Ethanol Question
 

The gas station I normally use, in the last week put a small sticker on the pump saying that the gas may contain up to 10% ethanol. I had to fill up so did. Could there be an issue with using the gas. I have only filled up once, wanted to drive for 5-6 hours, and took off. I did not notice anything different with driving but was wondering if there were other issues I should be aware of. ETOH turning to H2O duing the combustion cycle and harming something internally.

I also have a 86 na that I filled up the same day.

Do I need to be concerned about the ethanol or change gas stations to one that does not contain it?

TIA,
Charles

A lot of pump gas includes ethanol now. It wont hurt your engine. It should help reduce knock if nothing else.

by the way, ethanol is used for some auxiliary injection setups.

Thanks for the info SLOASFK. I am somewhat paranoid with changes like this.

this is nothing new, but then again not many people are bored enough to read small things like this at a gas station

Around here only the mid-grade (89 octane) has ethanol in it. The 'premium' 91 octane is ethanol free.
I've run the ethanol 89 in my twin turbo Volvo okay but I haven't run it in my FD.
What was the octane rating on the fuel you put in?

I was recently in Missouri where at least one chain uses a lot of ethanol in their premium grade. It's cheaper than their regular, so I put it in the rental car!

btw, Mazda says do not use more than 10% ethanol in the FD. (Most cars of the day specified 10 or 15% max also)

Why?

Over time, the ethanol will deteriorate gaskets/seals/hoses in the fuel system.

Been a couple of days since I have been on but the octane I use is 93. I only have 59,600 on car; engine has maybe 5,000. Just concerned. It wasn't boredom though. They had painted the concrete around the pump area and had wet paint sign. Paid more attention. At 59 though, you do pay more attention to things. Senility has not yet set in.

Thanks guys,
chagar

Stoich for ethanol is 9:1 compared to 14.7:1 for gas.(wiki) So when you are running open-loop (i.e. full throttle), you will be running very slightly "leaner" with 10% ethanol than straight gasoline.