Esso petrol

[Bozzy]

Might have been changed for some time and not noticed by Esso Super unleaded was the only fuel that was 100% Ethanol free which I have been using in all my bikes for years. Fuel would still be fine after 4 months standing..... However last visit to the pump I noticed it now says E5!!! I even saw a E7.5 the other day that stuff must be lethal in the old bikes...

Been running for years on the stuff and fuel pipes etc have all been fine. was wondering why one bike felt crap this year and now know!

Not aware of any other fuel free of the crap stuff.. and I am sure I read somewhere additives etc do nothing..

[midlifecrisisrd]

Thought BP ultimate and Shell whatever the f*ck were supposed to be E free

The pumps aren't marked up here, not even the normal unleaded which we know has it

Steve

[earthman]

I've been using just the BP stuff for months now, never had a problem but I use up a tank full at least once a month.

I will check the pump next time but like Steve said, I don't think there's stickers on them anyway.

[mellow]

ONLY ESSO SYNERGY SUPREME is ethanol free. Or was.

Mail from Shell

Karla (Shell UK)
23 Nov, 10:19 GMT
Dear Mick,

Thank you for your email.

To address your concern, both Shell FuelSave Regular Unleaded and Shell V-Power Unleaded contain up to 5% ethanol as stipulated by the European fuel specification EN228 and UK government legislation.

At Shell, we are passionate about fuel, and our dedicated fuel scientists work continuously in the lab to bring you the most advanced and effective fuels.

If you have any other concerns, please do not hesitate to email us back. You may also call the Customer Service Centre at 0800 731 8888
Sincerely,
Karla
Shell UK Retail
Shell Centre
York Road
London
SE1 7NA
United Kingdom


BP ULTIMATE contains it.

[Bozzy]

The esso pumps now say E5 so that’s the last we all now on ethanol crap which is going to get worse . Environmental lot want 10% that’s going to play havoc with the mixture and we will be changing tap and lines every year

[rigga]

Keep looking for E numbers on pumps here in Brum, none I can see have them .

[4l04ever]

You can remove the ethanol from the fuel... I saw a kit for sale call Ethanil??

[earthman]

I'm wondering, if like me you use each tankful of fuel roughly every month, should there be any problems when using any fuel despite the amount of ethanol in it??

[justyr]

I don’t know why but I’m sure I read that shell v-power is ethanol free in central Scotland.

[midlifecrisisrd]

Jun 28, 2019 21:32:38 GMT 1 justyr said:

I don’t know why but I’m sure I read that shell v-power is ethanol free in central Scotland.

I was told by a shell tanker driver that she'll v power is not made or stored at Grangemouth

It is brought up in bulk from England and stored at Clydebank

The relevance of this was that they say is that shell and esso stated there super was ethanol free but no guarantees in Scotland

The truth is it comes from England

There are a couple of this gs that affect ethanol in fuel

E5 means it can contain UP TO 5%

Also the actual regulation says that a certain percentage of pump fuel in cars must contain ethanol

If they had no ethanol in Super it wouldn't really affect the target due to its low use and there should be provision for classic vehicles

Steve

[midlifecrisisrd]

Here

[midlifecrisisrd]

Just read an interesting thing

Ethanols attaches itself to water so technically if you add a pint of water to a gallon of unleaded and shake it up then let it settle

It will then separate so the petrol is on top

Syphon off the fuel and the water left will contain the ethanol

Think I'll have to try that lol

Steve

[midlifecrisisrd]

Just read an article from DfT and it says by September it will be mandatory for pumps to show E5 for unleaded

It still says there is no requirement for ethanol in Super unleaded

And E5 means up to 5%

Steve

[icarus001]

I'm guessing that ethanol is cheaper so the fuel companies stand to gain by putting it in all fuels?

A few years ago we had a fuel expert come in to work because we were getting problems in diesel tanks for generators, he seemed to know his stuff and he told us that all petrol is basically the same until it gets to the holding facility, that's when they put additives in to the V-Power type stuff to raise the octane and/or give it cleaning properties. He reckoned there was no point using the v-power stuff over the normal fuel on a regular basis, but he did say put a tank of it in every now and then because it will clean out your fuel system with the additives they put in it.

He also said don't buy supermarket fuel.
He reckons that the holding stations will auction off the last bits of fuel sat in their tanks to the highest bidder, and that's usually full of crap from the tanks. Supermarkets will usually bid for this fuel because they'll just get the cheapest they can buy - hence the odd story about problems with cars that all filled up on a particular day at a particular supermarket petrol station.

This was a few years ago and I don't know it it's true, but he seemed to know his stuff.

He also told me about Aspen fuel, which doesn't contain any ethanol. but it's expensive.
I bought a load of it and tried it and in all honesty the bike seemed to be very slightly down on power than the usual V-power I was running on (could have been just in my mind though), but the advantage was at the end of summer I put my bikes away with half a tank of Aspen fuel in and six months later they fired straight up with no issues.

[liffy16]

Know an ex tanker driver who used to load out of stanlow and he stated that the ethonal was added last before they left the refinery,and that sheel v power it was not added ! this was a few years ago though and they may well be adding it now .The car has to run on high octane v power or tesco momentum and i generally try and use these fuels in my bikes aswell even though they dpnt really need the higher octane

[raven13]

you can buy ethanol removal kits for your fuel if you really want it ethanol free.
its a bit of a faf but with the increase in the use of ethanol in fuel it may be worthwhile.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ETHANIL-STANDARD-KIT-remove-ethanol-from-petrol-yourself/153456299391?hash=item23bab54d7f:g:eAEAAOSwU-pXruwJ

[justyr]

Shell pumps up here don’t have any E5/10 markings on them.
V-power doesn’t smell ethanol ish to me. Some of the other gash fuel really smells rank.
In USA pump fuel smells like pish and is really low octane.

[bezzer]

Jun 28, 2019 20:25:41 GMT 1 4l04ever said:

You can remove the ethanol from the fuel... I saw a kit for sale call Ethanil??

If you pour an accurately measured amount of water into a container, mark the level, then add your fuel, the ethanol will be attracted to the water as it’s hygroscopic. You will see the level rise and can calculate the percentage of ethanol in the fuel you have added. Tap off the water/ethanol mix from the bottom leaving you with ethanol free fuel. The downside is by removing the ethanol you also reduce the octane rating by at least a couple of points. This can be restored by adding naphthalene (adding mothballs) 👍🏻.

[mellow]

Just going to add to this.
Went out on my 125 yesterday and it was perfect. Got it out today for another blat but when i turned fuel tap on fuel pissed out!!! The hose had split right on the tap stub. Now this hose was new and fitted about 6 months ago and was, and i quote " the correct Neoprene fuel line as originally used by Yamaha" Luckily i had some more in the shed.
If it's the ethanol doing this i'll be separating from now on

[rigga]

Local BP station to me has converted to Esso, popped in to check and the pumps now show E5 which they never did before, whether it actually contained ethanol is again debatable
Got to change my fuel tap this week as its got increasingly stiff to turn, suspect due to ethanol degrading the internals.

[stusco]

I’ve noticed recently my local shell is displaying e5 on their super unleaded

[2banger]

I'm back on premix for last few years,
after each ride drain rs465 fuel tank, run bike on tick over until engine stops. store premix in steel Jerry cans until required.
After fuel evaporation film of 2stroke oil left in fuel system

[hoist1]

It’s something that has bugged me for years and as most of my bikes are carbed I don’t relish the thought of keep taking them off and opening them up. Not sure if there are any additives that work but I have been using one for 10 years or more now for some peace of mind and it might all be in the mind but have not had any problems so far. I don’t do the sort of mileages I would like and sometimes am spreading the use of 3 bikes and in winter I still ride but only one. I try to leave any that are standing with a full tank of preferably super plus but don’t go out of my way though sometimes keep a Jerry can for topping up. One school of thought though is that any air gap in the tank makes no difference. One concern is am not sure if there are any answers from the industry, and yet it’s in their best interest to do so. Am seriously thinking separating the ethanol off might be worth the faff, for me I would look to use something glass for the separating, to clearly see the line better. I think the water added has to be a minimum of the e content and the line wants to be well below the drain off point, sacrificing some to do a repeat process. The additive is moreys I think, will check tomorrow.

[hoist1]

And if the worst comes to the worst, for storage I would use the Aspen, think I can get that local.

[midlifecrisisrd]

Was told the other day avgas is ethanol free 😈

Steve

[alexx]

From the 1 Oct 2019 here in NL we can not get petrol without E10.

I use to tank 'Competition 102' but that's now gone.

[stusco]

I’ve got an old 20l jerrycan I’ve stored the old petrol I’ve drained from tanks until I can get rid of it ,and it’s rotted through and now leaking so I’ve had decant it into plastic containers,I still can’t find anywhere legal to get rid of the petrol

[richb]

I have been using Aspen for 3 years now in my lawn mower and strimmer on the advice of the shop I bought the strimmer from after he commented that come spring each year their workshop is full of petrol engine machines that will not start as carbs all gummed up due to the sh-t fuel we are now being sold. Since using the Aspen I have had no problems at all, only trouble is £18 for 5 litres. Bit expensive to run the bikes on during riding season but will now be draining down bikes and putting 5 litres of Aspen in shortly for winter. Should stop carbs gumming up and hopefully help to stop fuel tanks rusting from the inside.

[steve h]

Sept 2, 2019 9:28:34 GMT 1 stusco said:

I’ve got an old 20l jerrycan I’ve stored the old petrol I’ve drained from tanks until I can get rid of it ,and it’s rotted through and now leaking so I’ve had decant it into plastic containers,I still can’t find anywhere legal to get rid of the petrol

Just let it evaporate outside.

[steve h]

Sept 2, 2019 10:40:01 GMT 1 richb said:

I have been using Aspen for 3 years now in my lawn mower and strimmer on the advice of the shop I bought the strimmer from after he commented that come spring each year their workshop is full of petrol engine machines that will not start as carbs all gummed up due to the sh-t fuel we are now being sold. Since using the Aspen I have had no problems at all, only trouble is £18 for 5 litres. Bit expensive to run the bikes on during riding season but will now be draining down bikes and putting 5 litres of Aspen in shortly for winter. Should stop carbs gumming up and hopefully help to stop fuel tanks rusting from the inside.

I use it in my rotavator.... starting probs disappear even with old aspen in it.