Report casts doubt on E15 use in cars & trucks {Extra Ethanol in Gasoline}

Fuel Fix ^ | May 16, 2012 | Jennifer A. Dlouhy

[thackney]

Automakers and the oil industry released a report today that casts doubt on the safety of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol and shows that at least some engines running the fuel suffered damage during recent testing.

But ethanol backers and the Obama administration immediately countered that the study was fundamentally flawed, because it used engines with known durability issues” and didn’t include control group testing of the 10 percent ethanol blend that is now the standard at filling stations nationwide.

The dispute is the latest round in a long-running fight over the 15 percent ethanol fuel blend known as E15. A 2007 energy law mandated 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels be used by 2022, and the Environmental Protection Agency in 2010 approved the sale of E15 for model year 2001 and newer cars and light trucks. The agency did not clear E15 for use in older vehicles, boats or other devices, such as lawn and garden equipment.

In the new oil industry and automaker-funded study, the not-for-profit Coordinating Research Council tested eight specific engines (28 in all) from vehicles spanning model years 2001 through 2009. Researchers ran the engines for 500 hours under conditions representing about 100,000 miles of driving while fueling them with ethanol-free gasoline, the E15 blend containing 15 percent ethanol and a variety comprising 20 percent ethanol.

Two of the eight engines showed damage while running on E15, according to the study. Specifically, both of those auto engines showed leaking cylinders. Subsequent analysis by their original manufacturers revealed damage to intake valve seats, possibly causing the leakage.

One of the eight engines running E15 also failed emissions tests.

American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard said that the study results reveal millions of cars are at risk of damage from E15.

“Not all vehicles in the CRC tests showed engine damage, but engine types that did are found in millions of cars and light duty trucks now on America’s roads,” Gerard said. “We believe there’s at least as a minimum, 5 million that are subject to damage as a result of this rule, and we believe that is a conservative estimate.”

Automakers said the metallurgy and makeup of the engines that had valve leakage could foreshadow problems with similar vehicle engines, including some just now rolling off the assembly line.

Federal regulators and ethanol boosters panned the study. In a blog post, the Department of Energy, which conducted its own testing before the EPA approved E15 in 2010, provided a laundry list of criticisms:

None of the engines were tested with E10, which would have provided a better baseline for comparison, since it is the “de facto standard” representing more than 90 percent of gasoline available in the U.S. market. Instead, the vehicle engines were run on E20, E15 and an ethanol-free gasoline.

The engine test cycle, which was designed specifically for this study, was specifically designed to stress the engine valve train. Since the test method hasn’t been used in other studies, there’s no clear way to interpret the results, the Energy Department said.

The standard for measuring engine leakdown — and deeming it as having “failed” — is not a standard used by automakers and federal agencies for warranty claims or other uses.

The Energy Department also said the study included “Several engines already known to have durability issues, including one that was subject to a recall involving valve problems” when running on E10 and ethanol-free fuels. “It is no surprise that an engine having problems with traditional fuels might also fail with E15 or E20,” the Energy Department said.

Bob Dinneen, the president of the Renewable Fuels Association, characterized the study as misleading.

“By funding research using questionable testing protocols and illegal fuels, the results of this study are meaningless,” Dinneen said. The study results “only serve to further muddy the waters and shun the overwhelming desire of 75 percent of Americans for greater choice at the pump.”

[Sacajaweau]

Looking for a certain result?? Ask the government boot lickers to do the testing.

Ain't that right Mr. Gore??

[E. Pluribus Unum]

They WANT to destroy your engine.

That way you have to buy another vehicle built by union goons.

[LOC1]

An average car running 10% ethanol removes as many calories from the food chain in a year as it would take to keep two people alive for that same year. That is the caloric value of the ethanol consumed by the engine.

[The Working Man]

They WANT to destroy your engine.

That way you have to buy another vehicle built by union goons.

---

Not only that but E15, (I am told), is death to most small engines, lawnmowers and such. Imagine owning a Zero-turn mower that costs between $3K and $7K and having the engine destroyed by E15 Gas.

On the other hand there is a huge market opening up for a Gasoline additive especially formulated to keep these small engines running properly for use with E15 Gasoline.

[mountainlion]

My ATV manual says not to use alcohol in the fuel. I had to fix the carb in my chainsaw because or the eco terrorists and their e10. Let a chain saw set in the sun and get warm and it will not start. Open the gas cap and watch the alcohol boil out. Open a 5 gallon can of gas on a hot day and it may boil over on you. Fire Hazard, not to the EPA.

[thackney]

An average car running 10% ethanol removes as many calories from the food chain in a year as it would take to keep two people alive for that same year.

I don't care for the ethanol in fuel, but it is tough to claim that was removed from the food chain. More corn is grown because of the ethanol demand and much of it first is processed for cattle feed (DDG) and the remainder used for fuel.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

It costs more but I use ethanol free gas in my mowers;

http://pure-gas.org/

[TXnMA]

Ethanol is particularly damaging to small engines (outboards, mowers, etc...)

E10 has already destroyed my push mower and clobbered my weed-wacker (plastic fuel lines got brittle and shattered), and I haven't been able to get my chainsaw to start lately. And, I'm definitely in fear for my Evinrude 50...

So far, the riding mower seems to be OK...

&%$#^ Eco-weenies!!!!

[Mr. Lucky]

How many people do you figure are kept alive by corn starch?

[sigzero]

What about testing on motorcycles? E15 cannot be good for those engines.

[4buttons]

even the blend they sell now breaks down in month, I have to add a nine dollar can of stabilizer to every tank I fill.

[Oberon]

On the other hand there is a huge market opening up for a Gasoline additive especially formulated to keep these small engines running properly for use with E15 Gasoline.

Avgas is the answer. 100LL will keep your mower happy. Good thing you never need more than a few gallons at a time...

[MarkL]

These are government experts who are making engineering decisions, even though they were political science and psychology majors in college, since calculus was too hard. They're the best and brightest, just like the ones who knew better than Eugene Stoner and his engineering specifications for the M-16. Who cared if the government used a different powder in the ammo, since there was so much of it left over from WWII and Korea. And then there were the geniuses in government who assumed the design of a direct impingement action meant "self cleaning," so M-16s were shipped into the field without cleaning kits. Oh, and the chrome plated chambers called for in the specs? Too expensive, so get rid of it from the production models.

I wonder how many of our guys were killed in Viet Nam because of "government experts" and what they did to Eugene Stoner's M-16?

Mark

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

No boat owners I know use E-10 without adding a stabilizer that isn’t cheap or only use ethanol free gas. A few years ago E-10 was determined to be a death sentence for many older boat motors. It later came out that it was also taking out new ones.

[Spirit of Liberty]

Not only in my mower, but also my 2006 Chevy Trailblazer-and I have to fill up every 3 days.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I have experienced the boiling over a couple of times. I never realized it was due to the ethanol.

[allmost]

I'd have to guess that most vehicles are not rated/designed to run E-15. It will kill most older engines. You know, the ones that run like a tank.
The alcohol, aside from disturbing (slowing down) the fuel burn timing is also hygroscopic. It absorbs water into the fuel.

They took eight engines and damaged two, %25 failure rate. These are also new engines, a study does no good with used parts.

Lawnmowers need to be drained in the fall due to the additives in the gas absorbing water over the winter. Fixed many a broken mower for others by knowing this simple fact.

[mamelukesabre]

carburetors and fuel pumps with rubber diaphragms will not stand up. There is no damage to the engine itself. fuel lines are not a problem to replace on small engines. The gas tank is in close proximity to the engine and the lines are easily accessible.

[Clay Moore]

Maybe in the higher compression overhead valve engines. The last time I tried it in the old L-head Briggs, the lead deposits built up to the point that the valves would not shut.

LL stands for “Lots-o-lead.” (^;