Spark plugs

[DieselMonk]

More ethanol is better, in any Turbo based gas motor. Removing it in Premium is counter to the point of Premium. Ethanol provides evaporative cooling, and slows the combustion process, helping to make a complete burn. One of the reasons the MPG does not drop even close to the same percentage as the Energy content does.

The point of more Octane is to prevent knock, which Ethanol also helps with because of what I mentioned above.

Comparing a closed fuel system modern turbo charged motor to an off road most likely open fuel system simple motor that probably is exposed to moisture regularly is comparing apples to baseballs.

Put it simply, Ethanol Good! Especially for Turbo Motors. Heck, most of my vehicles have been tuned for MORE ethanol. My 2020 Explorer ST ran for over a year straight before I traded it on E50, and our 2020 Expedition ran for the Summer months on a turned back Full E85 tune. Only reason it didn’t run year around was because of travel typically in the winter to areas with less E85 availability.

Yeah, for a new car, the ethanol is no problem. Specifically for older “toys or garden equipment” and our humid fast temperature changing climate It collects water in the tank and then the darn thing won’t start or run like a bag of crap. Hence the use of Aviation fuel. It also have gas cap vent problems here and there, where the charcoal filter inside gets blocked somehow after years.
My GT500 doesn’t like it when the fuel is getting 6 - 8 months old. Had to change my fuel pressure sensor (autometer) a few times too. The first run with that car is terrible until I get to town to fill it up. She started to do that in 2022, when our government regulated renewable fuels to be in all gas and diesel fuels besides aviation gas.
Our vehicles are to 95% non flex fuel. We don’t have E85 here either. All you get is regular E10, mid grade E10, Supreme E5 and Diesel fuel.
My Expy sez up to E15 no more.

 

[Left Coast Geek]

gasoline+ethanol solutions are hygrophoibic until they are something north of 30% alcohol, they will not attract or collect water

 

[DieselMonk]

gasoline+ethanol solutions are hygrophoibic until they are something north of 30% alcohol, they will not attract or collect water

Surely does make things run like bag of crap if not used regularly like off road toys, garden equipment, generator etc. Our fuel looks like asparagus piss anyway. Not sure where it comes from, but it is imported from somewhere by ship.

 

[LokiWolf]

gasoline+ethanol solutions are hygrophoibic until they are something north of 30% alcohol, they will not attract or collect water

Incorrect. Depends on temp, pressure, and actual humidity. The word "attract" and "collect" water are relative. Even E10 will "collect" moisture, if the air it is exposed to is high in water content. If water is leaked in to the tank the Ethanol content makes it more likely for the water to stay in suspension.

Ethanol, as was the issue with older cars, and still older small machinery will tend to pick trash in the tank and can also dissolve older fuel lines. Not the case with any modern vehicles we are discussing here, and made for 20+ years.

 

[LokiWolf]

Yeah, for a new car, the ethanol is no problem. Specifically for older “toys or garden equipment” and our humid fast temperature changing climate It collects water in the tank and then the darn thing won’t start or run like a bag of crap. Hence the use of Aviation fuel. It also have gas cap vent problems here and there, where the charcoal filter inside gets blocked somehow after years.
My GT500 doesn’t like it when the fuel is getting 6 - 8 months old. Had to change my fuel pressure sensor (autometer) a few times too. The first run with that car is terrible until I get to town to fill it up. She started to do that in 2022, when our government regulated renewable fuels to be in all gas and diesel fuels besides aviation gas.
Our vehicles are to 95% non flex fuel. We don’t have E85 here either. All you get is regular E10, mid grade E10, Supreme E5 and Diesel fuel.
My Expy sez up to E15 no more.

You REALLY should put a good Fuel Stabilzer in the GT500 if you aren't going to drive it for months at a time. It will help immensely with that first run issue.

Our Fuel systems can handle E85 from a Chemical standpoint with no issue. They have to be tuned to handle anything much above E20 from a logical standpoint. E50(at full tilt) is about the limit of the stock system. Didn't want the Wife mixing so I had my tuner build a E85(turned back) tune. It was slower than E50, faster than 93, cheaper to pump, even with worse MPG, and because E85 burned cooler, ran amazing in the Summer even under heavy load.

 

[East-TN]

Wow, this conversation has gone far off the rails for discussing spark plugs.

 

[DieselMonk]

You REALLY should put a good Fuel Stabilzer in the GT500 if you aren't going to drive it for months at a time. It will help immensely with that first run issue.

Our Fuel systems can handle E85 from a Chemical standpoint with no issue. They have to be tuned to handle anything much above E20 from a logical standpoint. E50(at full tilt) is about the limit of the stock system. Didn't want the Wife mixing so I had my tuner build a E85(turned back) tune. It was slower than E50, faster than 93, cheaper to pump, even with worse MPG, and because E85 burned cooler, ran amazing in the Summer even under heavy load.

Tried that and got detonation and bad cats as a result on the GT500. It’s not stock at all and does crank a lot of extra pony’s out! Like I said, our fuel here is crap compared to the fuel in the States. Same with Diesel fuel. The only way the GT500 survived so far is because I detuned it to 90 octane. It’s still to fast for its own good.

Am I understanding this right? You got a regular non flex fuel vehicle, retuned it and run E50 on it? Cool! I am a bit jealous on all the options you guys have, but here in the east we don’t get E85. I think there are very few gas stations that sell 93! My closest one is like 200 miles one way away. My GT500 would be barely making it only one way.

 

[Dice Roll]

You need to run Stabil 360 in anything that sits or is old. I never have trouble with ethanol, except I ****** up and let a bottle sit around and go past two years. Two years is the limit on stabil, then it’s junk. So I trashed a lawnmower carb and looked up that bottle, it was four years old, meaning it trashed the carb in the third year and was junk in year four. I was really kicking myself for that one.

My 440 runs like a top and I treat every tank. Stabil 360 is a fuel system cleaner too. Don’t use the red shit, that’s for non ethanol gas.

I treat every lawn equipment can right away. I run stuff that sits each year to get fresh fuel in the mix.

 

[LokiWolf]

Wow, this conversation has gone far off the rails for discussing spark plugs.

Yeah, but good discussion, so it continues!

 

[LokiWolf]

Tried that and got detonation and bad cats as a result on the GT500. It’s not stock at all and does crank a lot of extra pony’s out! Like I said, our fuel here is crap compared to the fuel in the States. Same with Diesel fuel. The only way the GT500 survived so far is because I detuned it to 90 octane. It’s still to fast for its own good.

Am I understanding this right? You got a regular non flex fuel vehicle, retuned it and run E50 on it? Cool! I am a bit jealous on all the options you guys have, but here in the east we don’t get E85. I think there are very few gas stations that sell 93! My closest one is like 200 miles one way away. My GT500 would be barely making it only one way.

Dude, that sucks in general.

Yeah, for Decades all modern fuel systems support Ethanol, from a Chemical standpoint, as in the seals, rubber, everything can handle it.
Flex Fuel vehicles just have logic, and sometimes a sensor to adjust to higher contents of Ethanol.

Most EcoBoosts, like the 3.5, 3.0, and 2.7 max out at around E50, because of fuel demand. Because Higher contents of Ethanol has less energy per volume, the flow rate must increase, and the Stock Pump can't keep up. So E50 gets you the most power on the Stock components.

 

[DieselMonk]

You need to run Stabil 360 in anything that sits or is old. I never have trouble with ethanol, except I ****** up and let a bottle sit around and go past two years. Two years is the limit on stabil, then it’s junk. So I trashed a lawnmower carb and looked up that bottle, it was four years old, meaning it trashed the carb in the third year and was junk in year four. I was really kicking myself for that one.

My 440 runs like a top and I treat every tank. Stabil 360 is a fuel system cleaner too. Don’t use the red shit, that’s for non ethanol gas.

I treat every lawn equipment can right away. I run stuff that sits each year to get fresh fuel in the mix.

Yep, you guys have volume. We don’t. You can find engine oil or any other product with faded out stickers or an inch of dust on top and they still want you to pay the insane sticker price in our stores. Same with ground beef. Looks good from the outside and black on the inside. Barf. No dice like that here. Btw that is what I had used. Stabil. Probably with my luck I got an old bottle too.

 

[DieselMonk]

Dude, that sucks in general.

Yeah, for Decades all modern fuel systems support Ethanol, from a Chemical standpoint, as in the seals, rubber, everything can handle it.
Flex Fuel vehicles just have logic, and sometimes a sensor to adjust to higher contents of Ethanol.

Most EcoBoosts, like the 3.5, 3.0, and 2.7 max out at around E50, because of fuel demand. Because Higher contents of Ethanol has less energy per volume, the flow rate must increase, and the Stock Pump can't keep up. So E50 gets you the most power on the Stock components.

That’s like my GT500. The stock fuel pump can’t keep up with the flow so it gets a bit of help! Got too know on the E50 trick! Thanks Loki!

 

[Dice Roll]

Yep, you guys have volume. We don’t. You can find engine oil or any other product with faded out stickers or an inch of dust on top and they still want you to pay the insane sticker price in our stores. Same with ground beef. Looks good from the outside and black on the inside. Barf. No dice like that here. Btw that is what I had used. Stabil. Probably with my luck I got an old bottle too.

Was it stabil or stabil 360? Big big difference.

 

[DieselMonk]

Was it stabil or stabil 360? Big big difference.

Can’t remember anymore exactly. It’s been a while.