Ethanol Free Gas What type of oil does my engine need?

by Search For Parts – We back up our articles with references! May 19th, 2020

What is ethanol free gas?

Ethanol free gas is pure gasoline without ethanol which is an alcohol without the water. Most gasoline found at gas stations these days are E10 or 90% gasoline and 10% ethanol. 100% gasoline without the ethanol is more expensive than E10.

Should I buy ethanol free gas for my vehicle? Is it worth it?

Not really unless you are driving a vehicle that is older than 2001. For any vehicle after 2001, ethanol free gas will be more expensive, produce more harmful emissions and increase our dependence on foreign oil. Most cars today that use fuel injection run just fine using E10, or 10% ethanol as this fuel has a higher octane for high compression engines of today. 

reduced emissions from ethanol in gasoline

Pure gasoline has a lower octane rating and ethanol burns cleaner.  By using ethanol, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 36% and consumers save about $0.50 – $1.00 on each gallon of gas. The scare stories about how ethanol is bad for a car engine are not true. Future vehicles will be built to operate even better with ethanol.

The only problem you may run into with ethanol is with older cars made before 2001, or vehicles with carburetors, lawnmowers, motorcycles, and boat engines. Today’s modern vehicles are made to run on ethanol.

image credit: http://wicorn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Clean-air.jpg 

In addition to this, if you do decide that you want to try pure gasoline, you will have to travel or go out of your way to find it. Even though you may get a bit better gas mileage, it will also be more expensive so these two factors offset each other.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Testing

Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee conducted a test on three vehicles made in 1999, 2001, and 2004 that were selected because of their ethanol sensitivity. Each vehicle was tested using ethanol-free gas, 10% ethanol (E10), 15% ethanol (E15), and 20% (E20). No negative effects were observed during this test except for fuel economy reduction as the ethanol increased in the blended gasoline. There were no clogged fuel filters nor any negative effects to the fuel system. In addition to this, no check engine lights were observed. 

Conclusion

For a modern-day vehicle, you will not have any problems with ethanol (E10) in gasoline and there are more benefits from using ethanol such as more jobs created (Iowa where corn is grown has experienced jobs created because of ethanol) and less dependence on foreign oil. Ethanol-free gas is not worth the drive nor the money/effort in obtaining it for today’s engines. For motorcycles, lawnmowers, boat engines, and vehicles made before 2001, ethanol-free gas is recommended.

If you came to this page because you were concerned about protecting your engine so it lasts a long time and you want to be on the safe side, then use a fuel treatment to offset any worry you may still have about ethanol.  As you can see with some research, ethanol is not going away and cars built today are made to run on it. If you still feel that ethanol may cause an issue based on your research, then put fuel additive/ethanol treatment in your gas tank.

In addition to this, replace all oils and transmission fluids with a top-brand synthetic.

Search your vehicle here and buy the best synthetic oil and transmission fluid for your vehicle and make your engine last for years to come.

Sources: