Sheetz fuel @ Carlisle w/ C1s / C2s/some C3s

[David B.]

http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2006/07/10/daily6.html

"GM, Sheetz team up on ethanol
Pittsburgh Business Times - July 10, 2006

Sheetz Inc. said it will be the first Pennsylvania chain to sell E85, an alternative fuel mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

Ethanol is a biodegradable fuel additive produced from corn. E85 is described as a cleaner-burning, renewable fuel.
Click here to find out more!

Sheetz, a family-owned retail chain based in Altoona, Pa., is working with VeraSun Energy Corp., of Brookings, S.D., to offer E85 at three Sheetz locations in Western Pennsylvania.

The companies, along with General Motors Corp., made the announcement at the Major League Baseball All-Star Fan Fest held at Pittsburgh's David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Sheetz will offer VeraSun's branded E85, called VE85, at select stores in the Pittsburgh area, starting with its Pleasant Hills store on Route 51 on Clairton Boulevard and Lewis Run Road. Two additional Sheetz stores will offer E85 later this year.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said the partnership will help tackle one of the problems of E85 -- lack of access.

"Here in Pennsylvania, we are leading the charge to greater accessibility as the first state in the Northeast to open publicly available retail E85 stations," Rendell said. "This is a good step forward and we commend GM, VeraSun and Sheetz on their efforts to increase awareness of this viable alternative fuel and help drive consumer demand in our state."

[Wayne W.]

Re: Sheeeet Corn is for Drinking *NM*

[Clem Z.]

Re: Sheetz fuel @ Carlisle w/ C1s / C2s/some C3s

E85 would not even run in your car but most all hi test here PA has 10% ethanol the summer time. i have used sheetz hi test in my C-5/6s with no problem

[Grant M.]

Re: Sheetz fuel @ Carlisle w/ C1s / C2s/some C3s

David,

This may be a WAG, but is it possible there's a fair bit of water in the fuel? I read on the DB that Carlisle was hit by a bad storm during the weekend and I recall a trip to the Boston Marathon with my wife a few years back. There was a heavy rainstorm there as well and when we refuelled at a Chevron Station ('95 Trans-Sport)it wouldn't start--along with just about everyone else's car at the pump island at the time. The attendant checked and discovered that quite a bit of water had gotten into the tank (I don't know how--maybe some vent problem).

I had to have the vehicle towed to a garage and have the fuel system/tank purged. To their credit, the Chevron station owner paid the entire cost (~$200 as I recall--no questions asked!).

Maybe you had a similar problem?

grant

[David B.]

Re: Sheetz fuel @ Carlisle w/ C1s / C2s/some C3s

Grant,

Thanks for the reply. I was leaving Carlisle just before that awful storm you mentioned. The problem I had was definitely vapor lock because I could see the fuel bubbling in the glass fuel bowl when it occurred. After cooling it with wet rags for a while it stopped the problem, car ran fine again, until it repeated itself a few more times during the long trip.

Cars (with electric fuel pumps) can run on up to E85 ethanol, even if they are not flex-fuel designed, although it is not recommended by manufacturer's because it may cause damage if not designed for it. An interesting video is:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HuOs1yap8mU

I believe I got some 10%, or greater, ethanol mix that caused the vapor locking. Because ethanol is an octane booster, I figured it might be a larger component in the 92 octane fuel I got at Sheetz - possibly 30%. The higher vapor pressure of ethanol is very susceptible to vapor lock with a mechanical fuel pump, like mine.

I guess it was a long shot that there might be some other occurrences. Not too many early models were leaving the fairgrounds without being trailered. And maybe none gassed up at Sheetz, or used the 92 Octane pump.

Thanks for your thoughts. Fortunately, I don't think I picked up any water, although I will check. From now on, I will be carefully checking the fuel compositions wherever I gas up. Sheetz ethanol enhanced fuel is great gas for my RV and for my other cars, with the higher fuel pressures of an electric pump and FI system. I run it a lot, just will be careful now about my C-1 and C-3.

Dave

[Clem Z.]

Re: Sheetz fuel @ Carlisle w/ C1s / C2s/some C3s

E-85,85% ethanol requires completely different jetting because if you run on 100% ethanol you need to increase the area of the jets by about 85/90%. the auto makers state that the non E-85 car fuel systems are calibrated for a MAX of 10% ethanol and if you use any more the warranty is void. you need stainless steel in the fuel lines and special fuel tank for E-85. the new fuel injected cars that run on flex fuel,both gasoline and E-85 have a sensor that reads the fuel and changes the air/fuel mixture by way of the computer. carb cars can not run both types of fuel because the E-85 runs at a much richer mixture of ethanol to air than the gasoline engine that is why the E-85 cars get about 20% less MPG than when on gasoline. i have been working on getting race carb calibrated to run on E-85 because of the octane rating of 105 and it is cheaper than racing gasoline

[David B.]

Re: Sheetz fuel @ Carlisle w/ C1s / C2s/some C3s

Clem,

I agree with what you are saying - and my car ran like crap for sure! As I said, I don't know what I got, but whatever the percentage, I definitely experienced vapor lock. I wish I could look at any fine print on the pump there to see what I actually got.

The racing fuel idea sounds interesting. I always value your input on this Board.

Thanks,
Dave

[Joe L.]

Re: Sheetz fuel @ Carlisle w/ C1s / C2s/some C3s

Dave-----

Except for E-85, I don't think you'll find greater than 10% ethanol in pump fuels sold today. Most of the car manufacturers specify 10% maximum ethanol content for gasoline-powered vehicles. So, I don't think that any service station would supply fuel which exceeded that concentration.