90 non ethanol or 87 reg ethanol

When I fill up, I split between 90 non ethanol and 87 reg ethanol. Recently, I just use 100% gas instead of ethanol for $3.50 per gallon. Should I stick with the 90 or stay with 87 and save?

 

my truck just feels so much smoother using 91 octane no ethanol, but its probably just a placebo effect or something of the sorts
i don't use it all the time, just once in awhile if i get a good discount at the pump

 

I'd just run the 87 corn gas...

-Mike

 

Run what the manual calls for. Your engine won't see any gain from spending more money.

 

I've never run anything higher than 87. There is no point to run higher octane unless you are boosted or have higher compression. High octane actually makes your low compression engines run WORSE because it is harder to detonate the fuel. You're just wasting money.

I run 85 when I find it, lol.

The only time I buy 91 is for my motorcycle. I also use 91 in my lawnmower only because I use the same gas can as my motorcycle, lol.

 

If I could easily get non- ethanol fuel I would in a heartbeat. I just had my bed off to replace all the rubber gaskets (3) on the top of my gas tank, and while it is a 16 year old vehicle I will say all of them were dried out and cracked which I firmly believe ethanol fuel was a major contributor. You can read anywhere that ethanol is hard on rubber and plastic. In addition the metal under the fuel pump gasket was rusted, again I believe to be an ethanol related issue. I now use Sta-Bil 360 with every tank since I cannot get non-ethanol fuel close to me. I do drive about 45 minutes away at the start of the mowing season to fill up my 5 gallon gas can with ethanol free gas for my lawn mowers and other equipment.
So, I hate corn fuel. Sucks!

 

super-charged boosted lawn mower
is it a push or a riding one

 

Doesn't 91 Octane mean 91% cleaner?

 

i put 93 octane from BP in mine on a trip through Milwaukee a couple months ago,
that must be even cleaner!
just wanted to see how it went down the drain, it did not improve highway mileage, which is where it all got burnt,
thought I was going to get 500 miles out of 16 gallons!

 

push mower. I'm just too lazy to have a separate gas can, and I don't really care if the lawn mower doesn't run at peak power output. It cuts grass.

No, it means you get 91 more horsepower.

 

I was a small engine mechanic for years and ethanol gas caused ... idk... 90% of the fuel related service orders. The issue is NOT with the usage of ethanol it's with the storage of ethanol. Ethanol absorbs moisture out of the air naturally over time and that ethanol water mixture is heavier than gasoline and sits at the bottom of your tank an in your carb bowl, the water will cause rust and the ethanol will shellac, plugging ports and causing a white corrosion to occur.

Again, USING gas with ethanol is fine! But when it sits for any time longer than 30 days WITHOUT a high quality fuel stabilizer it WILL absorb moisture and it WILL cause issue if left long enough.

Now our trucks are fuel injected and have more than one cylinder so even if there is some water in your tank it will burn during combustion.. but IF there's enough water you will get all sorts of detonation issues and if left long enough will plug injectors like it does carburetors.


TL/DR you can use regular fuel for your lawnmower, just don't let it sit longer than a month untreated

 

I use 87 unless the forget to make the delivery

Then what every the station has

 

This has been a big fight with the OHV/motorcycle community with this idea that ethanol damages motorcycle engines. There are lots of groups that lobby to make ethanol free gas available for this reason.

I have always drained my carb after a ride (shut fuel off, run motor til it dies) and use an in-line filter, so I've never had a problem with deposits accumulating.

My issue with ethanol has less to do with water condensation and deposits, and more to do with using food (corn) to make fuel and how the only reason we even use corn as fuel is because of government insurance/subsidy programs that encourage farmers to grow more corn than we actually need or know what to do with - so we get things like hi fructose corn syrup and ethanol fuels.

But that's another story, lol...

 

That was always my recommendation and it's never failed me, if those guys just have to have non ethanol they should buy it from a marina before there trip, that's what I do if I need it ... which is only for gas for the generator. For the people that were too lazy to go through that effort I sold a crap ton fuel stabilizer to haha

On that note I've done a lot of personal 3rd party testing on fuel stabilizers and any of the blue tinted ones specifically labeled for ethanol treatment are worthwhile, regardless of brand.

Holy Banana Hammocks you and I agree completely on that!! I will not get started but trust me when I say I'm in your court there

 

I live by the ocean now. Still only a few stations stock non ethanol.

 

87 w/ ethanol has run good in my 3.4L for 20 years. I am baffled by the claims of ethanol-additives causing problems.

 

Unless you don't drive it never sits in your vehicle's tank long enough to cause problems, all I put in my vehicles is 87 octane w/ ethanol .. cause it's the cheapest.

I've never had an issue with a car or truck, but you best believe there's problems with your yard equipment sitting with gas in the off season.


I notice you're in AZ so I'm sure you don't have much issue with power equipment sitting because of how dry your climate is bur anywhere with humidity will have bad juju happen

 

Honestly, even with my mower sitting all winter, it starts up every time. Might take 2 pulls.

But maybe that’s because it shares the 91 from my motorcycle, but pretty sure that still has ethanol in it.

 

Sacramento has winter?
show me the snow

 

I'm gunna take a shot in the dark here.. is your mower older than '07? If it isn't that old I'm guessing it's a Honda brand mower?

Plus the relative humidity of Sacramento is pretty low isnt it?