Ethanol vs not? Octane question

[Schmitty]

This is my first post here but have been looking around on this sight for a while. I just recently bought a used troy bilt push mower with a 6.5 B&S engine, the mower is about 2 years old. I also bought a used echo gt2000 trimmer that is about 10 years old. The mower runs good, so I only replaced the air filter. The trimmer idles a little rough so I replaced the fuel filter, spark plug, and air filter. I also bought some seafoam to put in the gas of both of them.

My question is should I run ethanol gas or ethanol free gas in them. Where I live I can only get ethenal free gas in 91 octane, but not sure if its too high because the echo suggest 89 and the mower suggest 87. Is it worth going with the higher octane because it is ethanol free?

This has probably been discussed before but could not find anything in the search.

 

[V8man]

I don't think 93 Octane is Ethanol Free.

 

[exranger06]

It's been discussed to death on here. Many on here will say ethanol-free is worth it. I will not say that. Around here, all gas has ethanol, so I don't have any choice but to use it. However, after over a decade of using it, I have never had a single problem with it. Running a higher octane than recommended will not hurt anything but I don't think it's worth the extra cost. It is very unlikely you will have any problems with ethanol.

 

[ATS-V]

It doesn't matter E10 or not. As far a 2 cycles are concerned at a minimum it should run 89 octane.

 

[Danno]

Run premium no ethanol. I do on my Seasr 4 cycle lawnmower and Stihl 2 cycle. My old Weedeater sludged up and had to be disposed of - I suspect the ethanol did it in. One less thing to worry about for your machines is the way I look at it.

 

[440Magnum]

The only problem Ethanol will cause is swelling or embrittlement of the old-style fuel tubes. Any lawn equipment made in the past 5 years or more will have ethanol-safe tubing and plastics. Use it without internet-driven fear.

As far as "sludging up" a fuel system as someone else suggested, ethanol does exactly the opposite- it will strip deposits away.

 

[NateDN10]

My $0.02: Run the normal E10 gas most of the year, and only use the ethanol-free stuff for the last couple times before storage for it's longer shelf life.

Higher octane won't help, but it shouldn't hurt, either.

 

[hatt]

If the E0 is easy to get I'd run it. You're not going to use enough for the cost differences to matter.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: hatt
If the E0 is easy to get I'd run it. You're not going to use enough for the cost differences to matter.


+1, plus you'd be advocating for it to still exist.

 

[Schmitty]

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to use the 91 octane that does not have ethanol in it. Seems it got the nod from most of the responses.

 

[hatt]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: hatt
If the E0 is easy to get I'd run it. You're not going to use enough for the cost differences to matter.


+1, plus you'd be advocating for it to still exist.

Exactly. I don't hate big ethanol enough to spend $1 extra/gal for my vehicles but I can sure buy it for my OPE. When I'm in Tennessee you can get E0 87 for $.10 or less more. I'd never run ethanol up there.

 

[SHOZ]

On my power washer with a B&S motor the carb pulls fuel from a well on top of the fuel tank. It will collect water in there and I have to disassemble the carb, tank and governor linkage to clean it out. It's quite the PITA.

 

[dakota99]

I've used E10/E15 for almost six years now and i've never had a problem with it. Treated with mmo and stabil marine.

Everything is stored with a full tank over the winter and come spring, it always starts right up.

 

[hatt]

Originally Posted By: dakota99
I've used E10/E15 for almost six years now and i've never had a problem with it. Treated with mmo and stabil marine.

Everything is stored with a full tank over the winter and come spring, it always starts right up.

Why are you using stabil in the gas?

 

[dakota99]

Sometimes the gas can sit for extended periods. I bought four gallons last spring and because of the drought it sat for three to four months before i used it all.

Over the winter i like to have stabil in the gas simply because it sits for almost six months in the tank. The mmo adds a little bit of lubricant to the gas, and keeps the rubber seal on the gas cap from drying out.

 

[Quest]

adding stabil is never a bad idea to begin with.

Also: if your B&S is the older style flat-heads (typically 7:1 compression ratio), you won't benefit from running anything more than 87 octane rating gas.

For 2T engines, ethanol-free gas may be beneficial.

Lastly, no, I won't add any so-called upper cylinder lube thingy in any gas used in all the automobiles I maintain, and all the OPE engines I service (2T engines use proper 2T oil, that's it).


Q.

 

[Jim Spahr]

I say avoid ethanol gas in all small engines. Remember, they all have carb's vs fuel injection. Carb's are more prone to bad gas causing problems. Many say avoid Ethanol gas in cars and trucks that may sit for a while. IOW if the gas is fresh and you run through a tank in a week, Ethan. gas won't cause problems in cars/trucks. But when you drive that vehicle infrequently , the E10 gas goes through phase separation and will cause problems. I have heard this from landscapers who have lots of small engines they count on running and from mechanics,as well. I hear that small engine dealers have a one quart fuel product they sell for 9.99 a qt.! That's 40.00 a gal.!

 

[Jim Spahr]

I forgot to mention around here, you can sometimes buy 'ethanol free' gas, but at a premium price. It is $3.75 per gal. vs 3.30 per gal. reg. When the Ethan. free gas is high test or premium gas, it is even more expensive.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Use fuel stabilizer in the gas and let that be your last thought about it. I use E10 in all of our equipment (on-road and off-) and have never had an issue. I always store the equipment with fuel in the tank, and I never dump old gas due to age. It's stabilized; I simply use it next year.

 

[hatt]

I hear a lot of people talking about how E10 isn't a problem but then they talk about putting in additives so it doesn't go bad.

The formula is simple. If you use enough OPE gas so that buying E0 starts to add up just use E10. If you don't, and assuming E0 is available, buy it and stop worrying. My 2 stroke stuff gets E0. Everything else may or may not get E0. Although it most likely will from now on since guys I know starting selling E0 right down the road.