# Ethanol content



## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

Less ethanol is better. You ever take a motorcycle carb apart after sitting in the winter. I don't know if I'd be a big fan of that e85. 

I seem to get better mileage on ethanol free but it's only 88 octane.


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

Ethanol helps the gas decompose in a sealed container, but if you're filling it twice a month it'll never get that stale. So with a daily driver the questions are 'will I hurt my fuel system?' and 'will the ECM freak out?' 

I don't think E30 would throw the fuel trim off enough to upset the ECM. 

Just about anything made this century is supposed to hold up to E15, but E30 is not guaranteed. Respected tuners have been selling E85 tunes and forum members (not many) have been driving for a while on them and not reporting fuel system failures. 

I've got about 51% in the Saturn right now, assuming the 87 octane is really E10 and the E85 is really E85. The E85 pump is labeled E51-E85, so who knows what I actually bought. Seems slightly peppier, I accidentally chirped the front tires in 2nd gear a few miles after I put the E85 in it. 
The long term fuel trim went from -11 to +17, so it's still not complaining that the O2 sensors are out of range. I don't know what would have happened if the fuel trim had been +11 to begin with.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

It's not that the gas gets stale. It's the grains that's seen. 

I haven't had a bike for a few years. This will be my second winter for current bike and the carb is starting to act up. I'll be cleaning it this year and probably doing some performance mod to it. I"ll post pics when i do. Last year i had seafoam in it for the winter. 

Maybe ethanol has improved since my last cleanout a few years back.


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## 6speedTi (May 18, 2018)

According to the fuel testers, fuel with ethanol at any concentration has about a three month shelf life until it starts to break down. It also attracts moisture which results in water build up. Metal components could corrode depending how much and how long moisture is present. Fuel system components that are not resistant to ethanol such as fuel lines, carburetors and pumps could fail prematurely. This is common on small engines used in landscaping equipment and earlier vehicles mainly from the 90's and older. Boats with fiberglass tanks are a big problem. Ethanol eats up fiberglass. Some older motorcycle manufacturers used fiberglass fuel tanks. Bottom line is follow manufacturers recommendations.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

A Cruze is designed to run up to 15% ethanol blends from the factory. I would not do more.


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## 6speedTi (May 18, 2018)

Corn-Based Ethanol Is Actually Worse For The Environment Than Gasoline, Study Finds - ExtremeTech


Corn-based ethanol is actually worse for the environment than gasoline.




www.extremetech.com


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