Gasohol In A Bezine Engine

[bkkmick]

Last week my car (Kia Carnival - got kids - forgive me) started behaving strangely. Driving along the road it feels like it's missing a beat or something (don't know much about cars, obviously). Power seems to have dropped way off.

I remember that I pulled into a station and asked for 91 'lai sang' and took the kids into the shop to buy them some sweets. When I got back the car was full, I paid and drove off. Now I'm thinking that maybe the attendant put gasohol into the tank by mistake.

If this is the case, will it cause any damage to the engine? Has damage already been done? Should I siphon the gasahol out of the tank and put benzine straight away?

Of course it might be that the car has a different problem.

Cheers

Mick

[angiud]

I've used two times gasohol 95 for my old Suzuki Caribian. Do you experts think can I use it without problems. The engine seems to run good.

[Skyline]

Hmmm,sounds like a similar problem I had with gasohol.

I usually use benzine 95 but decided to try gasohol 95 about 2 months ago.The car ran fine until the 3rd fill up of gasohol and then started to beome underpowered,misfiring and running very lumpy.Changed back to 95 benzine and no problems since.Luckily I only filled the tank up to about 25% with gasohol so wasnt a big problem to just top up with 95 benzine.

[icequeen]

Please excuse my ignorance but what is gasohol and what is benzine?

[Thaddeus]

Gasohol is a fuel mixture which is most commonly 10% ethanol and 90% benzine (or petrol for the Brits)

Most cars manufactured in the last five years or so will run on it. But many have reported performance problems. (obviously, not diesel engines)

Edited June 9, 2008 by Thaddeus

[initiala4]

I wouldnt be suprised that gasohol will make the car less powerful. Right now I am using 91 benzine vs gasohol. By using gasohol for a period of time, you will experience some seals deteriorating much quicker.

Edited June 9, 2008 by initiala4

[Crossy]

There are a number of threads dicussing the use of gasohol, try a search

If you have an older vehicle then putting gasohol in the tank could cause permanent damage to the fuel system (the alcohol attacks the seals). As others have noted, recent vehicles should be ok.

Top off the tank with real benzine/petrol to reduce the alcohol concentration and see if things improve. Consult your dealer to ensure the Carnival can handle gasohol.

[sykdevil]

Your car should be fine with gasohol, like everyone said and based on my own experience. Your car will experience a decrease in performance. No need to worry if you fill it up once in a while even if its by mistake. Yea gasohol is no good, cheaper but gives you less mileage, and not that good for your car. Benzene although more expensive but gives you more mileage. Many people have done comparisons, and did not notice any money saving by switching to gasohol.

[bkkmick]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll fill her up with Benzine tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be ok then. Phew!

[Issangeorge]

In Ontario Canada where I come from there are certain oil companies that sell gas that can contain up to 10% ethanol, these companies have been selling this blend for as long as I remember, I have never heard any discussion that they would be bad for your car or that certain cars could not run on them. I have a 1992 Lexus ES 300 and have been using this blend for years, not all the time, because it is not available at every station, and it is not any cheaper so not worth my while to go look for it, but when ever I'm at a station that sells it I buy it.

This is a little quote that I took from American Energy Independence http://www.americanenergyindependence.com/ethanol.html people might be interested in; "E85 may have less energy content (BTU) than gasoline but Alcohol has a much higher octane. A flex-fuel engine designed to take advantage of ethanol's high octane (through higher compression ratio and optimal fuel-air mixture) will deliver improved fuel economy when using E85. For example, a high compression engine with Direct Port Injection* running on E85, can achieve Miles Per (liquid) Gallon similar to gasoline fuel economy." Issangeorge.

[farangconnection]

Both our Toyota Corolla and Avanza run fine on Gasahol, although the Avanza was designed for Gasahol or 91

[Bearnagh]

Just discovered this thread and some of it may answer my problem. I filled up my Honda Phantom a week or so back and it's been running very poorly ever since. It needs the choke, not only to start, but for the first 5 minutes of running (never needed that before) and there is a big 'hole' in the power in the mid range. I suspected it was dirty fuel but now, reading these postings, I rather think I may have filled up with the wrong fuel.

My questions are:

• Is there any visible difference between Benzene and Gasohol (such as the coloured dyes we have in UK.. red & green diesel) to distinguish them?
  
• When I go to the pumps I've just been asking for "91". Do I need to specify Benzene ? (Is there a 91 Gasohol too?)
  
• Has anyone experienced any rogue petrol stations where Gasohol is being sold as Benzene? (Could that be happening?)
  

Your thoughts appreciated folks.

[wordchild]

Just discovered this thread and some of it may answer my problem. I filled up my Honda Phantom a week or so back and it's been running very poorly ever since. It needs the choke, not only to start, but for the first 5 minutes of running (never needed that before) and there is a big 'hole' in the power in the mid range. I suspected it was dirty fuel but now, reading these postings, I rather think I may have filled up with the wrong fuel.

My questions are:

• Is there any visible difference between Benzene and Gasohol (such as the coloured dyes we have in UK.. red & green diesel) to distinguish them?
  
• When I go to the pumps I've just been asking for "91". Do I need to specify Benzene ? (Is there a 91 Gasohol too?)
  
• Has anyone experienced any rogue petrol stations where Gasohol is being sold as Benzene? (Could that be happening?)
  

Your thoughts appreciated folks.

yes you would need to specify benzene. not every fuel outlet sells benzene and the govt (for energy security reasons) has increasingly tried to switch usage away from pure benzene to gasohol through taxation and heavy (and inacurate ) advertising of the benefits of gasohol. I always look to use 1) shell 2)caltex and 3)esso . I never go near PTT not even sure if they sell pure benzene anymore . I gather fuel tampering is an issue in some smaller outlets , try to stick to the big international guys and you should not have a problem

Edited October 29, 2009 by wordchild

[bazmlb]

Been running gasahol in my E34 BMW 520i for 2 years, its a M20 motor the single cam, not the later M50 twin cam, runs fine on 95 and 91, only use 91 on distance trips where there is little acceleration and constant cruising, no seal or hose issues. Only use PTT fuels where I can, although a recent trip and a stop in Nakhon Sawan got a tank full of dirty fuel and over the mountain to Chiang Mai was like riding a Kangaroo. Water in the fuel as it seems to have dissipated, never seen methylated spirits in Thailand before but would like to know if anyone else has any water displacement remedies.

Got a ripper of a blister (half the radius and half the tyre width on a goodyear) and replaced two tyres in Nakhon Sawan at Cockpit and was pleasantly surprised the difference there to Pattaya, two firestones fitted and aligned with no extra price for alignment and got a free cooler bag, very good service there.

[Gary A]

The Ford Focus was designed for E20 gasohol and I can't tell any difference between E20 and the super expensive 95 octane gasoline. In fact I think I have a little more power with the E20. There is absolutely no difference in fuel economy.

If your engine was designed to burn E20, you can take advantage of the higher octane it gives with no loss of economy. If your engine can use E20 but really wasn't designed for it, you can expect lower fuel economy.

[Bearnagh]

Thank you Gary A for this info. I've just looked at my bike and the sticker on the petrol tank says E10 91. There's some Thai script on there as well but right now I don't know what that says.

I'm not sure if this specification could still apply to either Gasohol or Benzene....

If I show this sticker to a fuel station is there still a chance that they could give me the wrong thing?

[bazmlb]

Thank you Gary A for this info. I've just looked at my bike and the sticker on the petrol tank says E10 91. There's some Thai script on there as well but right now I don't know what that says.

I'm not sure if this specification could still apply to either Gasohol or Benzene....

If I show this sticker to a fuel station is there still a chance that they could give me the wrong thing?

I asked for Gasahol gao neung (91) yesterday and nearly died when i turned to see he had picked up the diesel hose and moved towards the car with it (PTT Chiang Mai Airport)

[katabeachbum]

Thank you Gary A for this info. I've just looked at my bike and the sticker on the petrol tank says E10 91. There's some Thai script on there as well but right now I don't know what that says.

I'm not sure if this specification could still apply to either Gasohol or Benzene....

If I show this sticker to a fuel station is there still a chance that they could give me the wrong thing?

I asked for Gasahol gao neung (91) yesterday and nearly died when i turned to see he had picked up the diesel hose and moved towards the car with it (PTT Chiang Mai Airport)

There are not many gas station employees able to read the english letter E. And on the pump it doesnt say E, it says gasohol. So if you want gasohol ask for gasohol, doesnt really matter if its 91 or 95 if your vehicle can run E10 91.

[stingray]

I use to take 95 Benzin, but it's not much available anymore. So sometime i used 91 Benzine and noticed a "pinging noise" during acceleration, wich i didn't had with 95 Benzine. So i tried 95 Gasohol and there is no "pinging noise either", that's mean it runs better than with 91 Benzine. I have 2JZ and 1 UZ engines in my 2 cars wich i use privately.

[katabeachbum]

I use to take 95 Benzin, but it's not much available anymore. So sometime i used 91 Benzine and noticed a "pinging noise" during acceleration, wich i didn't had with 95 Benzine. So i tried 95 Gasohol and there is no "pinging noise either", that's mean it runs better than with 91 Benzine. I have 2JZ and 1 UZ engines in my 2 cars wich i use privately.

95 benzene is available at Shell. Its called V-Power. No Ethanol in this. Depending on how old your engines are the fuelsystem will probably be damaged by 10% Ethanol if they are pre 2005.

[thaimate]

I drive an chevy optra,have used gasahol 91 for 3 years and find it better than benzine ,cheaper ,better fuel consumption and seems to go faster, the engine is designed to use it.