Let me preface this with the fact that I am a fuel inspector for the state of Oklahoma and that I deal with gasoline on a daily basis.
I'm not trying to start crap,just trying to debunk a few things.
Yup, I've noticed it around here for longer than that. My Ranger I kept meticulous records of fuel economy. I could tell when I got a bad tank of gas, when someone stole gas (and how much), and what the ethanol was doing to my fuel economy. When you could still get gas without all the crap in it around here, my Ranger would get 21-23 mpg around town and 27-31 highway consistently. When I'd get a tank of Ethanol laced stuff, I would get 17-19 mpg around town and 21-23 mpg highway. Bad gas would get me around 14-16 mpg around town and 17-19 mpg highway or less, and it would ping like no other.
Crazy thing is, my Ranger was supposed to run on E-85.
My F-150 was getting 13-14 mpg around town last year. With the "winter" gas crap they gave us this winter, I got 10 mpg. Now that we are back to "summer" gas but with up to 15% ethanol, I'm getting 11.9 mpg running 89 octane and 10.8 mpg with 87. Now it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that something is wacky here....
What is "bad gas"?
During the winter months refineries dolower the octane rating on fuel for a winter blend.
My truck runs like absolute trash with ethanol. I ran a tank without and could really feel the difference. I went back to ethanol on this tank and after 100 miles it's running like garbage again.
Have you all seen the list of ethanol free stations on this site?:
http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp
Switching back and forth between e10 and regular gas can be hard on your fuel system, because the ethanol is cleaning your fuel system. and will clog your fuel filter. When stations switch from reg to ethanol, it is recommended that they sweep their tanks to get rid of the deposits in the bottom of their tanks. They also switch filters 3-4 times after the switch.
If they do not sweep their tanks, it can take up to 60 days to clear the E10 out.
Shouldn't we do the same for our vehicles?
They say at our small engine schools that "E10" can vary as high as E30 in the real world.
In Oklahoma,we allow E10 and E85. The E 10 cannot have more than 10% ethanol in it. I have 2 methods to test for ethanol and have yet to find it over 9%. It averages around 6-7%.
Thats opposite of what those E10 stickers say. Supposely the fuel shouldn't contain more than 10%. If I get one those tank full of over rated ethonal, my fuel trim should go away into the positive %. Right now, with the E10, it is within range of normal (-/+ 10% fuel trim). With current data that I'm seeing, the old 2.3L may be able to handle ethonal fuel up to 20% without mod's.
Read your manual on what it can take. My 92 F150 says it is compatible with E10. Ford was ahead of the game on this. Most vehicles weren't compatible til 94.
I know some people say fuel additives like STP Fuel Treatment are only "snake oil" and don't do anything....but I been using it the last couple months. I don't have much money so I usually only put in 10 to 20 bucks at a time when I get gas and I almost always drive the same way to the same places so I can tell when my truck uses more gas. The whole bottle of treatment usually treats from 15 to 21 gallons depending on the size of the bottle so I just "guestimate" how much to add. It seems to make enough difference in mpg's that it easily covers the cost of the treatment and runs better.
Ethanol is an alcohol, the main ingredient in most fuel treatments. It also cleans your fuel system,so why use a fuel additive. It also boost octane levels.