Why put heet in your cars gas?

When they put corn alcohol in the gas, it raises the octane. To balance that they hydrogenate the gas by spinning the alcohol with water which lowers the octane down. Corn gas will seperate when the alcohol evaporates, leaving water as a residue in the tank or gas can, it cannot be stored long. Now, the tanks at the gas station can sometimes have some water from this evaporation or possibly other sources, so it gets pumped into your tank. I buy gas without alcohol and in the winter I will put in some gas line antifreeze to go with it.

I just tried to start my plow truck....it is about seven below yet. I turned the ignition on and it cranked over and won't start, so I figured I would jump it but noticed the fuel pump didn't shut off when I turned it off. Somehow the ignition switch must be partly sticking or the solonoid is sticking on. I had to disconnect the battery. The fuel pump should not keep running, something is wrong, when it gets up to pressure it should shut off too. Damn cold weather, it has never given me this problem before, something isn't right. I had a hard time getting it into neutral, it is a stick, everything is super stiff. I also had a problem turning the ignition switch. I need to plow, I suppose I could go plug in the tractor with the 80 inch snowblower and bucket and go clean things up. I will need to put my long johns on and winter boots for that. That old eighty seven chevy has such a great heater in it and usually always starts. I suppose I can go put an electric heater into the cab and plug it in to thaw things out for a while after the battery charges up or just put a splitter on the cord and run both to heat it up. I think that the problem is in the ignition switch because the pump should go off with the switch.

originally posted by: acackohfcc

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: lakenheath24

Wouldn't the ethanol absorb the water?

I'm pretty sure water ruins ethanol since the ethanol burns but the water doesn't
Water in gasoline is just as bad

I forget the math, but ethanol absorbs water.
Whiskey is typically 80% alcohol.
"200 proof" would be 100%.

Once the alcohol in your gas has absorbed enough water, it will phase separate out- and surprisingly fast! I can tell you that 16 ounces of water into four gallons of gasoline, shaken, will come apart into two distinct layers in seconds.
Then you're left with ethanol that barely burns at sea level and room temperature (80 proof maybe?) And low grade, low octane gasoline.

Ethanol has NO PLACE in gasoline. Never once should have been sold that way.

a reply to: a325nt

Dammit! Ethanol is green and you better like it.....

Lol, sorry...

I run my play toy on various blends of ethanol, ranging from 30% to 83%, and have without issue for over 2 years now.

Condensation is only an issue if you don't run the engine often or if you leave a tank half full in a high humidity environment.

When properly adjusted, a higher ethanol mix uses more fuel than pure gas, but is safer and allows more timing in performance vehicles.

I can literally make 60-70 more horsepower just by switching from 100% gas to at least 30% ethanol.

So many myths in this thread.

P.S., Heet really doesn't do much for moisture problems. Just go on a long drive to run some gas out of the tank. If there's enough moisture to change how the car runs, drain the tank and refill.

a reply to: cynicalheathen

Not really any myths here.
An outboard engine made 20 years ago is not designed for ethanol. The seals disintegrate.

I know this summer I was in texas and the fuel mileage in my truck went from 19mpg to 23mpg.
Pure gas vs ethanol blend.

I'm not going to adjust my 2 year old truck.

a reply to: Bluntone22

At 20 years old, I wouldn't be surprised to see seals deteriorate with any fuel. That said, most small motor manuals specifically state not to use ethanol. Modern cars are perfectly fine.

Ethanol has fewer btus/gal than gasoline. Of course it'll burn a little more. The tradeoff being a much higher capacity to absorb the heat of combustion.

Your 2 year old truck should adjust itself. My 12 year old truck has the capability to do so. Most modern vehicles are flex fuel.

Ethanol blends are superior in forced induction vehicles. With more and more cars coming from the factory with turbos, I wouldn't be surprised to see E15 become more common, with blends trending to E30.