I don't want to start a gas war here, just a couple quick questions. I have been running the non ethanol fuel for about 6 months now. No problems at all, until today. My truck when it's cold like it is (-5 ambient -20 with windchill) always cranks hard, but it always seems to start. I let it warm for 3-5 mins till the coolant warms about the c, then go on my merrry way not going past 1/4 throttle till it warms up. Today I drove it to work just fine. After a 12 hour shift, come out and it cranks over but won't fire. I probably tried for a good 30 mins till the battery died. i would get close to firing but never did. Went back in got extension cord, and hooked it up to a battery charger. let it sit for 30 minutes and tried again. Still nothing. Called dad, because dad always knows, said"your fuel line is frozen." I thought whatever but walked down to the quickie mart and got two bottles of heet and put it in. I let it sit in the fuel for 45 mins trying every so often to see of it would go. About an hour in, it finally fired, and idled like nothing had ever happened. Do you guys think it was simply because i use non ethanol fuel that it froze? so the heet worked and that was it, lesson learned use heet every other tank? Or could it be something more? What are thoughts on the non ethanol fuels? First winter with my truck in the frozen tundra we call Minnesota.
Thanks
Woody

 

Usually it's gas with ethanol that gets water in it. I've read that ethanol absorbs water that's in the air over time. They say not to run ethanol gas in outboards. I run it in mine and haven't had any problems. Interested in other replies as well

 

+1!!

Non ethanol gas is the best, but just about impossible to get in Southern AZ where I am. Alcohol doped fuels cause many different problems including rusting of steel tanks and lines and trouble with older rubber/elastomers used in the fuel systems of older cars.
Not to mention the fact that alcohol doped fuels are less energy dense than 100% petroleum fuels are, so that less MPGs' are possible with part alcohol fuels.
Only time alcohol is helpful in gasolines is when there is already water in the system and then a little alcohol can disperse it and permit the water to be run out with the burning gas.
Alcohol doped fuels and the big business government subsidies assocciated with them, amount to little more than corporate welfare at the expense of hungry people worldwide.

 

Non-ethanol gas is common around me being so close to the gulf. It's marketed at "Marine gas" I ran it in my boat for a short time but it got to expensive at 10 to 20 cents more a gallon than diesel. I'll run non-ethanol in my small engine stuff (chainsaw, weed-eater, leaf blower) because they sit up longer not being used.

 

Cold start injector.

 

It's a weber carb i have on there.

 

In one of our Science Fair projects we found what millball said to be correct, less mpg with E85 (85% Ethanol) than E10 (10% Ethanol), the closest we can get here. In the vehicle we tested it was about 20% better mpg with E10 vs E85.
Per our studies, if we could run E0 (0% Ethanol) the mpgs would be even better.
That used to be offset by the cost of E85 vs E10. Not so much any more.

Anyway...

My husband's zoomy car can run both gas (or E10 in our case) and E85. In winter he does not run E85 because it's unlikely to start the car. Ethanol = no like cold weather starting. E10 does a much better job at cold weather starting.

Therefore, the theory of E0 being the culprit in hard cold starts vs something like E10 is unlikely.

Okay, back to your originally scheduled program....
and brrr! That's cold.

 

My 22RE gets 21-22 mpg with ethenol free gas. If I use the 10% ethenol, i get 18-19. That 10% ethenol cost me 10% in mpg. Even though the ethenol free gas costs me more per gallon, my cost per mile remains the same, and I don't have that corrosive fuel in my 20 year old fuel system. I have never had a problem starting my truck on cold days.

 

I run non-ethanol near about all the time in my truck. It is a little hard to start in the cold mornings, but I believe that's due to a cold start injector being clogged. I get a solid 2-3 mpg boost running non-ethanol vs. 10% ethanol.

Edit: Just a side note, all of our trucks (atleast the '85 and up) should handle 10% ethanol fine, My owner's manual states that the truck is made to work fine with up to 10% ethanol in the gas.

 

how many pumps of the pedal when its cold?
My weber likes 4 solid pumps before it will start in the cold.
Electric choke? or manual?

 

i start with 4, seems to take a couple more though. I installed a freeze plug heater this weekend and tonight it will be really put to the test. Supposed to get down to -20 air temp, we will see if it starts. I am going to go top it off tonight and add some heet in the red bottle. I also turned my idle up a tad and we will see if that helps with cold starts. before it would almost start but then die. it is an electric choke. I wish I would have gotten a manual, then I would know it was working correctly!

 

The only thing E85 is good for (in my opinion) is pushing a factory motor WAAAAY past what it was built for and making oooooodles of power safely. but the MPG is absolute balls. I would love to be able to find straight dino fuel for both of my vehicles, I feel it to be superior in terms of energy contained per unit of fuel. The tuning is much easier also!