Ethanol industry, small-engine manufacturers clash over damage from fuel

[driftdiver]

Gas has more energy per volume than ethanol, however an ICE extracts more energy per volume from ethanol than it does from gasoline.   Mileage is not about how much energy is contained in the fuel, it's about how much makes it to the driveshaft.

@InHeavenThereIsNoBeer

I'd really like to see some sources for those claims.  Every car I've driven using ethanol has gotten worse mileage.

From what I've read ethanol burns hotter than gasoline but is no more efficient. 

[SZonian]

Uhm, yeah, sure.

That must be why I saw about a 16% decrease in mpg in my truck when they started ethanol here and why my lawnmower had to have the carb disassembled so I could remove a white paste from it...

to the ethanol industry...

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

@InHeavenThereIsNoBeer

I'd really like to see some sources for those claims.  Every car I've driven using ethanol has gotten worse mileage.

From what I've read ethanol burns hotter than gasoline but is no more efficient.

I said:  "an ICE extracts more energy per volume from ethanol than it does from gasoline", which is worded very poorly to the point of being wrong.  What I meant to say was that they extract a higher percentage of the available energy in ethanol. 

A lot of people say that because ethanol has around 30% less BTU/gal that automatically means you'll get less milage from ethanol.  But that is completely ignoring the fact that  some of those BTUs go right out the tailpipe, so you need to compare both the amount of energy and how efficiently that energy can be extracted to find the total amount of usable energy.  Note that I'm not saying ethanol provides higher milage, just that only comparing one variable is inadequate to make a conclusion..

I've never seen anything about ethanol burning hotter, probably because it burns much cooler.  But this article, which seems to lay out the pros and cons in a pretty balanced fashion, suggests a possible reason for such claims (the same paragraph also hints at why my older vehicles got slightly lower MPG with ethanol, but my current truck doesn't show any difference at all): 

http://extension.psu.edu/publications/ee0097

[Elderberry]

Alcohol Fuel Conversion – Double Duty Engineering
Written by Jeff Huneycutt on September 1, 2003

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/ctrp-0309-alcohol-fuel-conversion/

To run effectively, an alcohol motor needs to burn approximately twice as much fuel as a gasoline motor.

In addition to its complete inability to live in harmony with oil, alcohol also requires other considerations when switching over from gasoline. One factor is that the ideal air/fuel ratio for alcohol is around 7:1, more than twice that of gasoline which burns best at a ratio of 14.5:1.

Another factor is that alcohol is more resistant to detonation and can typically live with a higher compression ratio. This is because it burns cooler and much more fuel is traveling through the combustion chamber than a gas engine.

[Forum member]

Sadly, the way to scavenge the moisture out of the fuel system is to add even more ethanol. Wait until the tank is down and add a bottle of Heet (NOT ISO-Heet), it comes in a yellow bottle. That will absorb water in the system and you can 'burn' it with the ethanol. Then, fill it with the no ethanol gas. If there is an in-line fuel filter, I'd replace that also, because water tends to settle in such, only to expand and cause problems when it freezes.

You should be able to either get a rebuild kit for the carb or another carb, and get the golf cart back up and running again, provided it doesn't have other troubles.

One other thing, it pays to keep fuel tanks full, because there is less room for contracting fuel and vapor to pull in moisture through the vent in the fuel cap. An empty tank will have more head space, which means the internal pressure of one just left to sit will cycle with temperature during the course of a day, and over time that can put moisture in your fuel system, too. If it's going to be sitting over 6 months, use a fuel stabilizer like Stabil to keep the gas fresh.

I added Heet last winter but since it never ran, it didn't circulate into the lines and filter. I'm sure there was an ice plug now, probably in the filter. She has been driving it all spring. It will have premium gas and I'll replace the filter.

The golf cart was parked in the weeds because we bought a diesel Mule with a snowplow. Maybe someday I will rebuild it.

Thanks.

[roamer_1]

I have been running 91 octane no ethanol gas in the fleet. I get about 15% better gas mileage and have only had one fuel pump go out (at 130k miles). Considering the cost of replacing fuel system components, and that one of the vehicles turned 30 this year, I don't mind paying extra. All the small engines run on no ethanol fuel, too, now, after I replaced a couple of carburetors.

Likewise. Nothing but Conoco/Union76/Sinclair premium, thank you very much.