E10 Fuel And The Untold Truth

[NAGG]

Most ULP have ethanol in them, if there is less than 10% like 9.5% there is no requirment to lable it and can be sold as standard ULP Even some PULP have ethanol in then but less than 10% There is no tax on ethanol so fuel com and servos make more per lt. Buyer beware

I'm confident that if you buy your fuel from BP , Caltex or Shell ...... you will not get ethonol in your ULP .
The independants ....... who knows !
Me ..... I try my hardest to only buy ULP from Shell first & BP second.
finally .... when I bought my Yammi 4 stroke I was told by the Service manager that Regular ULP was preferred & PULP would offer no advantage.

Chris

[BaitThrower]

Ermm *some* of the BP servos down my way have ethanol in both their ULP and PULP blends.
Be careful of BP!

[Mindi]

Found this test for $25.




Alcohol (Ethanol) Fuel Test Kit
For immediate order and shipment of Ethanol Fuel Test Kits contact:
Fuel-Testers Company: Order an Ethanol Alcohol Fuel Test Kit.

fueltestkit@yahoo.com
http://www.fueltestkit.com/

Fuel-Testers accepts orders accepted by phone, fax, email and online.
-------------------------------------------

Now Available to the public!

ETHANOL ALCOHOL FUEL TEST KIT

Tests fuel for alcohol - ethanol) content %.

Re-usable. Simple. Easy. Accurate. Fast!

Simple, easy, inexpensive.
DIRECTIONS: Mix small amount water and fuel from pump or tank into the test tube included (test tube has markings at level of gas and water to be added); Shake to mix the contents.
Wait a few minutes until settled.
An increase in the amount of water on the gauge indicates the exact percentage of alcohol present in the fuel.

Caution: Fuel that tests greater than 10 % alcohol (legal limit for E10 gasoline) is dangerous and should not be used in conventional engines.

Paul that looks really good and as cheap as chips...about $6 usd for 180 tests..? mind you importing something like that might just be a problem..but I reckon this is the way to go. Even though it is illegal to sell undeclared E blend I wouldnt trust anyone other than perhaps Woolworths who have too much to lose and own their own outlets. Well found.

[rowanda]

BaitThrower, I can tell you, you are incorrect. BP doesn't have ethanol in their PULP. They do have E10 ULP and it should be labelled at the pumps.
As NAGG said, if you buy from a major brand you are about a safe as you can get.
There will always be dodgy operators. As said before, there soon will be no plain ULP, it will be all E10 (2011) thanks to the govt.
Yes there maybe no performance benefit of PULP, but if left the octane rating will stay higher if left sit and most PULP (except some of the smaller brands) should be ethanol free.

[Angla]

Personally I have been using the 95 octane BP product with no ill effects to date. I have been warned by an operator once to not use the ULP product in the marine environment.
I have a 135 Optimax and it states that it recommends 90 ron minimum in the handbook so I figure the premium 97 or 98 ron is not an advantage. I usually add 60 to 100 litres to fill the 160 litre tank every time before going out, not after having been out. Some times the remaining fuel has sat for up to 2 months. No ill effects so far.

Cheers
Chris

[NAGG]

Ermm most of the BP servos down my way have ethanol in both their ULP and PULP blends.
Be careful of BP!

Are you sure ?

BP sell E10 as a stand alone product.
PULP (98 RON) with ethonol ...... I wouldn't think so The claims of damage to engines of performance cars would not be worth the risk.

Chris

[DaMaGe]

I have a Johnson/Suzuki 115 4stroke that uses either Caltex or BP normal Unleaded (not E10) with no ill effects. I would certainly feel a little uncomfortable using fuel from Independant fuel station for boats. I had hope that an underlying trust would occur with brand name fuel stations not to throw ethanol in their blends.

Sometimes boat sits in storage with 50% fuel tank for up to 2 months before it is re-topped up and heads offshore once again.

P.S Motor is rated for 87 Pump Posted AKI (90 RON) and check out this quote from manual...

Using unleaded gasoline that contains methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) is acceptable ONLY if the MTBE content does not exceed 15% by volume.
Using alcohol-extended fuels is acceptable ONLY if the alcohol content does not exceed;
10% ethanol by volume; or
5% methanol with 5% consolvents by volume
-------------------------------
Your outboard has been designed to operate using the above fuels; however, be aware of the following;
The boats fuel system may have different requirements regarding the use of alcohol fuels. Refer to boat owners manual.
Alcohol attracts and holds moisture that can cause corrosion of metallic parts in the fuel system.
Alcohol blended fuel can cause engine performance problems.
----------------------------------

[Mindi]

I'm confident that if you buy your fuel from BP , Caltex or Shell ...... you will not get ethonol in your ULP .
The independants ....... who knows !
Me ..... I try my hardest to only buy ULP from Shell first & BP second.
finally .... when I bought my Yammi 4 stroke I was told by the Service manager that Regular ULP was preferred & PULP would offer no advantage.

Chris

Maybe...I think that while it is counter intuitive "old" PULP is likely to actually be lower octane than "old" ULP... different evaporative behaviour..? and so ULP is preferred in outboards to PULP but not a big deal. The line is usually "PULP offers no advantage" as you say. Happy to be corrected by Gary F on this but I recall reading something from BP which made me think sticking to ULP was a better plan than using PULP...but that was not taking E into consideration.

[Dave_H]

Ermm most of the BP servos down my way have ethanol in both their ULP and PULP blends.
Be careful of BP!

No they do not. I'd like to see your documented evidence for that (rather than just implying that you "think" or "reckon" someone is dodgy or mixing their fuel on purpose) to substantiate your claim.

For starters Queensland, NSW and Victoria all have random SSA and regulatory inspections to check and inspect many aspects of service station operations (such as weights and measures etc etc). Fuel quality and underground tank security are another part of it. How do I know this? I worked in the industry for many many years.

Uneducated nonsense like what you have written does nothing to further your cause. There is the odd occasion that condensation or running water entry into the underground tank may have caused some issues in the past, but those instances are rare.


Have a good day.

Dave_H.

[welder]

Don't use that s#it. My Honda manual specifically states the warranty is void if you use Ethanol.

My Manual, page 96 , Oqygenated Fuels....

ETHANOL: ethyl or Grain alcohol; 10% by volume.
MTBE: Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether; 15% by volume.
METHANOL: methyl or wood alcohol; 5% by volume

I have a 2006 BF 225 A6 XA and these motors are made to run about anywhere in the world .

My motor # is BAGJ-1400332

Cheers

[ashh]

No they do not. I'd like to see your documented evidence for that (rather than just implying that you "think" or "reckon" someone is dodgy or mixing their fuel on purpose) to substantiate your claim.

For starters Queensland, NSW and Victoria all have random SSA and regulatory inspections to check and inspect many aspects of service station operations (such as weights and measures etc etc). Fuel quality and underground tank security are another part of it. How do I know this? I worked in the industry for many many years.

Uneducated nonsense like what you have written does nothing to further your cause. There is the odd occasion that condensation or running water entry into the underground tank may have caused some issues in the past, but those instances are rare.


Have a good day.

Dave_H.

dave, he is correct to a degree, but he should have put 'some' at the beginning, because at some BPs you dont have a choice, its either E10, PULP, diesel or gas. Its mainly the smaller bps that haven't been upgraded with newer or extra bowsers yet

[rowanda]

I think the point Dave was trying to get across was that BP DO NOT have ethanol in their PULP. Most either have E10 or ULP at a site, not both. Nothing to do with "upgrading bowsers" or extra bowsers as most tank configurations won't allow the site to sell an extra grade without a massive cost and when they won't have normal ULP by 2011 (govt regs only E10 after 2011 not normal ULP) then why upgrade tanks etc??

[BaitThrower]

There are at least two BPs near me that have on their sign/price boards:

Unleaded + Ethanol
Premium Unleaded + Ethanol

Right on the sign boards! This is the one at Underwood Rd at Underwood and I think the one at Eight Mile Plains is also (not 100% sure) but I know the Underwood one states both their ULP and PULP has ethanol?????

[rowanda]

i can assure you that any pulp from a BP does not have ethanol, i would say if that is correct, someone has stuffed the sign. Have a look on their website, it says not to use ethanol based fuels in boats and to use Pulp or Ultimate
Can you do me a favour and take a pic of that price board??

[BaitThrower]

i can assure you that any pulp from a BP does not have ethanol, i would say if that is correct, someone has stuffed the sign. Have a look on their website, it says not to use ethanol based fuels in boats and to use Pulp or Ultimate
Can you do me a favour and take a pic of that price board??

Yep will do next time I go past and have the camera in the car.
It definitely says it because I have commented to the wife several times about it, and each time I go past it has the same sign.