jacktar48
Mouse Chaser
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2001
- Posts
- 1,754
How much gasoline is really in what you are putting into your car? You think it's really 90% ? It would be wise to check.
I just got my new, expensive lawn mower back from the shop. It would not run. At all. I had only used it four times. After the first time it was a little hard to start. Then it got harder. Then it became impossible.
The diagnosis? Large amount of "wet" ethanol in the fuel. (In case you didn't know, ethanol is "deliquescent," meaning it can absorb water vapor from the atmosphere, condense it and mix with it. And it does do that, particularly in humid weather.
The ethanol/water mixture eroded the needle valve in the carburetor and destroyed the O-ring seals. It undoubtedly also did other things which are not yet apparent.
Incidentally, I NEVER buy anything but 100% gasoline; NO ETHANOL. Or that's what I've been paying for, anyway.
Now I'm pissed, because this isn't the first time. A few months ago, I started having problems with my new Toyota pickup. I had never knowingly used ethanol blended fuel in it. I took it to the dealer and it was running like a piece of shit by the time I got there.
Diagnosis: Fuel in tank contained over 85% ethanol. Not to mention water. They were impressed that the truck ran at all with that crap in there.
I know exactly where I bought that gasoline. I don't go there any more.
So, anyway, today I resolved to do something to protect myself and my beloved machines. I know there is a way to test a sample for ethanol/water content.
I asked at the lawnmower dealer. Never heard of such a thing.
I asked at the auto-parts store. Never heard of such a thing.
I asked Google. They had heard all sorts of shit about it, and were ready to sell me one right on the spot.
You can get a test-kit from fuel-testers.com for about $40. It will tell you the percentage of ethanol/water mix in your fuel sample.
Or, if you're cheap, like me, you can make your own for nothing. Take a glass jar, ideally long and thin like an olive jar, and mark a line near the bottom. Fill up to the line with water. Add one drop of vegetable dye if desired. (Not necessary; just makes interface easier to see.)
Add gasoline to about the halfway mark, cap, and shake. (Do NOT smoke during this process.
)
Set the jar down and watch the colored part settle to the bottom. It will only take a minute or two. If you don't use a dye, the bottom layer will be clear (or cloudy if it has a lot of water in it) and the top layer will be a light straw color. Unless you buy one of those fancy dyed gasolines; in that case it will be some other color.
If the level of the bottom layer is above the line you marked, there is ethanol in your sample. You can get all scientific and calibrate the thing to find out how much ethanol, if you want. I don't want any ethanol, therefore I don't care what the percentage is.
So from now on, I'm going to test before I buy. You can usually squeeze enough out of the hose for a test sample, without paying anything. And if it claims to be 100% ethanol and it's not, I'm going to tell them about it and go somewhere else.
Which will probably do absolutely no good...
See: "The Great Ethanol Scam" http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/may2009/bw20090514_058678.htm
I can't find out who to report this to, and I have a strong suspicion that if I ever find out, it won't matter because no one gives a shit, except the consumers, and fuck them.
If you have experienced problems with ethanol blended gasoline, PLEASE note here.
I just got my new, expensive lawn mower back from the shop. It would not run. At all. I had only used it four times. After the first time it was a little hard to start. Then it got harder. Then it became impossible.
The diagnosis? Large amount of "wet" ethanol in the fuel. (In case you didn't know, ethanol is "deliquescent," meaning it can absorb water vapor from the atmosphere, condense it and mix with it. And it does do that, particularly in humid weather.
The ethanol/water mixture eroded the needle valve in the carburetor and destroyed the O-ring seals. It undoubtedly also did other things which are not yet apparent.
Incidentally, I NEVER buy anything but 100% gasoline; NO ETHANOL. Or that's what I've been paying for, anyway.
Now I'm pissed, because this isn't the first time. A few months ago, I started having problems with my new Toyota pickup. I had never knowingly used ethanol blended fuel in it. I took it to the dealer and it was running like a piece of shit by the time I got there.
Diagnosis: Fuel in tank contained over 85% ethanol. Not to mention water. They were impressed that the truck ran at all with that crap in there.
I know exactly where I bought that gasoline. I don't go there any more.
So, anyway, today I resolved to do something to protect myself and my beloved machines. I know there is a way to test a sample for ethanol/water content.
I asked at the lawnmower dealer. Never heard of such a thing.
I asked at the auto-parts store. Never heard of such a thing.
I asked Google. They had heard all sorts of shit about it, and were ready to sell me one right on the spot.
You can get a test-kit from fuel-testers.com for about $40. It will tell you the percentage of ethanol/water mix in your fuel sample.
Or, if you're cheap, like me, you can make your own for nothing. Take a glass jar, ideally long and thin like an olive jar, and mark a line near the bottom. Fill up to the line with water. Add one drop of vegetable dye if desired. (Not necessary; just makes interface easier to see.)
Add gasoline to about the halfway mark, cap, and shake. (Do NOT smoke during this process.
)Set the jar down and watch the colored part settle to the bottom. It will only take a minute or two. If you don't use a dye, the bottom layer will be clear (or cloudy if it has a lot of water in it) and the top layer will be a light straw color. Unless you buy one of those fancy dyed gasolines; in that case it will be some other color.
If the level of the bottom layer is above the line you marked, there is ethanol in your sample. You can get all scientific and calibrate the thing to find out how much ethanol, if you want. I don't want any ethanol, therefore I don't care what the percentage is.
So from now on, I'm going to test before I buy. You can usually squeeze enough out of the hose for a test sample, without paying anything. And if it claims to be 100% ethanol and it's not, I'm going to tell them about it and go somewhere else.
Which will probably do absolutely no good...
See: "The Great Ethanol Scam" http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/may2009/bw20090514_058678.htm
I can't find out who to report this to, and I have a strong suspicion that if I ever find out, it won't matter because no one gives a shit, except the consumers, and fuck them.
If you have experienced problems with ethanol blended gasoline, PLEASE note here.
