All Day Dan

My Feedback: (5)

Clouddancer, I tried that website and could not come up with much. It seemed to run me around in circles of different gas station advertisements, nothing related to ethanol free gas. One website did show ten stations in California with pure gas but none of them near me around Los Angeles. I just got done trying to run two perfectly performing engines that had been sitting around for three months and the carburetors were trashed. Ethanol free gas stations would be great but I doubt of the authorities would permit them. Dan.

m113103

Use Steihl motomix. You can leave it in the engine for 2 years with no damage. Carb parts are getting harder to find. If cost is a factor run pump gas but at the end of the day drain and refill with a few ounces of motomix and run the engine.

SrTelemaster150

The simple solution was posted. Mix water W/the 93 octane E-10 & agitate. The water will absorb the alcohol & stratify, it can then be drained off.

Sport_Pilot

Leaded automobile gas had only a quarter of the lead of 100LL. That and the detergent oils prevented the lead build up. Leaded gas in high compression engines burned off more of the TEL so it is not a problem in those as well. Sticking valves are an issue in any aircraft engine built for 80 octane fuel. Just look at the aviation forums for older lower powered full scale aircraft such as older Pipers and Cessna forum. Not much fun when making a long fast approach and you realize your engine is missing when you add power to stretch the glide then realize you better not have to make a go around.

That article says it protects valve seats not lubricate valve guides.

SrTelemaster150

I don't know what the "article" said, but Harley "Big Twins" built prior to unleaded gas had steel valve guide & they would suffer from stuck exhaust valves. The bronze or stelite valve seats where no affected by unleaded gas.

My '64 Panhead needed regular doses (1oz per 2 gallons of gasoline) of Marvel Mystery Oil to prevent sticking valves.

All Day Dan

My Feedback: (5)

It looks like Stihl has a thing or two to say about the Ethanol laced gas. Dan
http://www.stihlusa.com/information/...wer-equipment/

Truckracer

My Feedback: (19)

Well written, factual article. In short, they didn't say not to use ethanol mixed fuels but described their possible shortcomings. Further they told how to deal with an E10 mix for day to day use and got a plug in for their pre-mixed fuel product.

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

I think there is little doubt that today's fuel is not good for our engines in general, at least for storage. That is why I use a Storage Fuel I dreamed up. It is Coleman Camp Fuel, mixed with 20:1 Pennzoil for Air Cooled Engines and a dash of Sta-Bil. I drain my tank(s) after flying, fill them half full with the Storage Fuel, then run the engine at varying throttle settings until I am sure the Storage Fuel got thoroughly into the entire system and engine. I then run up to full throttle, and choke the engine to kill it. I then store the plane with the fuel in the tank and the tank vent plugged. This has solved all the fuel system problems I had been having, which were numerous and frequent. This is similar to Stihl's recommendation of using their special fuel mix to store an engine.

DO NOT FLY WITH COLEMAN FUEL.

AV8TOR

Sport_Pilot

The fact that valves stick for other reasons does not negate the fact that the high lead levels of 100LL will cause low compression 4 stroke engines to have stuck valves. It is not an occasional thing, of a fleet (or is it flock) of about 4 or 5 aircraft with O-200 and O-300 engines, stuck valves were occurring on or another every month or two. Not once or twice in the engines life but many times. I put about 300 hours on an O-200 engine with four cylinders and had stuck valves twice. Changed the oil at regular intervals and all of the other recommendations as well.

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

The problems with 80/87 engines when run on 100LL were precisely why the STC for auto gas use in those engines managed to get approved. Don't care much for that idea either. A better idea would have been to offer affordable parts to raise the compression ratio on the 80/87 engines to effectively burn the 100LL. Would have increased power, efficiency, and safety as well.....

Yeah I know.... Affordable parts??!!??

AV8TOR

SrTelemaster150

High lead levels can cause increased deposits.

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

I had a friend that put over 1000 (one thousand) hours on a Rotax twin cylinder two stroke engine using 100LL Avgas. He said he had no significant problems, but there sure was a huge build up of deposits on the piston, head, and exhaust.

AV8TOR

SrTelemaster150

Back in the late '60s early '70s I ran Sunoco 260 in my 650 BSA motorcycle. I had to pull the head shortly after doing a rebuild & found a LOT of carbon already building up. I started running Amercan unleaded premium from then on. This was several years before unleaded gas was mandated. In those early days I never had issues, but in the '80s I started having problems after building my Panhead stroker.

MetallicaJunkie

if you just use viton for the internal line of the tank and regular fuel line for the external plumbing, it shouldnt take much..... i did three tanks and used a little less than a foot...

the viton i purchased came out to less than 5 bucks a foot http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8-ID-Fluor...1fbf40&vxp=mtr

Rocketman_

The above is an informative but unusual post. It seems that these ethanol discussions can go on and on without anyone ever posting the location of a gas station in his neighborhood that sells ethanol free gas. We know that such stations do exist in the United States.

I know that it is available on Oahu, Hawaii because I have seen signs in front of gas stations that read something like "we have pure gas" or ethanol free sold here". Some of the stations are Shell, Union 76, Aloha, and Tesoro. I specifically remember the one in Kaneohe on Kamehameha Highway about a half mile from the Windward Mall.

MTK

That's all I use, AV 100LL. Five season so far and counting.
,
I've tried regular 87 Octane and premium 93 octane autogas (just long enough to really dislike the stench). The premium autogas produces a couple hundred rpm more pop, all else same, than AV 100LL. I've got a routine down with AV (plug cleaning every 10 gallons or so) and i get to inspect the insides of the mills. I am amazed at how clean these little mills run over time....

fishhock

Why not fly with Coleman fuel?

HoundDog

My Feedback: (49)

BP station on Hwy 65 North side of Ashippun Wisconsin the 93 octain is Ethonal free. and
The Kwik Trip Station on Hwy 26 not the bypass just west of KRYV Watertown Munisaple Air Port
Where they Sell 100 LL and Jet A for the jet jockeys that like the smell of jet exhaust in the morning OH
That was "Napalm int the morning" sorry.
RED to define the answer from the quote.

acerc

There have been a couple post for a website that list all the Ethanol Free gas outlets in the chosen area. I will post it again.
http://pure-gas.org/
The rest is up to whom ever is looking for it. But of course you can always request someone else post your local outlet.

Truckracer

My Feedback: (19)

Come to Iowa! Most stations here give you the option of ethanol blend or ethanol free! This applies to the lower octane blends where premium fuel may be either ethanol free or blended depending on the individual station. Iowa also requires the pumps be labeled. Yes, and all this in a state that produces so much of the wonderful stuff!

I travel to Minnesota quite a bit and find that many stations there offer ethanol free 93 octane, so called recreational fuel. This particular offering is labeled as being ethanol free, but that state doesn't require labeling otherwise. Most other fuels there have ethanol.

Cobra1

My Feedback: (42)

it is about 60 octane I believe. Engine will run ok but very low on power. And it is rather expensive.

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

Yeah, only 50 to 60 octane and it could very easily severely damage an engine if run long enough/hard enough to fly the plane. Some people are probably going to jump in here and say they use it with no problems. All I can say is they must have very low compression engines, and I myself would never fly with Coleman Fuel. My engines run significantly hotter just on a quick run on the ground with the Coleman based storage fuel.

AV8TOR

All Day Dan

My Feedback: (5)

Robert, pure-gas.com lists ten ethanol free gas stations in California. None are near Los Angeles. The nearby marinas do not have it. Are there any more websites with additional information? Dan.

SrTelemaster150

Reduced octane does not in itself reduce power. Tuning to prevent detonation W/lower octane fuel will reduce power. Increasing octane in a low compression engine that does not require it will reduce power.

acerc

Dan, that one is the only one I will list. There are a few others but they are not kept up very well. Any airport and or any marina will carry it as well.