Gasahol vs. gasoline

**CharlesW** · 07-08-2005, 11:26 AM

Since the use of gasahol has become more common, I thought it might be interesting to get some comments from those that have had some experience with it.

Some of mine:
1. The ethanol content is a good solvent and will quite often loosen up residue in tanks or fuel lines. This is a catch-22 situation. Good to clean things up, but it can have a side effect of plugging fuel filters. When/if you switch, it might be worthwhile to replace your fuel filter after a few tankfuls of ethanol.
2. Alcohol contains less energy than gasoline. This might be the reason that Steve, (Poorboy), noticed a drop in mileage. :dunno
3. Older cars can have lots of problems with the use of ethanol. Some plastics are not able to tolerate it. The same thing has been true with some injectors in earlier years. The insulation was actually broken down by the ethanol.
4. I personally experienced the fuel filter problem back in the 70`s when ethanol blends were easier to get than regular gasoline.
5. I have seen the damage to plastic parts. The plastic curled up like you had heated it with a torch.
6. I have not seen, but my mechanic, (a good one), has told me of several instances with injector/insulation problems.
7. I did experiment with ethanol and my feeling was that the difference in mileage was just about equal to the difference in price. About 5%.
8. I`m pretty sure I have read that it takes as much or more energy to produce ethanol as it does regular gasoline. Any price difference is usually because of a tax concession in favor of the ethanol blend.
9. Since it has to be limited to no more than 10% content, more than that must not be good for things. My feeling is that if more than 10% is bad, 10% must still be a little bit bad.
Kind of like if you don`t eat more than 10% strychnine it isn`t going to poison you right away, but it probably isn`t good for you in the long run.
10. A lot of gibberish to finally get to the point. I quit using it.
If the Iowa farmers need to sell more corn, we can make corn liquor again.

Comments?

Charles

**Focusedonsound** · 07-08-2005, 11:44 AM

So Um .....Exactly who benifits from this...

Not me as a consumer. From everything you just stated it sounds like this is going to cost me money in the long run!

To me this is all about politics who`s getting their pockets lined this week. Ect ect! This is the main reason why I hate politics its never about You and Me its always about the big guys The Rich always getting Richer and the Poor always getting poorer!

**CharlesW** · 07-08-2005, 11:50 AM

One of the reasons touted is that it is supposed to somewhat reduce the use of fossil, (non-renewable), fuel. :dunno

Charles

**Focusedonsound** · 07-08-2005, 12:11 PM

You know the more I think of this I laugh! Ford Built Most of their later model Taures`s as FFV cars! Meaning they could run on either Gas Or Ethonol. Yet there is virtualy nowhere that I know of that you can buy Pure Ethonol to fill up your tanks!

I also know in New Jersey one of the larger Electric/Natural gas companies (PSE&G) runs most of their vans and such on Propane or Natural Gas.

But as part of the general public we don`t have the comfort of knowing If I take my Ethenol/Natural Gas/Propane or some other fuel powered Vehical on a road trip from New Jersey to California that I will be able to fill my "Fuel tank" with the proper fuel to get me Point A to Point B. This is why Hybrid`s have such a demand (IE the Ford Escape Hibrid) Runs on Electric and Fuel the only time that your using the engine is when you need to charge your battries!

**Koop** · 07-08-2005, 06:59 PM

Aside from ethonol being used reduces our oil need (why gass is so expensive right now btw) it is also MUCH cleaner burning. It`s a lot more environmentaly healthy. On top of cleaner air, there are no chances for an oil spill. Ethonol is also cheeper to produce and is primarily made in the US which means more jobs for "you and me." Yes the expense is higher right now and that is because of all the gov. subsidies. Eventualy the coast will go down as it becomes more abundant and more people start building cars to run on it and more places start distributing it. It`s extreemly common now in the midwest as that`s where most corn is grown in the US. Just about every station I stop at has ethonol. There are another couple HUGHE ethonol plants going up soon as well. Once they hit full prduction we should all see a price drop in ethonol. Furthermore about the issue of needing it, you hit the nail on the head with the taurses! They were flex feul, which is slated by major car companies to become more and more common. Flex fuel cars have the abuilaty to run strait gass or up to (in most cases) up to 50% ethonol. You don`t then need the ethonol, but it`s there if you want it. It`s not free energy and it`s not polution free, but it is a lot better than petrol and like it or not we will all be seeing a lot more of it.

**Koop** · 07-08-2005, 07:03 PM

couple more things to note.... Here in Wisconsin ethonol gas runs at 15% normaly and it`s not a cent more expensive than regular gass.

**CharlesW** · 07-08-2005, 07:10 PM

Originally Posted by Koop

couple more things to note.... Here in Wisconsin ethonol gas runs at 15% normaly and it`s not a cent more expensive than regular gass.

Iowa`s ethanol blend is only 10% and it costs about 5% less than regular gasoline. It is my understanding that the very large tax break on the ethanol blends is the reason for the lower price. Supposedly something like 50 cents per gallon less tax on ethanol blends. :dunno

Charles

**Koop** · 07-08-2005, 07:23 PM

Hehe.... I misread what you said. It`s less expensive there. I wish it was cheeper here then! My fam has a rather substantial amt invested in ethonol and I`ve done a fair amt of research. Yes it`s not taxed as much but all the subsidising adds to the price a lot. If I were to buy from the manufactering plant we work with, I`d be paying about 2.20 per gal of strait ethonol!

**LastDetail** · 07-08-2005, 08:02 PM

Not only does it not pollute as much, but it also makes us not so dependant on the MidEast and their tight control over the oil caches of the world. By the US starting to make the switch to using ethanol it sets the start of the dominoes that hopefully will swing the scales and lessen the tightness of the hold that OPEC has on the rest of the world.
Lots of countries in South America use ethanol only, the only one that I can think of offhand is Brazil, but I have heard that Argentina, Chile and Ecuador do the same although I am not positive about any of them except Brazil.
Another benefit of ethanol that I didn`t see already listed is that it can be used in a much higher compression motor. Typically gasoline will spontaneously combust or "detonate" at or around 14:1 compression. This is for normal pump gas, 91, or 94 octane if you can get it. However you can run Ethanol all the way up to 19:1 compression. To give an idea of what kind of compression that is, if you hit 19:1 that would be a fully built drag race motor that is only run on the track.
I think the US switching to Ethanol is a good thing in the long run that will help stimulate our own interior economy and eventually help to lower gas prices.

**travisdecpn** · 07-08-2005, 09:49 PM

Could using a product like FP from Lube Control raise the energy potential of the ethanol blend making it about equal to regular gasoline? I wonder if you were to increase the amount of FP used to about 2-4oz per 5 gallons if the cleaning action would counteract the degrading effects of the ethanol blend? Any thoughts on this?