89 octane in B&S engine?

[Letter_K]

Apparently I struck a nerve TP. I see my comment sounded much like what you were saying, but my overall meaning was against the percieved claims towards ethanol. You really didn't say anything against so I'm sorry if I gave the impression that you said you were against ethanol. If that was "my claim against you", then it wasn't meant to be against you.

I think others comments about vehicles running bad or using 50% more gas because of 10% ethanol are likely false. How is 10% ethanol in gas going to cause a 50% increase in fuel consumption. There still is 90% gas and the BTUs that go with it, let alone the BTUs in the ethanol. So I'm to believe that there is a conspiracy to add a product to gas that reduces its effectiveness?

Perhaps not all non-ethanol gas in Minnesota is racing gas, but it is still hard to come by. When filling up my 1 gallon gas can, I'm not going to drive 10-15 miles to find a gas station. The list you provided shows it is available, but still not plentiful.

As I stated, I have no problems with it, so I'm not sure where you got that I said I was having problems. Since I'm having no problems with E10, why would I waste time driving to a station with non-ethanol gas.

As for the OP, use 89 if you want, it probably isn't much more than 10 cents a gallon extra and unless you are a lawn pro, you won't feel the price difference. Most of these B&S engines are old technology and stand up pretty well to the abuse that most people give them.

 

[Turk]

No nerve, just facts.

10% Ethanol doesn't give 50% less mileage/usage, most everyone knows that. It gave me about 15% less MPG in my factor replication experiments. BTW, I've done statistical experiments for a living for 30 years, so how I performed it was robust & correct.

 

[Letter_K]

Are you talking about 15% reduction on E85 by chance? Your not talking about a 15% decrease with E10, correct?

 

[2cool]

My Chicago Electric generator calls for 91 octane. Sooo, I put in 2.5 gallons of 93 and the rest is 87; and double the rate of Sta-bil. I leave the gas in it, shut it down after running, and close the fuel petcock. I did replace the torch plug with a Champion right away. I ran it for a half-hour to check it out for Irene, and ended up not losing my power (yeah, I'm amazed as well!). My buddy borrowed it, and ran it for 5 hours straight to pump out his basement, no problems. Used about 1/3 tank. So far, no issues. I say, run what those engineers figured out was the right fuel. I have other vehicles, but I only have one generator.

 

[boraticus]

I too believe that there is far too much angst about octane ratings and ethanol.

Living in the Canadian north, we've had ethanol in our gasoline for well over ten years. Funny thing is that when they started adding ethanol into our gasoline, I didn't even notice the transition other than fewer fuel line freezing issues. Everything I operate, kept operating just as well as it did prior to ethanol.

I really don't concern myself with the recommendation for 89 octane fuel either. I've been running regular 87 octane pump gas in everything I own for decades, new and old and have not seen any degradation in performance or durability.

As a matter of fact, I wasn't aware of the dangers of ethanol and improper octane content until I started reading posts from concerned participants on this forum. Due to the fact that I too have never experienced a problem caused by either ethanol nor octane content, I have no intention of changing anything soon.

 

[mechjames]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: mechjames
Here you gotta use 91 from shell or 94 from chevron, only two fuels you can get without ethanol, otherwise they don't run properly and gum up the carb after a few months on regular


94 from Chevron?? Are you sure you do not mean Sunoco? How do you know they do not have ethanol? Some states do not require a sticker on the pump for E10.

Here is the list state by state. But you are in Canada.

http://www.fuel-testers.com/state_guide_ethanol_laws.html


Yes, up here our top grade at Chevron is 94 octane, no ethanol. All other grades have ethanol:

http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=BC

All you guys that run regular without any issues must be at higher elevations. If we run ethanol blend where we are at sea level our OPE doesn't run right.

 

[Woody71]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Echo recommends 89. Rather than swipe my card a bunch of different times for a bunch of different octanes, I just fill up my gas cans with 89 now.
The manual for my Echo GT-225 trimmer calls for 91 octane. The manual for my Craftsman blower says "A minimum of 89 octane". I run 89 in my Toro mower and 91 in my blower and trimmer.

Edit: I went back to my Echo manual and it does say 89 Oct. I know I saw 91 somewhere, maybe I was reading a different manual.

 

[steve20]

wait till all of you folks with straight gas availability HAVE to start running E-10-you'll see the big difference it makes in OPE and your vehicles gas mileage/drivability--it's not that the vehicle runs bad, it's just that it runs so much better on straight gas

 

[Geauxtiger]

I wonder how much of a factor average storage temp's are in storing equipment with E10 gas? Seems that many folks that claim no E10 issues are from northern climates and that there are more E10 complaints from the southern states? (just an impression, no data to support).
I use 89octane non-ethanol and dose each 5 gal can with preservative (I go thru at least 15 gal/mo with all my OPE 'toys' and 'tools').