george44

Hi guys, is there still ethanol free gas at the pump in the GTA area?

reacp911

Shell 91 ?

If not, I'm in trouble

Bxstr

This may help: https://www.pure-gas.org

Click on "ON" then scroll down to "Toronto".

RDMcG

Yep Shell. Only thing I use unless I go over the border to the US. A few tanks make no difference but you definitely do not want to winter store your car with ethanol gas in it.

reacp911

Is the enthusiast market so small that only one company caters to it?

george44

Thanks guys, have used Shell and lately Canadian Tire 91 which also claims to be ethanol free in all my old cars. Reason for asking, a few members in a Toronto Whatsup high end car forum wrote that since approx 2 months ago no one in Canada is allowed to sell ethanol free gasoline. Federal law.

gcurnew

Not true. Filled up my 911 and Supra this week with no-ethanol 94 at Chevron. No, it's not available in Ontario.

Greg981

I believe, now shell 91 has ethanol.

Copied from GTA Motorcycle forum.


Enquiry: Ethanol content in V-Power gasoline
Response:
Good morning, Starting in 2022, all gasoline grades sold in Canada will be blended with ethanol, including premium gasoline (V-Power 91 and 93) according to proposed regulations (10% ethanol Federal Clean Fuel Regulation for 2022, Low Carbon Fuel Requirements and need to reduce the carbon intensity of fossil fuels, which ethanol is one mechanism to reduce carbon intensity).
All the provinces are switching slowly, and If you see the label at the pump, “Gasoline may contain up to 10% Ethanol” is already happening.

Regards, Sylvie Martin Shell Canada,
Technical Support Email: shelltechnical-ca@shell.com

reacp911

I just stopped by the local shell station. The sign that read contains 10%/5%/no ethanol has been replaced with a newish one that says may contain up to 10% ethanol. The attendant says they switched over in July.

A sad day.

Will have to investigate ethanol mitigation strategies

reacp911

Also, if I'm going to get this s**t in my gas, I may as well go for 93/94 octane rather than 91

Christien

That sucks. I did notice the "contains no ethanol" sticker at my local shell was missing, when I filled up the other day. From what I understand, the ethanol issue is a particular concern for those of us with older cars, whose engines weren't designed for ethanol. Not sure what we're supposed to do now. Maybe send the bill for the rebuild to the government?

steam_mill

Although I'm not a promoter of ethanol fuels, I really have not seen any serious detrimental impacts. 20 years ago as ethanol started to be added to gas, there was a tremendous amount of concern in the outboard forums. I continue to use regular with ethanol in 2 stroke outboards. Finally had to do a carb rebuild on a 20 year old motor. ATV's, lawn tractors, lawn equipment never seem to have any issues. I only use name brand gas = Costco, Shell or PetroCanada. No Ultramar or Husky. I also used to run a carbed mustang with no issues.

A friend of mine parked his '97 corvette in 2012 as it needed a clutch. Well, he is finally getting to it just last week. Went to get the car out of storage. He didn't add stabilizer or anything. Dropped a new battery in it. It started at first crank. Pretty remarkable.
I think the biggest issue with ethanol fuel is that it absorbs water. I've had that happen. I drain the fuel and add fresh. Problem solved.

I have a can of premix for the blower and weed wacker. Gas has to be at least 3 years old.....Keeps working although I do add some fresh to it every year.

Based on personal experience, I think the ethanol issues are a bit overblown. That being said, I think the whole ethanol industry is a waste as it requires so much input energy to produce ethanol.

reacp911

Fuel injection makes a difference. Fuel in the injectors/lines can't really absorb any water, and in 2012 it could have been non-ethanol fuel. I once started a fuel injected car after 15 years no problem, but it was stored in a warm dry climate, with1996 gas.

Anything made in the last 20 years including garden tools will work with E15.

I hope the problem is overblown. Many people, however, think not, eg, see the Jay Leno video on the subject.

If my 1975 Q-jet carb is destroyed, it will be difficult to get another. I'm going to fill the float bowl with some gas I know to be ethanol free and run it dry. I had already planned to drain the fuel tank, so I didn't fill up. I do this with motorcycles.

george44

And that's that, we managed to sneak by for a number of years but we hit the brick wall. The government does not care about our old cars, they would rather see them all go to the scrap yard. Old and new with an internal combustion engine. Draining the tank is a solution but there will be gas left in the system that will corrode the injectors and fuel lines. I've read articles on the US forum where West Coast reputable Porsche engine repair shops laid bare the destructive effect of ethanol on classic Porsche engines. I have a '79 911 and it definitely was not designed to run on ethanol. Plus a few other older cars. Stabil seem to be our only solution

928gt

If you've had three in-tank aux fuel pumps on a 928 that use the gasoline as a lubricant seize in as many years because of the ethanol in the gas, you probably wouldn't think it is overblown. The fact that ethanol it's hygroscopic and likely to result in phase separation in your tank after sitting for three months or more is a secondary concern, but it killing the submerged aux fuel pumps on the 928s is not. I don't know what other cars use a similar setup.