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Will the engine of a standard petrol car freak out if I give it ethanol?
Simply enough, North American vehicles run on petrol that has an octane rating of 91 I think. If I use ethanol, with (according to Wikipedia) 129 octane, will something bad happen to the engine? Will it just run less efficiently or will it break down? I am not talking about any other part of the car than the engine. I don't care about fuel lines, etc.
Can it be modified by a mechanic to work on ethanol? What type of work would be required?
4 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
No or very few engines can run well on a pure ethanol fuel. Most cars today can tolerate up to 10% ethanol mixed with standard gasoline. "Flex-Fuel" vehicles are specially designed to run on a fuel of up to 85% ethanol and only 15% gasoline, but the 85/15 ethanol mix is far less efficient than a normal engine burning straight gasoline.
- ?Lv 71 decade ago
Actually octane is 87, 89, or 93 here in US some gas companies use 10% ethanol mixed in. Straight ethanol will run too hot and burn valves and holes in pistons. Usually used in Indy and Formula 1 race cars who's engines are built for such.
Source(s): ASE master auto tech ret. - wditt2Lv 41 decade ago
the problem with ethanol is it doesn't like to fire when its really cold and it will corrode the aluminum components of the fuel system, I have heard of people running 50%+ ethanol without problems for a short while
- KarleLv 71 decade ago
it will blow the engine apart in most cases....
Source(s): seen it done at the track a couple times.. motor as well as several other things need to be built to run alcohol correctly....
