How to Test Ethanol Content in Fuel
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- Опубліковано 21 лип 2024
- Step by Step!
In today's video, we get scientific and test the Ethanol Content in 89 and 91 Octane Fuel!
The reason we purchase 91 Octane fuel is because they say it doesn't contain any ethanol.
Small engines aren't designed to run on fuel that contains more than 10% Ethanol, but even 10% can cause problems such as cracked fuel lines & dried rubber seals/gaskets.
So, is buying 91 Octane fuel worth it? We'll find out once our tests are complete!
Ethanol Tester: STENS 750-760 or Briggs and Stratton 1000023
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One thing to remember when doing this test and getting a small sample of Ultra 94 at Petro-Canada into a gas can, makes sure you fill the vehicle with Ultra 94 first to get any remaining fuel out of the pump hose (the previous person may have filled their vehicle with regular). This of course if the high grade fuel does not have its own dedicated pump hose which it rarely is. That hose is usually shared between regular, mid-grade and super.
Yes, great point. Thanks for watching!
I usually put 1L of premium in the truck before filling the gas cans, not sure what to do once I get a diesel truck.
Locally we have dedicated pumps/hoses for Non ethanol & Reg.
This is super helpful. I run an E30 blend in my FFV to get the octane boost without loosing too much fuel economy and it's really helpful to know how much ethanol is in my local gas stations E85. Modern Fords really love the extra octane over 87.
Excellent video. I'm surprised that these testers don't come with any instructions.
Got my thumbs up, ALWAYS informative, NO jibber jabber BS ! If I lived up there YOU would be my small engine mechanic
Thanks for watching Numa!
Thanks man great video lots of info to the point and not to long
Great and simple explanation. Thanks.
Thank you for the great information. Good presentation/test.
Thanks for watching!
Good videos!! You need an Amazon store where you can list your recommended tool and supplies that you use in your videos.
Very good well explained .
Great video! Great info! Thanks!!
Thanks for watching!
The water in ethanol does not evaporate through the vents. It's worse than that. Ethanol attracts and pulls water vapor (the humidity in air) in through vented gas tanks and the water in the fuel gets more water. The water then goes to the bottom of the tank as it did in your test vial and does not evaporate.
Great work. I work for weights and measures in new york state. These tests are crutial.
I live in ontario. Does Canadian tire still have ethanol free has?
What Canadian Tire is the fuel from, I know the one in Napanee is EF, but unfortunately I don’t live there…just wondering if there are other Canadian Tires that have EF
Your business grows by leaps and bounds with people using fuel with 10% ethanol in it, not only does it attract water but breaks down in the carb and fuel tank plugging up all those tiny jets.
Exactly, thanks for watching!
Shell's high octane also has no ethanol in it. Good post. A few years ago, I started using ethanol free gas in my small engines. Experienced an immediate improvement. Every 4 stroke I own, starts on the first pull regardless of how long it's been sitting.
All my machines leave starting 1st pull, every time! Thanks for watching Steven!
Good day Wow that looked wicked. Yrs. ago we always used regular gas, till people said you premium gas. Yes I buy at CTC, get either .08 or .10 cents off. Thanks good video, You can teach a old dog new tricks.
Thanks for watching Don!
Great job on this. I usually get my gas at Esso and have chosen 91 grade for my snowblower and lawnmower for the last couple of years. After watching this video, did some googling and Esso is same as CT, their 91 grade is ethanol free. Phew !!!. Very useful. Thanks.
Thanks for watching!
Great vid Jake. I use the 91 octane from Canadian Tire along with K100. Good or no?
Yes, that's what we use! Thanks for watching!
Say it was up to say 10% line. How does that mean 10% elthonal vrs just water ??? Like is water called ethonal??
just to clarify, ethanol is bad for old cars... but not for newer cars, they can handle up to 30% ethanol without problems! good video btw!
Some new cars* just because my truck is flex fuel, doesn't mean all newer vehicles are. They use special components to run e85
After adding known percentage of ethanol to gasoline, the test always shows lesser percentage of ethanol than the actuall added.
For example, I added 20 ml of water and 10 ml of ethanol to 100 ml of gasoline, the test shows only 27 percentage of water + gasoline.
Can anybody answer this phenomina.
Also I request to do the test with added known value of ethanol percentage to the gasoline.
Nice job
Thanks for watching Tony!
Yep. Ethanol will destroy rubber seals... Provided your fuel system was made before 1928. You see the big selling point for the 1928 Model A Ford was that you could use Ethanol because the seals in the fuel system were made of Synthetic rubber instead of natural rubber.
Wondering what the Costco 91, 93 Esso or 94 Petro Canada has in terms of ethanol.
91 at Costco does not contain ethanol at this time. 94 at Sunoco also doesn't contain ethanol. I'm not sure about Esso.
If the 87 and 91 both have the same ethanol content where I live, does it still make sense to purchase 91 for my small engines?
No, the 91 is ethanol free, the 87 is 10% ethanol. Therefore, the 89 is a 50/50 mix from both tanks, and results in a 5% ethanol rating. If I could buy ethanol free 87, I would.
amazing stuff
Thanks for watching!
@GR that's correct, STENS only sells to businesses. But you can get their products from resellers on amazon or eBay.
I have been reading that Canada has made it mandatory that all gas sold contains ethanol as of 2022. This includes premium grades. I have been buying Shell 91 and last night I did a test like yours and found no signs of ethanol in it. Anyone have any further info on this? Makes no sense if it was mandated a year ago.
Shell V Power 91 and Canadian Tire Premium 91 are still ethanol free!
@@EliminatorPerformance Great to have a little test kit like yours to confirm it from time to time!
@@EliminatorPerformance Great video. Most Chevron 94 in Alberta are (still ) ethanol-free. Many of the convenience store owners associated with the gas stations have placed decals over all of the pumps stating that the fuel "may" contain up to 10% ethanol, including the pumps that are dedicated to 94 only. I'm sure this was done in error since there are large signs clearly stating that 94 Octane is ethanol-free. And regardless of the government's overreach, there still needs to be recreational fuel made available for seasonal machinery, recreational/marine use (like REC-90 in the US - see Wiki) and vintage cars & motorcycles being harmed by ethanol in gasoline. The agricultural/farming industries in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are pushing back hard on the feds' mandatory ethanol policies. Not everyone drives a Prius in the city.
I just bought some Shell 91 from my local pump the other day (Feb 24, 2023 in Mississauga, ON) I’ve tested 91 from this station in the past and it was always ethanol free.
Unfortunately I just tested this recent batch and it came back at 10% ethanol. I’ll test again in a month or two to see if this was a one off but I doubt it. Did some poking around via Google and came across this quoted response from Canadian Tire Corporate from late 2022:
“New government regulations intended to reduce carbon emissions from mogas across Canada are now being rolled out. This regulation includes a 10% ethanol component in regular and premium gasoline. Canadian Tire fuel suppliers are now mixing up to 10% ethanol in both regular and premium gasoline to meet those requirements.
Ontario and other provinces across Canada are now implementing this initiative and Canadian Tire will comply with those regulations”
In short it seems the days of ethanol free fuel are over and if you’re still finding it it’s older batches. My guess would be by the end of 2023 it will be impossible to find (in Ontario at least)
Intresting👍
Thanks for watching!
Too good
I heard in canada the government has mandated that all feel be 10% ethenol
I have been using Costco 87 since December 2020 for my new CRV 2020. The first part of 2021, I got great mileage. Then, early summer 2021, the mileage started dropping.
I wonder if Costco changed their gas, even though it says 87 octane.
In my area of eastern Los Angeles county, we have a lot of Chevron stations, a few Mobile & Shell.
The question, which of these would get better mileage? Even though Costco is 50 cent cheaper, is it worth it for low mileage & possible ethanol damage?
Thank you
Only the Costco 91 is ethanol free! Same with Canadian Tire 91. I've been told shell v power now has ethanol. And Sunoco 94 has 1-2.5% ethanol, which could be trace amounts from them doing a tank to tank transfer.
@@EliminatorPerformance Several months ago Costco in Oshawa Ontario (so I expect it is everywhere) changed their premium gas from no ethanol to 10 percent ethanol just like the regular pump and now there are the 10 percent ethanol stickers on both sides of the pump . Very disappointing and I'll have to go elsewhere to get ethanol free gas for my boat and small engines.
Ethanol also burns faster, getting worse gas mileage. I ran 94 instead of 87 and I saved 1 litre of gas for every 100Kms on the highway. I knew it would improve a little, but it was more than I expected. It’s still a bit more to run the 94, but I can add a big more boost and timing…..
Do you know if this works with 50:1 premix as well?
I have no idea! I believe the oil would separate as well.
@@EliminatorPerformance Thanks, its cheap enough so I will probably pick one up anyway.
Curious which fuel out of these you opt for to fill up your new f-150 to run the gen3 coyote!?
I usually run 89 because my manual says that 87 may cause engine knock when towing. But with the price of fuel lately I've been running 91. I could technically run e85 as the v8 is flex fuel, but I can't get it around here.
I am on the same page as you... Taking advantage of the 91 right now and would give the E85 a go if it was available in ontario
@@dylansimpson2064 Petro Canada 94 has 10-20% ethanol, I see less timing corrections on my accessport with 94 compared to other 91/93 fuels
E10 Fuel in Australia is higher than 91 octane. Believe its 94 Octane.
Thank You for this video. I am more knowledgable for it.
Question:
Can I use this same glass vial to test if my 2 year old (91% Esso - so no Ethanol) half full gas can is still potent?
I assume, I'd need to shake the gas can to mix back any water condensation/impurities so that after the 5 minute test, I could get a reading of how much useless material is in my gas can? Then, lets say it shows a 20% separation line, would that suggest I need to carefully drain out the lower 20% of my 'Gas can' (once settled), so that I essentially remove water/ethanol and get left with more 'OOMPH' Or, am I completely mad and just need to go get new 91% gas?
Yes, I am a novice in this area but would be a better steward of the environment if you can guide me right!
Cheers!
Unfortunately this doesn't test octane ratings or if fuel is still good, it only tests how much ethanol is in the fuel, as it will bind with the water and separate from the fuel, as shown with the lower grade fuel. Only the 91 Octane here in Southern Ontario Canada is ethanol free, so that's what we purchase. Also, not all 91 Octane fuels are ethanol free. The only places here that sell ethanol free 91 is Shell, Canadian Tire and Costco.
@@EliminatorPerformance doesn’t Costco only sell regular gas? Our Costco doesn’t have a gas station yet.
Costco near me sells most blends other than e85
Can you do a video on how to separate the ethanol from the fuel at home?
The issue is it's a pita as you have to add water so the ethanol separates, then you drain the water from the fuel and then you have fuel that is less octane so you have to do the math on how much octane boost you need. If you buy 91 octane with 10% ethanol and the ethanol is 100 octane you're basically removing 10 points so now you have what, 81 octane. The issue is when people start with 87 that has 15% lol now it needs more booster
Second test says ethonal is in gas but how do you know it’s not just water
Because it would've already been separated. Ethanol binds to the water and is pulled out of the fuel, so by adding a measured amount of water, after shaking if the water level rises, that means the 10% ethanol (alcohol) has been pulled from the fuel.
@@EliminatorPerformance is still not following I guess. If water binds with ethonal then how do I know it’s ethonal not just water. The water line raises to say 10% line. That can mean water also right? Because water binds with water so how do I know it’s ethonal not just more water?
Just to add: The fuel at the top is now ethanol free, which you can decant off and use in any engine that can't use ethanol fuel.
Yes but the ethanol is around 100 octane and if it's e10 fuel (10% ethanol) then you lose about 10 points of octane so you need to add an octane booster to it.
Hi ! How are you today, My Name is Mr.Herman Woods. I have bought the small bottle. Like you have.I wonted the can i test pre mix ethanol free fuel and do the same thing with the bottle. Can you let me know .The only thing is ! My ethanol free 92 Octane has oil in it ! But i dont know what oil ! Is in it . I Bought it PRE MIX ALL READY ! I WONT TO TEST IT ! THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME .MR.H.WOODS !
Thanks for posting the interesting demonstration but I doubt that ethanol caused the crystals you observed. If ethanol in water reacts with air it can produce ethanoic acid (aka acetic acid). Ask any winemaker about wine turning into vinegar. The ethanoic acid can react with metals to form salts and that is likely what you have seen. This means ethanol-blended fuel can damage any engine, not just the little ones.
Wow, good to know. Thanks
@@gregorysantana4247 You are welcome but I forgot to mention something important. It is not possible to have 100% pure ethanol because the alcohol will always absorb moisture from the air. An ethanol-water mixture will then absorb acetobacter from the air and the acetobacter will consume the alcohol and produce acetic acid. This reaction has been known for thousands of years and it is a mystery how this knowledge seems to have been forgotten in recent times.
FOR YOU CANADIANS:
FYI - As of Nov 1st 2022.....All consumer gasoline sold in Canada has a minimum of 10% ethanol.
Just got my vial tester from Amazon today
Well Canadian tire is still selling ethanol free 91 so hopefully they continue too. But the guy behind the counter told me that could change. What's ironic is the Ontario government loves ethanol so much, yet doesn't even sell e85 here... I just want a non ethanol Option, I could care less what octane it is.
We just got our CT Gas station updated in town. Mgr told me that non-ethanol is now unavailable.
Last hold outs were CT 91 & Shell V-Power.
All gone now after gov't mandate in November.
@@mattie3595 that's too bad
So i mixed ethanol blend with water and got absolutely no reading. Water remained at it’s original position
Then it has no Ethanol in it
@@EliminatorPerformance strange because the pump say ethanol blend!
Sooo , does this mean if you did this on a larger scale ... then Drain the Fuel off the top ... you would end up with Good Non Ethanol Fuel ????
Yes, but it would be low on octane so you have to add booster
@@EliminatorPerformance be interesting to see how much it would loose ... and one would have to make sure its Not an Ethanol Based Booster ... i ask because in my erea you cant find Non Ethanol fuel and for all the lawn care , chain saws , generator and other small engines.. i hate winter , have to go thru and drain everything ...
@@danieledwards7178 the only fuel we can get that's ethanol free is 91 octane at Shell (V-Power they call it) or from Canadian Tire gas bar. I wish I could purchase 87 octane in ethanol free but they want to boost that to 15% ethanol now which means I'll probably make way more money because these mowers are not supposed to run on more than 10% ethanol and no one likes to purchase more expensive 89 (which is only 5% now but will no doubt be boosted to 10% soon. I run 91 octane ethanol free in everything, my truck, mowers and snowblowers. I hardly ever work on my own equipment, apart from basic maintenance.
Too bad there are no longer non ethanol stations left in Ontario anymore.
Canadian Tire and Shell V-Power 91 octane
I can get 100 octane at my local pump, will do a test of 91, 95, 98 and said 100 octane. I live in New Zealand Btw.
Canadian Tire 91 octane now has 10% ethanol.
Yes it's unfortunate, but it actually has "up to 10% ethanol" which means it may or may not have. I spoke to a manager at CT gasbar in town and he says sometimes it does sometimes it doesn't
@@EliminatorPerformanceI have 100 ml bottle. How much water and gas be mixed to test for ethanol content? What's the ratio of water and gasoline to be added? Can I add more water than gasoline?
👍
*I always thought people pay extra to have ethanol to make your car more powerful.*
Yes, but for small engines in not good!
For accuracy, that tester should have a line at the top to show maximum fill level. Otherwise, do you fill to the top of the arrow? To the bottom of the neck? To somewhere in the neck? To the absolute top of the bottle? Seems dumb.
We can no longer buy ethanol-free gasoline in Canada as of Dec 31, 2023.
Esso 91 is still ethanol free, I test weekly. Shell 91 and v-power and the 94 ultra from Sunoco all have Ethanol. Someone said ultramar premium 91 is ethanol free I'll be testing that next.
What province are you in? I'm in BC., Vancouver Island. @@EliminatorPerformance
@@ijsmale southern Ontario Canada
As of last week Premium gas at Canadian Tire has 10% ethanol in it as stated on the pump. Thanks Trudeau.
The comment about no ethanol is more important in you older or historic car. Ethanol will screw up most 1970's or older engines (unless rebuilt) Also pre 1975 engines will need a anti knock additive because of the no lead factor. (real lead). If you have an old motor with has been rebuilt to run on modern fuel, just remember if you use the 'cheap stuff' it is the ethanol which makes it run like crap. We now have SHEETZ here in OHIO, which has a variety of blends and options for you to choose. Including a E zero fuel
E-85= good
Second
Great job the Ethanol in today fuel is a bunch of bull sh**. I can't beleve all the damage it dose the small engine's an fuel tanks and line's . I had one riding mower come in the owner told me that it ran and just stop .I checked the tank first to made sure he had not ran out of gas. and he had about 1/2 tank. But I seen on the bottom of the tank a bunch of black little parts and one big one over the outlet . I then looed at the cap and most of the rubber seal was gone . Down in the tank. Well this is already to long but we all need to say something to tell the MAN to make a law again Ethanol in our fuel.Thank you
Exactly, thanks for watching Bob!
Now, as of January 2024 we can no longer purchase ethanol free gasoline in Canada. If you are a Canadian resident please sign this approved petition, #e-4735 to the House of Commons to once again have ethanol-free gasoline available to Canadian residents. Search for Petition E-4735 - if I link the petition this post will be gone.
Octane has nothing to do with ethanol content. And higher octane doesn't mean better performance from your vehicle!
Octane where I live has everything to do with Ethanol, because I can't buy 87 or 89 octane ethanol free.
87 octane is 15% ethanol
89 octane is 10% ethanol
91 octane is ethanol free.
Therefore, in this video, I explain that I have to buy 91 in order to get Ethanol free fuel.
@@EliminatorPerformance fair enough. Still misleading though.
Well it does if your vehicle's Owner's Manual requires super, otherwise your ECU will simply retard the ignition if it pings. If your owner's manual calls for regular, putting in super will not get you more performance.
I don't find it misleading at all, what I'm doing here is testing the 91 Octane fuel I'm purchasing to see if it's worth it. Which is what my thumbnail says "is 91 Octane worth it?". And octane absolutely affects the performance of an engine, as higher compression engines need higher octane fuel because it ignites slower, so predetination doesn't occur. My 2019 f150 with a 5.0L V8 for example, has an engine with 12:1 compression and runs poorly on 87, and says that's the minimum Octane that should be run, with my manual even stating I may need to run 89 or 91 premium when towing in the summer time, because of the added heat and load on the engine.
@@EliminatorPerformance What he is saying is that Ethanol can be found in all grades of gasoline, depending on where you live and the producer of the gas. I buy my gas at Sam's Club, using the highest premium gas they sell, and it still has ethanol in it. I really appreciate your video and I'm going to purchase one of those test vials. Next stop; Shell station.
Great! Ethanol is crap