just my opinion and I still normally only run 100% gas in my 1988 4.3L, but that is mainly because that is what they sell where I go.
I have looked into ethanol and alcohol quite a bit, especially alcohol. Lots of myths out there about it and in my opinion, mainly because the oil companies want to make sure we keep using oil
During WWII, the government itself printed out how to's on running gas engines on pure alcohol. The only real problem one would face are older engines, normally say pre 1987 or so that used real rubber o-rings, etc as those will deteriorate. After around that time, most 0-rings started being made that would not deteriorate - mainly for cost purposes as it was cheaper than real rubber, but as time went on, for ethanol reasons also.
You can convert ANY engine to run on alcohol, but as mentioned if it is 1987 or newer you do not normally have to worry about the o-rings and rubber. One of the main reasons people believe it to be a problem is because alcohol is obviously a cleaner - so if you switch to alcohol, it "scrubs" out all of the junk in your gas tank and lines, fouling the fuel filters. All you need to do is put a new filter on it when you switch, then a couple of weeks later, take it off and put another new filter on as your tank and lines should be clean by then.
Fuel injectoed engines are easy and relatively cheap to convert. Alcohol does not burn as hot so all u need to do is leave the injectors open a little longer. You can buy modules that take care of this for between $200-$400 dollars - besides the fuel filter, that is all u need to do to convert your engine.
You will get a little less gas mileage with alcohol as it does not burn as well and you are leaving the injectors open longer - but the price difference makes up for it.
Better yet, for those diy'ers - you can make your own alcohol out of virtually anything - even newspaper (would take a lot).
There is a company in Cleveland Tn that is making alcohol out of kudzu - think about that. takes care of 2 problems in one solution.
The ONLY reason alcohol is not used in all vehicles is obviously the oil companies. They insure they keep a ton of disinfo out there so they keep making their hundreds of billions of dollars.
If I had a fuel injected boat, I would switch in a heart beat and I would even make my own still to make my own fuel.
It is also a myth about how all of the corn would be used up for fuel - again, you can make alcohol out of virtually anything, even kudzu. Obviously the higher the sugar content the less material you need, but there are a TON of things you can use besides corn that are just as productive.
I strongly urge everyone to spend a half hour or so researching alcohol as a fuel on the internet - google is your friend.
For not that much money, an enterprising person could convert their cars to alcohol and then make their own fuel. Even if u did not make your own, a whole bunch of stations do sell E85 now, tho there is absolutely ZERO wrong with running 100% alcohol tho as mentioned above, you would get about 10-12% less miles per gallon.
The VAST majority of people own cars that are newer than 1990 and ANY of those can be converted with zero problems - just change your fuel filter as yoiur tank will be cleaned out well.
Engines run cleaner and they will last longer running alcohol which is another benefit.
For those that disagree with this, again I strongly urge you to google it.
The oil companies have spent millions and millions, if not billions, insuring we keep using oil.
But there is an alternative that will make your engine last longer and run cleaner, plus it is cheaper and you can make your own fuel. Not something they really want everyone to do. Imagine if a few million people no longer needed gas.
As a side note and really think about this for a second, the U.S. has EXPORTED more oil than it imports. Think about that the next time you pay $3 + at the pump. Only reason we pay $3 + is because they export the gas to other countries where they can not only make more money, but they keep our prices up.
ALL easily verifiable in minutes using google.
I own a 1988 carb engine on my boat so will continue to use gas as I will only have it a couple more years at best. My next boat will be a "newer" (probably around 1995), it will be fuel injected and my 1st purchase will be the module to make it run on alcohol. Some modules allow you to run on either gas or alcohol - it just senses what the engine needs and keeps the injectors open accordingly.
So not only will it be better for the environment, it will last longer and be cheaper to run.
I am still researching making my own still - if there is one thing we all have easy access to, it's kudzu.
