I knew what was up. I ended up draining that tank out and refilling with better quality.

Gnomee,,,,I would guess that it probably wasn't the 10% ethanol that caused your mileage drop,,,but probably the cheaper quality of gas or octane rating,,,and more than likely your car was experiencing knock and pulling timing out. Of course with the computer pulling timing and having to relearn the knock tables,,the gas mileage will suffer as a result.

**Firebirdjones** · 02-06-2008, 07:41 AM

Originally Posted by Nestromo

With the price of gas so high these days anyway I'm just going to keep two 54 gallon drums of C12 in the garrage and run 67% 93 octane and 33% C12. Well, that is in a couple of months when it gets on the road.

Ya we used to do that,,,but mixing it all the time became a pain after a few years. Then the fact that taking a vacation became a problem,,,I couldn't tote that 55 gallon drum around,,,,lol.

We got tired of it and just bit the bullet and built pump gas motors for the cars. Dad was the last one to change over just last year.

He got tired of it costing him $60 just to drive to the local cruise inn 1 day a week,,,,lol. Built him a nice 600 HP pump gas motor now, faster than the old race gas motor,,,and now he can fill up anywhere