Ethanol blends, used for years as gasoline oxygenate additives to reduce urban air pollution and emissions, are now impossible to ignore across the country. Since about 2006, gas stations have been putting up pump stickers "this fuel may contain up to 10% ethanol".  You used to be able to find a station that would sell "pure gasoline" without ethanol, but those days are coming to an end as the EPA's exemption for such stations and marina fuel depots expires in October 2010.  What's more, the days of only 10% ethanol (E10) are coming to an end too, as Congress approved the manadatory increase in ethanol concentration up to 15%, starting in October 2010.

All of this wouldn't be a concern for drivers if ethanol didn't cause serious problems in their vehicles and equipment.

Loss of Mileage

Ethanol contains less chemical energy than gasoline does, and this means less mileage for the driver. 3-5% drops in mileage for E10-E15 are common, even higher for higher ethanol concentrations (though only specially modified vehicles can run on really high ethanol concentrations like E85).

Ethanol Damage

Ethanol eats away at rubber and plastic parts, dissolving them over them and leaving you, at best, with performance issues, and at worst, with expensive repair bills. The dissolved plastics and resins now in the fuel have to go somewhere, and that typically means either plugged fuel filters or a nice buildup of gummy dark deposits in injectors and on valve stems.  Vehicle and equipment performance goes out the window at this point.

Fleet managers using ethanol have to be keenly aware of this solvency issue. So too must consumers who are used to putting regular gasoline in their lawn mowers and older equipment. Some of this equipment is stored for long period of time, and when it doesn't start back up, it's found the ethanol has dissolved and damaged the older rubber and plastic parts.

Consumers who have to put ethanol-gasoline in their small equipment have been finding out the bad news about ethanol solvency, with mowers, lawn equipment and other small equipment suddenly becoming inoperable due to fuel lines and seals and other fuel system components being damaged by the ethanol solvency.

So much for being environmentally friendly when it takes a giant chunk out of your wallet or corporate budget.

Water in Fuel and The Problems It Causes

Ethanol is really good at pulling water out of the air around it. The water condenses in the fuel tank or storage tank and will pull the ethanol out of suspension with the gasoline in a process called Phase Separation. This is bad news because it strips the octane out of the gasoline, leaving you with a layer of octane-poor gasoline on top and a water-ethanol layer mixture on the bottom.  If the water-alcohol gets sucked into the combustion chamber, you have the potential for real engine damage.  At the best, you'll notice a big difference in how the engine is running.

We Fix Ethanol Problems

Bell Performance's range of quality fuel treatments are great news for concerned consumers, correcting the damaging effects of ethanol blends and helping consumers get the most out of their vehicles, boat and small equipment that use this fuel.

Ethanol Defense is the professional strength treatment from Bell Performance that's your best defense against ethanol problems.  It provides multi-function mileage and performance improvement combined with the most powerful ethanol-fighting water controllers you can get.

Mix-I-Go offers complete ethanol protection and maximum performance for cars and trucks.

Marine MXO gives these same great benefits to marine users who want to maximize their on-water performance and protect their expensive investments from ethanol damage.

Mix-I-Go Small Engine is perfect for treating the ethanol fuel used in both 2- and 4-cycle small equipment.

Check out Bell's powerful ethanol treatments at the Bell Performance Product Store.