Quote:
Originally Posted by John Mercier
We had varnish build up on carbs prior to ethanol being added to gasoline.
Ethanol is a solvent; so it is actually used to breakdown varnish.
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Ethanol is used as a cheap way to raise octane and to sell pigs corn. E85/E90/E100 is a useful race fuel (cheap and high octane), but has some major drawbacks (low stoich, more fuel consumption, short storage life, hard starts).
E10/E15 attains it’s octane from a lower base octane fuel, which isn’t necessarily a problem, until you’re dealing with a vented fuel system: Now it’s a water sponge.
Put straight gas in a jar (lid open) and do the same with E10/E15. You’ll see water forming atop the E blend within hours.
Ethanol is an oxygenate, which can be useful for making power, but there are a few companies substituting Isobutenol for Ethanol: All of the benefits of Ethanol, minus the water absorption.
Gulf Marine 100 is an example. It’s not cheap!