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Gasoline vs E10

bootlegger

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My blood was alcohol based this weekend......................:crackup: Stupid ass freezing temps in November. :facepalm:

So this is actually the first time I put Stabil in my car for storage. I figure it's not going to hurt anything so might as well. I do fill up the tank completely though. The previous two winters I just filled up the tank and everything was running fine the next Spring. Those first starts are always fun. Admittedly, I do kinda the bare minimum when putting my car into storage mode but it's kind of a don't over complicate it type of mindset.
Stabil won't hurt anything, but when I tested it for active ingredients, it was mostly solvent. I stick with STP, Chevron, or any various oil/auto company additives. They have more accountability when making claims.
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Hack

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No need for the passive aggressive insults, guy.
Long ago, ethanol manufacturing had no standardization, and every batch was of questionable quality. Now we have fairly strict regulations for ethanol production and EtOH/gasoline blends. Corrosion is no longer a common issue, sulfates are reduced, and oxidative stability is excellent.

People have problem storing vehicles because of phase separation. That is basically it. If your tank is vented to the atmosphere, or has a lot of head space, you are going to see condensation with temperature fluctuations. You need to fill your tank to the top, and limit temp fluctuation, if you want to store long term with E10. Most of us use garage storage, so temp fluctuation is limited. If you get phase separation, you need to suck the water layer out and do something to replace the lost octane. Those of us with E85 don't need to worry about this. E85 can hold so much water before separating, you would need to pour it in directly to see the phase dropout. I have stored my boat in the garage for 6 months at a time with E10, and had no separation or stability issues. I spent 3 years testing E10 samples around the country for storage stability and had no issues. The worst things we saw were phase separation from improper storage or sulfate buildup (more of a fuel contamination issue). Most of the sites on the internet crying about ethanol stability are trying to sell you additives or test kits. If I was storing for less than a year, and doing necessary storage prep, I would have no fear of using E10. Longer than that, and I would want to at least suck the water bottom out and replace half the fuel. If you are storing well over a year, you will likely want to drain the tank and refill before running again, even with E0.
https://www.steeltank.com/Portals/0/1_E10fuels.pdf
I must be slipping - I wasn't going for passive on that post.

Maybe it's the environment. Here in the middle of the continent the ambient temperatures vary a lot. If you are saying that temperature variation causes fuel issues - that totally makes sense to me. I'm sure there are variations all the way from 20 below zero to +120 F in my pole barn.
 
 




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