NO Ethanol gasoline - apprehension

[surfmurf]

I have switched to NO Ethanol gasoline, several months ago, in my stock '63 T-Bird 390 and my '90 Chevy S-10 4.3L (and mower and other lawn tool engines). I notice lately that both vehicles are smoking quite a bit when started - much more than ever before. Not sure about when I am driving; [every time I climb out on the trunk to look the car slows way down with my foot no longer being on the gas pedal]. In the current T-Bird tank-full I added Marvel Miracle Oil, but see no improvement. [b]Anyone have any experience or knowledge regarding switching to NO Ethanol gas[/b] after these vehicle's lives being run on Leaded gas and then (when Congress and the farmers forced us to it) Ethanol gas ? ? ? I have tested the gas and it IS free of Ethanol

FYI - The test is easy. Get a transparent container, preferably 10" tall or taller. Mark off 1" at the bottom and 10" wherever that is. Then put No Ethanol gas in the bottle to the 1" (10%) mark and fill it with water to the 10" (100%) mark. Shake it quite thoroughly, then let it settle for 2-5 minutes. After it settles, look to see if the Ethanol line is now above the 1" (10%) line or not. Per my source, Ethanol quickly absorbs water and thus the line will RAISE if the gasoline [b]HAS[/b] Ethanol in it. It will NOT change, got be above the 1" (10%) mark if it is Ethanol [b]FREE[/b].

Here in Florida the Legislature has made it legal to claim gas is Ethanol Free (to LIE) if it has 5% or less of Ethanol in it. That is why I tested it. WAWA gas tested Ethanol FREE. I've only use one other station for E-free and did not know of the test then.

[60fore]

I ran ethanol-free gas in my '62, with a lead substitute added to every second tankful, with no problems.

You didn't say what color the smoke is. Is it the hazy blue smoke of oil being burned, or the black smoke of an overly rich fuel mixture?

[flyinthermals]

I switched to Ethanol free gas last year. I buy it from SHELL and use their V power 91. I noticed an immediate improvement from the regular I had been using which could have up to 10% ethanol. The engine accelerated and runs smoothly in all kinds of conditions. I really notice it while waiting for the light to change or acceleerating on the highway. I run it in the morning as well as at night with the temperature fluctuations without any noticeable decline in performance. I have not added a lead additive like 60fore has mentioned and have not heard any pinging if it is possible to hear it while driving. I will look into the lead additive in the next day or so to see if I notice any performance improvement. I also have a bottle of the Marvel Miracle Oil, but have not used it as of yet. Below is an good sight to look at if you have not seen this before.



http://pure-gas.org

[surfmurf]

OOPS, sorry 60fore, it is WHITE smoke. Reminds me of water in the exhaust system, but not in TWO vehicles and at about the same time.
Didn't know Shell sold ethanol-free gas. I'll check it out, thank you. Murf

[Wklink]

Not too sure about the white smoke. Never had that with my White (Gary's old) T-bird. I run 92 Octane lead free in it. Not sure what octane level you are running in your cars. You may have to add an octane booster. I don't normally put an octane booster in the White Bird, it seems to like the 92 stuff just fine. I did at first but I didn't notice any difference. The Red one has had both in it during its lifetime, I really didn't see any difference. I always run premium in all of the cars.

[RedBird64]

White smoke is often caused burning transmission fluid (which is made from veggies).
If the car shifts very hard at light throttle, the vacuum modulator may be shot and the engine is sucking trans fluid up through the vacuum supply line.