Originally Posted by Rock Chuck
Originally Posted by ElAhrairah
Originally Posted by Rock Chuck
I think the previous owner had been using ethanol gas and the injectors were just gummed up from sitting. The problem is that nowhere in any manual I've seen does it tell you to avoid ethanol at all costs.

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So heres a question, for you or anybody on here. Guess im pretty ignorant on the subject. Ive read a lot of things about the evils of ethanol gas. Here in washington, you can get 87, 89, or 92 octane at the pumps. Ive never seen any non ethanol other than the 92 octane "premium" gas.
Now take for instance, my weedeater, chainsaw, whatever. They all say to use the 89 octane. They also say use non ethanol.
And my truck. A silverado. 5.3. The 6.2 engines say use premium. Not the 5.3.
So should i just say [bleep] it, and run the 92 octane premium non ethanol stuff in my truck, quad, and hand held gas powered devices?
Will running the rich premium stuff hurt my quad, lowly 5.3 truck, or weedeater?
Higher octane isn't 'richer'. Octane is an additive to keep the engine from knocking. If the engine doesn't knock, more octane won't do anything good or bad to the engine. It's just wasted. At higher elevations, like above 2000', you can run a couple points lower octane because lower air pressure reduces knock. Here in so. Idaho, 85 is commonly found in gas stations because 87 isn't needed.
We use 85 in the cars but non-al in all the small engines. Modern cars are designed for alcohol while most of the small engines will choke on if it sits a lot. They'll often run fine when running but when sitting, the stuff will gum them up.
Octane numbers on street pumps are an average rating that the fuel should be at as a minimum. It is not an additive. Look for the fine print of (R+M)/2.