Hey i was gasing up the other day and noticed that my local gas station is selling ethenol... i decided to try it out by mixing it 1/2 with regular gas.... i was wondering what the octane level of it was and can it wreck my engine if i use it pure ????

 

I'm pretty sure you have to have a "flex fuel" vehicle to run ethanol rather than gasoline without risking harm to the engine and fuel system.

I'd avoid doing that again until you read a bit more about ethanol fuels. Google is your friend.

 

I do agree with the first reply about flex fuel vehicles. The ethanol fuel is not good for cars that were not designed for it. This fuel can wreck havoc on regular rubber seals and o-rings along with fuel hoses in the fuel system. The PCM is also not calibrated to run this less octane fuel.

 

Ok thanks! For the help guys!!! Shouldent have done tomuch damage because i didnt put it in pure!! Wont be doing that again!

 

Ummmmm Ethanol, I am pretty sure is 100 octane!!!! all you have to do is just switch over your lines and injectors to a more corrosion reistant material thats it. Expansion properties are almost the same. THey have Gasoline mixed with Ethanol these days Ya know!!!. Sometimes you dont even know it is mixed.

I work in the petroleum industry, I am in Fuel Remediation Services and Engineering.

 

So what youre saying is that the gas was designed for any car not the motor was designed for the gas ?? and are you for sure that its 100 octane ?? I guess its a research project for someone :P if im not to busy i'll get around to it

 

Everything I have ever seen about ethanol is that it is 85 octane. Maybe in it's pure form it's 100. The engine in your car can use it in a bind, but not for everyday use. You will have a bad pinging problem if you use it because your engine computer is not calibrated to run on it. If you changed out the fuel system soft components like lines and o-rings and recalibrated the computer you can use it. The fuel will not damage the engine itself.

 

doesnt my computer learn over time that its not the same gas ?????? if not how do i recallibrate my computer??

 

It will not learn this. It is programmed to 87 octane. You can run higher octane with no problem, but not lower.

Most people think that higher octane would be more "flammable", but it's not. It comes down to flash point. This means how explosive it is and what temp it ignites at. Higher octane fuel burns slower and has a more controlled burn in the engine. Lower octane is just the opposite. This is what causes pinging or pre-ignition. The fuel in the cylinders can burn even without a spark, just the engine temp can ignite it causing pinging.

I have no idea if you can reprogram your car unless there are other "flex fuel" cars just like it out there. The biggest part of reprogramming is changing the spark advance curve.

 

i use a lil mix 93 octane with a boost of kam 2 it is a 115 octane