Ethanol

Is there any way other than driving around the city of or calling every station to find a gas station that has gas with no ethanol? My 2 stroke really doesn't like that stuff. Or is there another alternative like running a higher octane?

I think I would consider that your engine is running bad for other reasons. I have never seen an engine that was sensative to the up to 10% alcohol that a lot of gasoline has in it. As far as octane, run what the engine manufacturer says to run.

What exactly does your car not like? Can you describe how it is running poorly?

In theory, ethanol should be no more than 15% of the fuel. It may make the engine run slightly leaner but not enough to cause real trouble. Do you think your engine is running too lean?

If your engine is pinging, a higher octane is obviously called for.

Pretty much all gas has some ethanol in it these days and is difficult to avoid.

Does premium still have ethanol in it? I'm from Iowa, where they subsidize ethanol since it is a corn product, and the pumps for the mid-level fuel have a big "Ethanol" sticker on them, but the premium pumps do not.

-Rod

Does premium still have ethanol in it? I'm from Iowa, where they subsidize ethanol since it is a corn product, and the pumps for the mid-level fuel have a big "Ethanol" sticker on them, but the premium pumps do not.

-Rod
Good point. After I posted I thought of that.

Around here, some stations (Petro Canada for example) states mid grade has 5% ethanol and regular has 10%. They do not state the amount for premium, but as mid-grade is supposed to be a 50/50 blend of regular and premium, (as mixed at the pump), one can infer that premium has no ethanol in it.

Personally, I only run premium on my bigger 2 stroke engines (dirt bikes and SkiDoos). Air cooled 2 strokes operate at a wide variety of temps and for me anyways, always ping on regular.

MagicRat thats the response I wanted to see, thanks. I'm going to try a tank of premium. its not that the engine is pinging its just that the founder of our club claims these little 360cc motors run best with no ethinol and gas with no ethinol is hard to find these days. We had one station here that had it only in the winter then would switch in the summer. So we would head down there and fill the gas cans with enough to get through the summer but now they no longer do that. Its ethanol all the time now.

Ours is ethanol all the time now too (Ohio) It is mandated now I believe , and non-ethanol gas is getting very difficult to find. A more preessing issue with ethanol gas is seasonal storage. Using stabilizer should take care of it.

Many of our newer pumps do not have the sticker that says "may contain up to 10% ethanol"