The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved a new label for E15 fuel pumps, alerting consumers to the higher ethanol/gasoline blend of 15% ethanol after approving E15 as a standard transportation fuel in 2010. Last October, EPA granted the ethanol industry a waiver approving the use of E15 in 2007 and newer light-duty vehicles. Earlier this year, EPA extended the waiver to include 2001-06 model year cars and light trucks as well. For the past 30 years, E10 was the highest ethanol-gasoline blend approved.
As part of the process, EPA stipulated that development of a proper label for the fuel would be necessary before E15′s commercial launch. The label is designed to prevent consumers from putting E15 into vehicles, engines and equipment not currently approved for the higher ethanol blend. The EPA still has to officially register E15 before it can be sold, and gas station owners will need to invest in new pumps for the E15 fuel, along with separate storage tanks.
The label itself was a source of contention: Pro-ethanol groups wanted the label to be informational in nature, while those opposed to higher ethanol blends wanted it to read more as a warning. EPA had proposed the label contain an information component, legal approval component, technical warning and legal warning. So far, E15 has only been approved for autos, and technically it’s illegal for consumers to put E15 in small engine equipment.
E10 (10 percent ethanol/90 percent gasoline) fuel that has come to dominate the market over the past two decades and it works acceptably in most cars and trucks. But it’s murder on other internal combustion engines. The small engine manufactures have been trying to keep up with the new fuels but your older engines are at high risk when you use the E10 fuel.
E10 gasahol is bad enough but to make matters worse, now E15 is coming. Starting this year be very careful when buying fuel for your gas powered lawn equipment. The gas you pump will cost you a new motor if it contains more than 10% ethanol. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) now allows the sale of fuel containing up to 15% (E15) for use in cars and trucks manufactured after 2007 with the Flexfuel Label on them. This allowance DOES NOT INCLUDE small engines. If you are buying fuel for your lawn mower and fail to read the fine print on the pump, you will wreck your engine and your warranty won’t cover it.
Do NOT buy fuel from a pump with this label!
Despite its approval, it is being opposed by just about everyone including such diverse groups as the The American Petroleum Institute and Sierra Club. With this new approval the Environmental Protection Agency has ok’d a potential nationwide destruction of every gas powered small engine with it’s support of E15 fuel.
Most lawn mower and other small engines last for decades. But only motors produced in the last few years are built with ethanol-resistant parts. None of the current motors used in lawn mowers, tractors, ATV’s and trimmers can use E15.
Here are the dangers:
A lot of the this is dependent on the age of your mower. Engines built before the 80′s are designed for leaded gasoline. Using unleaded fuel stresses the motors but doesn’t ruin them quickly. I have had to use unleaded fuel in my 1953 Super H Farmall now for about 20 years and it is starting to show the effects. Eventually I will have to rebuild the motor to keep this great old antique running. I wouldn’t even consider using E10 fuel in it because using the E10 fuel that is common nowdays will stress the engine even more.
Engines built in the 90′s were designed to run on unleaded fuel and using E10 while stresses them, doesn’t ruin them. The new E15 fuel though will kill all of your small engines. No small engine sold for a mower, garden tractor, or snowblower as of today is capable of running on the E15 fuel. If you do try to run your small engine with E15, you will kill the engine and your warranty is void.
All the manufacture warranties I have read state clearly that fuel related problems are not covered. Using E15 fuel actually voids the warranty and no compensation will be given for any engine problem after it’s initial use.
Why? Ethanol does not provide as much energy as gasoline, so using it automatically makes your small engine work harder to produce the power you need. It also reduces fuel economy. The biggest issue though for you with both E10 and E15 fuels is phase separation.
Phase Separation:
Ethanol attracts moisture from the air. Depending how humid the climate is where you live and how long your tank of gas sits undisturbed, ethanol and water will separate from the gas and sink to the bottom of your fuel system. Because gas is sucked out from the bottom of your tank first, the water is first injected into your engine. The ethanol comes next.
Once this phase separation has occured there is no way to remix the layers together again. The fuel has to be drained from the gas tank and the rest of your system.
This separated water and ethanol forms a gum and once this enters your engine it clogs your carburetor or fuel injectors. The water makes contact with the metal parts and rust, corrosion and oxidation will begin to occur. If this sits long enough bearing surfaces will seize up and the motor will fail when you try to start it.
The ethanol that separates from the gas is a very high concentration of alcohol. This alcohol is a powerful solvent. The fuel system components for small engines were designed to carry and burn gasoline, not ethanol. Ethanol breaks down the lining on the interior walls of your fuel lines, fiberglass fuel tanks, and metal gas tanks. That lining ends up clogging filters, fuel pumps, carbs, and injectors. Gaskets will shrink, primer bulbs will melt or crack, and fuel lines will become brittle. Plastic carb floats will melt. All of this will have to be replaced. The residue from all this migrates into the fuel line and causes major problems. I have seen snowblowers with melted primer bulbs, failed fuel pumps on tractors, and mowers with cracked fuel lines. I have had to replace all of the fuel lines, gaskets, grommets and even the fuel tank on my mid 90′s commercial string trimmer.
My readers over at Todaysmower.com have reported quite a few motors failing this year. Engines 2 to 3 years old that had been sitting for more than 3 months without a proper “winterization” The bottom bearing or connecting rod bearing fails and the engine flies apart. A replacement motor will cost you about $100 a “horse” installed so the repair bill on a 24 hp V-twin is around $2400!
My readers at Movingsnow.com report a high number of primer bulbs melting from leaving untreated ethanol blended fuels in the gas tank. At the least they have had to replace the fuel lines and primer bulb. Many have had to replace the carburator. This seems to be very common problem with the MTD built motors. Fuel related problems are not covered under the manufacture’s warranty so most of the time this is a $250 fix.
I personally have a Montgomery Wards snowblower that is old enough to draw a pension and a Craftsman snow blower that is old enough to vote. I have always used Sea Foam in both of them. So far I still have the original fuel lines and primer bulbs.
“Ethanol has generated more business for us than you care to know,” said a district service manager for a small engine repair group that covers Wisconsin, Minnisota, and Iowa.
Then there’s the issue of water:
Ethanol attracts and binds with water. This isn’t a real problem in the closed fuel systems of motor vehicles or when fuel is burned within a week or so after purchase. But it is in the vented fuel tanks of boat motors, lawn mowers, and snow throwers, where gas can sit for weeks between uses.
If the ethanol absorbs enough water to saturate the solution, the water/ethanol mixture, which is heavier than gasoline, sinks to the bottom of the fuel tank. This separation is accelerated in warm, humid conditions.
When that ethanol/water is sucked into the fuel system and combustion chamber, bad things happen to engines. Expensive things.
Engine Warranties:
Manufactures will not fix your small engine under warranty if the problem is fuel related, period! Using the E-15 fuel voids the entire warranty. Your engine will not be repaired or replaced.
None of the “extended warranties” that I have read cover fuel related problems.
Only Sears “Protection Plans” cover fuel related problems free of charge and even those protection plans do not cover E-15 fuel disasters.
Steps to prevention:
You can take some preventive steps to minimize problems caused by E10 fuel. Again, DO NOT USE E-15 FUEL!
In the Midwest, assume the fuel you buy at the pump contains ethanol even if it is not labeled on the pump. The fuel that is ethanol free is labeled “ethanol free” or “recreational fuel”
Don’t buy more than 30 days worth of fuel.
Buy a non-vented gas container. The current gas can you have has a vent and/or open spout. This allows moisture to come into the fuel.
Use a fuel stabilizer formulated for small engines. Craftsman, Stabil, Spectrum, Briggs & Stratton and Sea Foam make stabilizers for small engines. Some companies like Stabil make products for different applications and these stabilizers will keep water from collecting in the fuel. Use stabilizers designed for small engine or marine use. Stabil Blue and Sea Foam both stabilize the fuel and keep water from collecting.
If you are going to store your engine for over a month use a fogging oil. Stabil “Fogging Oil”, PB Blaster “Lawn Mower Tune-Up” and Sea Foam “Spray/Deep Creep” are three brands I use.
Be prepared to upgrade at-risk parts. Fuel lines, fuel filters, primer bulbs, and even gas tanks may need to be replaced. I have water separators (sediment bowls) on my Super H and Ransomes engines. I suggest you find a way to install one on your lawn tractor if the tank holds more than 5 gallons of fuel.
Unikas fuel/water separator.
Buy good quality fuel filters for your lawn tractor. $10 for a good Craftsman fuel filter every year is well worth the investment.
Don’t pull the gas line and run the engine completely out of fuel at the end of the season, like most of us were taught. Use a double dose of fuel stabilizer in the last tank of the season. Leave the tank full and fog the carb.
OPEI recommends if you are not using a water absorbing fuel stabilizer like those mentioned above, use a fogging spray and drain the fuel system.
Taking those steps will not guarantee prevention of ethanol-related damages to your small engine, but it will reduce some of the problems.
“Adding alcohol to a fuel dramatically alters its shelf life”, said Kris Kiser of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute. “That combined ethanol and water can corrode the fuel delivery system, predominantly the carburetor,” said Peter Sawchuk, of Consumer Reports. “It clogs it up the fuel system and it can’t start.”
Don't use this fuel in your mower!
Ethanol is an alcohol, and it absorbs water. When you let it sit, it will phase separate; the fuel absorbs water. The ethanol separates from the fuel and it and the water sink to the lowest point in your fuel system. , Then you have either a starting problem, a performance problem or a corrosive problem.”
The claims are backed by experts at Consumer Reports who say exposure to too much ethanol is even worse with snow blowers and generators. Both tend to sit in storage buildings where it gets warm during the off season. When you get great variations in temperature and humidity, you’re going to get this problem.
Boats, string trimmers, leaf blowers or for that matter, anything with a two-cycle motor, are vulnerable to ethanol. A lot of lawn and garden equipment are two cycle. The ethanol inhibits the ability of the oil and gasoline to mix properly.
Please buy fuel with ethanol of 10 percent or less. Add a fuel stabilizer. And drain the tank before storing.
I hear a lot of you having problems starting your mower and a bad primer bulb is one of the major reasons why. Most of these primer bulbs were never designed to work with today’s fuels. In fact I have seen a few brands where the primer bulb is softening and falling apart.
If you have a primer bulb that is bad, most repair shops, if they will work on it at all, will charge you $50 to $100 to replace. The part is only around $10 so it’s worth your while to do it yourself.
Bad Primer Bulb
I did not make these videos, but they are accurate. Besides what they show you in them, I always lay out a old towel to put the parts on as I take the item apart. An old towel will soak up the oil and gas and keep the parts from running around your work bench. Lay the parts out in a logical manner. In other words. If you take four screws out of the carb, put them together. I also keep the parts in piles in the order I take them off.
Keep this old towel out in the garage. When it gets to dirty for you, soak it in a solution of Dawn and then wash it in your washer.
By the way, if you don’t like to get dirty from the oil and gas, Dawn dish detergent will clean your hands well.
Three videos, three different motors. The first video is a common 2 cycle trimmer. Watch it if and you should be able to replace the primer bulb on your string trimmer, leaf blower, or cultivator. The second is the small Briggs & Stratton Lawn Mower engine. The last is for a Stihl Trimmer.
