As far as I'm concerned go as slow as you want.... as long as there's another lane

 

Ok professor then tell me why a blower, mower are dust (combined 3 years of age) due to e10 & carb issues, I have talked to countless people about e10 issues here in south florida marine industry were the e10 is corroding the fuel systems not to mention the phase seperation issues that are being encountered due to humidity and the hydrophillic nature of alcohol . My brother had to totally redue his whole fuel system in his boat due to corrosive effects of e1o, prior to e10 I could go 12 months before replacing the fuel filter in my boat and there would be no rust inside the filter, now every 4 mo. I replace and it is rusting due to the water and corrosive nature of the fuel, If you have any humidity issues where you live you will encounter this, basic chemistry of the product. The use of reg. gas varnishes a tank which is an initial concern, eventually you will have a problem, hope you keep the tank full in the boat and the cap tight, good luck.

 

I was almost ready to call BS on someone getting 26 mpg in their Ram but got to thinking about it and on my way home from Louisiana last night I topped off my tank with some their regular unleaded (didnt see any ethanol added sign on the pumps, and was about 1/2 full) and preceeded to see what kind of mpg my truck could get on the computer display. I got in behind an 18 wheeler doing about 50-55mph through some construction and found myself averaging about 25 mpg over the 10-15 miles I was behind him. I dont think I was catching his draft or anything as I stayed about 4-5 car lengths behind him. I seen the average hit 25.4 at one time and this was without constantly reseting the mpg indicator. It might have had something to do with the temperature (53* degrees) as I tried to do it again when I got home and could only get it to register about 23.5mpg @ 65* degrees driving similarly.

 

Couldn't tell you why your stuff doesn't work, but we've had E10 in MN for 12 years. My boat gets stored with whatever gas is in it each year, never had a problem getting it started in the spring. It's never run on anything but E10 - except for a rare tank of non ethanol if I have to fill up on the water. (Marine gas doesn't have to have ethanol in it in MN). The extra cars get stored with whatever is in them unless they have a steel fuel tank, those ones get a full tank due to corrosion - happens with regular gas, not just E10.

As I said before, if you have run an engine on non ethanol gas for a long time, the E10 will clean all the accumulated crap out of the system - pretty much all at once. We had the same problems here in the 90's with cars from the 70's and 80's. However, a new engine/fuel system will not have any bad effects from running E10 - other than the crappy milage.

What kind of boat has a steel gas tank anyway?

 

I can and have got 24MPG on the freeway without trying too hard and I suspect, if I wanted to, I could squeeze 26MPG with no problem.

 

If you live in Minnnnesooota you do not have the Humidity levels we here in the south deal with all year (90-100%), makes a big difference in what happens to the fuel on molecular level. Reg. fuel to e10 is only a problem when you initial switch after using reg. fuel for along time, but e10 is corrosive to rubber, steel, aluminum fuel lines due to the ph and alcohol group (this group is what is attacted to water, alcohol is a semi-polar solvent), then you add the water problem that you can get from the local pump, humidity, loose cap, etc and then you add another corrosive mixture to the soup. In a fuel tank that has an air space, it heats up during the day and condensation forms from high humidity levels and whola you start getting moisture in the tank as it sits (not rocket science, but many do not realize it). Boats have aluminum tanks and lines along with rubber/sythetic fuel lines (they also corrode and break down from e10, read up on it, I have seen it). The other problem people have had to deal with is when the boat installer put a fiberglass tank in the boat and the e10 basically dissolves the tank, check it out, I am sure you can find it on the web and forums, not trying to change your mind, but there are problems with it, and it is a scam on efficiency, and it is costly when you don't approach it right, I am using startron and Marine stabil next month my filter is due to be replace and curious to see if it is rusting on the inside like the others. sorry so long.

 

Most boat tanks I've had are aluminum, others were plastic. Only glass tank I've ever had was in a 60's jet boat. If you have a steel tank that can be removed, I'd recommend using Eastwoods tank restoration kit. I've used it in a couple classic cars and it does a good job of sealing off the steel and preventing rust.

While the humidity is higher in FL, condensation is just as big a problem for stored vehicles in places like MN because of the temperature swings.

But if you want to start having real problems, keep using Stabil. The only issues I've ever had gumming up motors were when I put that stuff in the tank. Smokes like a pig and that stuff really gunks up the carbs.

 

ran jr;

it must be nice to make $42/hr, but I only make $9.50, and all salaries are currently frozen. Overtime is punished by loosing 8 hours off next week's schedule. I'll never make that kind of money as long as I live. With the money I saved by driving 55, I was able to afford to eat on the trip instead of packing a lunch.

On another note, I did not intend to start an ethanol vs gas war. I just thought getting 26.13 mpg in this massive barge was pretty damn good.

 

Now you're going to start another discussion. How exactly does a person buy a brand new truck on $9.50 an hour?

 

Think you can and actually doing it are two different things, I highly doubt you cant get 26mpg in a Hemi 4x4. Try it and let us know the results.