Results of an experiment

rustyfarmall · Apr 18, 2012

Last September, I poured 5 gallons of straight E85 into the EMPTY gas tank of my 1940 Farmall M. Used up maybe 1 gallon of it plowing the garden patch. Parked the M in the shed, shut off the fuel under the tank and let the carburetor run dry.

Today, April the 18th, I opened the gas shut-off, waited a couple of minutes, and then engaged the starter. She fired off immediately. Ran smooth, both at an idle and wide open, so I backed it out of the shed and cruised around the yard for about 10 minutes. She just plain ran like a top the whole time.

7 full months, parked, with E85 in the tank, and NO problems. Not even one.

Mark W. · Apr 18, 2012

I always use my shut off. Saves a lot of trouble I believe.

WJD · Apr 18, 2012

How is your fuel comsumption compared to gasoline? It is very difficult to get exact numbers as the only way to to a real test is to weigh the fuel. Too much trouble outside of an engineering lab.
My pick up uses about 5% more fuel with 10% Ethanol mix. I have made the same 500 mile trip at least 20 times burning gasoline one way and gasoline/ethanol mix the other way and it averages about 5% more with the mix.
Has anybody else tried to test fuel consumption?

JDB · Apr 18, 2012

I too have tested the theory that you burn more E10 than gasoline. I ran my 97 Chevy Lumina on one or the other for a month straight for 3 years switching from one to the other every month making the same drive every day back and forth to work, carefully tracking mileage. Ambient temperature had more effect on mileage than fuel used. The car gets better mileage when the putside temp is 50-60 degrees farenheit. The fuel made no difference whatsoever. Individual results may vary, just relaying the results of my test.

Ken Macfarlane · Apr 18, 2012

Ethanol always has less energy content by volume than gas, so you will get worse mileage.

Some vehicles have a way to detect ethanol and take advantage of the anti-knock characteristics and advance the timing etc to gain back some of the efficiency.

Richard G. · Apr 18, 2012

Try leaving it in the carb that long and you will have a different story. Anything that sits very long needs to have the fuel shut off and the carb run dry.

Tom in NE · Apr 18, 2012

I've heard people say that they've put some gas with ethanol added in a clear jar and left it set for a few weeks...the gasoline and ethanol seperated after a few short weeks and the ethanol came to the top. You may be running on the pure gasoline right now and the pure ethanol is setting at the top of your gas tank now. Anyone else ever set a sample aside to see if this is true?

Bspauld · Apr 18, 2012

Its been many years since I have used straight gas, always 10%. I shut my tractors,garden tractors, summer truck and all off and next spring just go start them up and never had a problem. The Buick LaSabre gets 29 in warm weather, 25 in the winter.

Bspauld · Apr 18, 2012

Its been many years since I have used straight gas, always 10%. I shut my tractors,garden tractors, summer truck and all off and next spring just go start them up and never had a problem. The Buick LaSabre gets 29 in warm weather, 25 in the winter.

Bspauld · Apr 18, 2012

sorry for the double posting !!! Should add , my chevy 2500 6 liter dont get milage with any gas

rustyfarmall · Apr 18, 2012

(quoted from post at 12:25:26 04/18/12) Try leaving it in the carb that long and you will have a different story. Anything that sits very long needs to have the fuel shut off and the carb run dry.

I'm way ahead of you. My 1940 H with the belly mower was also operated ALL of last summer on straight E85. I parked it last fall just like I always do. Just drive it into the shed and push the ignition switch in. DID NOT shut the fuel off under the tank, so the carburetor sat full of E85 also. I started it today also. No problems. Went out and mowed for about an hour. Again, NO problems.

Dean · Apr 18, 2012

Bingo.

Been doing it for decades.

Dean

JMS/.MN · Apr 18, 2012

Even if there was any separation, driving around the yard would certainly agitate enough to re-mix. I should really try that....put some in a jar, and look for separation. In MN we"ve been using eth, both 10% and 85% for years. Our "03 van is flex-fuel, we drop 11% on mileage, so even a 40 cent reduction in price is to our advantage. We"ve seen a 80-90 cents per gallon reduction vs. gas. How does that not compute that we are $$$ ahead?

GeneMO · Apr 18, 2012

That is what the owners manual for my little D-2 CAT's pony motor says to do. Shut off the fuel and let it run dry.

Gene

Anonymous-0 · Apr 18, 2012

Very hard to get an accurate mileage count on the open road because things like wind will affect the outcome. I can drive West against the wind across The State and get 22.5 MPG and turn around and drive back East with the wind and get 26 MPG.

fixerupper · Apr 18, 2012

I've used 10% since I don't remember when without even an ounce of trouble caused by it. When I store the two banger Deeres I shut the fuel off but the carb is full. The rest, I just shut off the switch and walk away. They start right up, there' no gum or goo or sludge anywhere. Can't say one way or the other about fuel consumption. I would think an engine would need more ethanol to run but on these old tractors without hour meters that are used only sporatically, comparisons go out the window. Jim

gbs · Apr 18, 2012

you all are going to start up the anti-ethanol crowd,wish it was more available around home, i have have to buy it when i find next to a job then haul it home,ran probably a 1000 gallons of e-85 thru a 05 chevy pickup it would set off the check engine light other than it ran no different once it warmed up a little,tried it in a 75 1-ton 350 motor, 58 ford 1 1/2 ton with a 256 6 cylinder and an 49 h farmall all needed to run the choke a little longer until the engines warmed other than that no problems

Motorcraftman · Apr 18, 2012

I do that on everything that has a Gas Shutoff on it ... Works great! Larry KF4LKU

Lumpie · Apr 18, 2012

Take her out and hook it to 3 16's in some gumbo for a couple hours and then report the fuel consumption and performance back to us.

MartyinVa · Apr 18, 2012

Just a ?. Do ya"ll guys that dont have problems with the corn juice live in a dry climate and have all metal fuel lines?

gbs · Apr 18, 2012

as for the climate and rubber lines,i live 45 miles from the coast hot and humid during the summer no more than normal problems with rubber lines or plastic fuel filters,in my thinking if it's competition with oil bring it on

rustyfarmall · Apr 18, 2012

(quoted from post at 17:12:43 04/18/12) Just a ?. Do ya"ll guys that dont have problems with the corn juice live in a dry climate and have all metal fuel lines?

I live in Iowa. Both tractors that are running on E85 have rubber fuel lines.

MarkB_MI · Apr 18, 2012

Uh, what's the hypothesis you were trying to prove?

That E85 will/will not attack fuel system components? You negated that test by closing off the fuel and draining the carb.

That the ethanol in E85 is/isn't hygroscopic? It will take a lot of water to get phase separation in e85.

The E85 has a short/long shelf life? Seven months isn't much of a test.

That a Farmall M will run on crappy gas? That comes as no surprise to those of us who grew up with these dinosaurs.

Nothing to see here. Move along...

MarkB_MI · Apr 18, 2012

Tom, ethanol is heavier than gasoline, as is water. Any combination of ethanol and water will sink to the BOTTOM of the tank if phase separation occurs.

Sprint 6 · Apr 18, 2012

My JD 108 has run on E85 for 5 years now. No trouble at all, and it even has a nylon fuel tank. The engine runs smoother, smells better, and uses about the same amount of fuel. My Super 55 is not real big on it, but I have not spent time adjusting the carb as I did the JD.

Tom in NE · Apr 18, 2012

Thanks for the information Mark. I've been meaning to try this...just haven't gotten around to it yet. We have quite a few ethanol plants here in central Nebraska and they process a lot of ethanol. They sell a lot of it and I haven't heard too many complaints, especially since it sells for ten cents a gallon less than regular unleaded.

JDseller · Apr 19, 2012

Well guys run all the ethanol you can. Two reasons. 1) It will keep corn price way up so I can make money that way. 2) I can get a whole lot more repair jobs where it screws up the fuel systems on just about every small engine it is used in. So use it UP!!! MOMMA needs new shoes!!!!LMAO

I don't use it if I can help it. No one has every proven to me that a gallon of ethanol can grow a gallon of ethanol. The numbers I find show that there is a net loss in total BTUs used verses the output BTUs.

dej(Jed) · Apr 19, 2012

The ethanol won't seperate. When it is put in it is chemically bonded.
The only thing that would fall out is water.

jwmfarms · Apr 19, 2012

Bought a brand new 34 ton log splitter with a Honda 8HP engine on it and ran it wide open for a full day, splitting solid red oak. It ran like a champ on E10. Shut the fuel off and let carb run dry. Started it once a month, let it run for a few minutes, shut off fuel and walk away. It would run out of fuel and stop on its own. Never had any problems. I had done this before it was used as well, because I had it for more than six months before I needed to split anything. Let a friend borrow it for half a day, so he and his son could split some for his widowed MIL. Told them to do this. They brought it back, but left the fuel on, carb full, and I didn"t check it for a month. It would barely run, even with the choke on! Pulled carb and it looks like it is full of chalk. It is actually the corrosion from the moisture in the fuel reacting to the aluminum carb body, and it is one of the new carbs that you can"t get into, due to emissions regs. Never had any problems with the old gas, E10 won"t start any of my two-strokes if its more that 3 weeks old. I think we need to have a choice when we buy our fuel, and not have it forced down our throats. This stuff is junk, and I FARM and RAISE CORN!

Results of an experiment

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