This is a gas

[Jeb]

I have an 87 L98 and use it as a daily driver. What is the absolutely worst thing that will happen if I change to 87 octane gas but keep using the methanol additive?

9/23/12 - Correction

Ooops! I meant ethanol, not methanol and the additive I am talking about is to negate the bad effects ethanol can have on an older engine.

I appreciate the comments though. I have not found a station around here which sells gas with no ethanol but I do limit it to 10% and use the additive. The reason I want to use 87 is entirely based on cost. I don't roughhouse the car and drive nice and sane most of the time. It's a daily driver and has about 110 grand on the clock, the engine is tighter than a tick.and I'd just as soon not ruin it to save a few bucks on its chow.

 

[G Winter]

Your owners manual warns against to much methanol. The ECM does a good
job of adjusting for the octane you are using. The downside of lower octane
is power and economy loss. I use 87 in my 90 most of the time because I
have to drive 50 miles to get premium. I refuse to use ethanol because I
believe it is hard on the older fuel systems, especially the injectors.
With the 87 I get consistent 23 -24 mpg driving 10 to 15 mile on two lane
country highway.

 

[Huskerman]

The 10% Ethanol blend won't hurt you....in fact it will keep those injectors sparkling clean....Ethanol is a solvent and used regularly will keep things nice and neat. It burns 100% and leaves no residue and will help your engine run cooler. It also boosts the Octane and usually costs less........

 

[topless82vette]

And will cause plastic fuel lines in newer cars to get brittle and crack and spray fuel all over coil packs.

 

[Huskerman]

And will cause plastic fuel lines in newer cars to get brittle and crack and spray fuel all over coil packs.

Newer cars are all made to handle Ethanol fuel......not all will take E85 but all will all take E10.....

 

[G Winter]

Newer cars are all made to handle Ethanol fuel......not all will take E85 but all will all take E10.....

Are you by chance a farmer?.. ethanol does hurt older fuel systems. Newer ones maybe not so much. The
only systems it don't hurt is the stainless steal .Also with 10 % ethanol you give up 10% of your mileage.
I have checked it many times with every car I have owned. Even people with the E85 trucks say the
same about the mileage.

 

[Hib Halverson]

There is a significant difference between methanol and ethanol.

Methanol is highly corrosive to most automotive fuel systems and should not be used in your L98.

Ethanol is blended in most gasoline sold in the U.S. Unfortunately, the injectors in an 87 may not survive long term use of ethanol-blended gasolines which typically have 7-10% ethanol.

The solution is either to buy gas which doesn't have ethanol or put newer injectors in the engine which are compatible with blended gasolines.

 

[Huskerman]

Are you by chance a farmer?.. ethanol does hurt older fuel systems. Newer ones maybe not so much. The
only systems it don't hurt is the stainless steal .Also with 10 % ethanol you give up 10% of your mileage.
I have checked it many times with every car I have owned. Even people with the E85 trucks say the
same about the mileage.

No I'm not a farmer...but I make my living selling to them. I keep hearing the same old rants about Ethanol year after year and consider a lot of it urban legend. I base my comments on my own expieriances in vehicles that have hundreds of thousands of miles on them and not one fuel related problem. I have a 95 Chevy pickup with 220K and have never had the engine apart or the throttle body system, it has had nothing but E10 run through it since it was new. I also ran Ethanol in my 90 L98 Corvette and never had a fuel injector problem or any fuel problem for that matter. I did change the fuel filter on occasion. I ran 91 octane in it. I run it in the lawn mowers and 4 wheelers without problems also.

What you say about the milage is no doubt true since Ethanol has less BTU's of energy per gallon then gasoline. When I run E85 in our 09 Tahoe the milage drop is more then 10% which negates the price advantage of E85. I do not use it all the time but sometimes do just because my Tahoe will tolerate it and I think I am sticking it to the big oil companies. I do agree back in the carb days and early fuelie systems, some were not able to handle the Ethanol and I think that is where it got a bad rap. I don't know what years the owners manuals started to say E10 was ok to run........but using a 10% blend will not be a problem in most of what we consider a newer car or truck.....E85 is another story.

 

[Jeb]

There is a significant difference between methanol and ethanol.

Methanol is highly corrosive to most automotive fuel systems and should not be used in your L98.

Ethanol is blended in most gasoline sold in the U.S. Unfortunately, the injectors in an 87 may not survive long term use of ethanol-blended gasolines which typically have 7-10% ethanol.

The solution is either to buy gas which doesn't have ethanol or put newer injectors in the engine which are compatible with blended gasolines.

Hib, I posted a correction. I meant ethanol, not methanol.