@WarWagon why doesn’t Alaska and Hawaii have it? It is not a federal mandate.
It is an eps ruling that says it must have 5% oxygenating fuel for meeting the emissions standards. The states choose to accept or decline those standards ruled by the epa as what SHOULD be done.
The EPA said every automobile should pass emissions testing for use on public or private land. In Nevada only clark county and washoe county, not the other 14 counties have chosen to implement smog testing- and only for on road use, not off road nor on personal property.
Even when it is federal law- states can choose yes or no- marijuana.
Back on the fuel- notice I always type “ethanol/methanol” because the two are different. They are both oxygenators of the fuel as alcohols, but are different and different companies choose one or the other. They have different characteristics and different advantages/ disadvantages. They are what “the market” has brought forth in volume and consistency. So the fuel companies choose to use one or the other most of the time.
This doesn’t mean these are the only options. But it is not the government putting it in the fuel. Unical could decide tomorrow to start using something else if they wanted to. The government isn’t going to make them use a specific additive. Because the 2 of 16 most populated counties in Nv CHOOSE to follow EPA’s rules (aka suggestions to follow if you want $$ from the fed gubmint), the fuel companies that sell here decide to make (almost) all the fuel they sell have that same mixture throughout the state.
I say almost because one of the two biggest suppliers here also sells a non mixed gasoline fuel at certain locations. It is through the roof expensive and some of the highest quality gasoline that can be bought. Racers from all around the southwest come here to buy it paying almost 3 times the cost of cheapest fuel. Part of that is higher profit but a lot of it is higher cost of production and specialized shipping since it isn’t just another load of fuel in the same trucks on the normal routes.
Incase I am wrong and it changed:
@ak diesel driver next time you fill up, can you take a picture of the disclaimer sticker on your fuel pumps that notifies you you have a minimum of 5% oxygenator in your fuel?
If not, enjoy because afaik Ak has not given into this nonsense.
Warwagon, my comment of the gubmint not putting anything in the fuel is not saying they aren’t trying to over regulate everything- because I think they are. But two points of me saying it:
1. They aren’t mandates, they are suggested rules to follow IF YOU WANT.
2. They companies choose which additives to run to meet accepted rules.
Yes it is shoved through by lobbyists. The corn lobbyists are amazing at their job.
I used to do drag racing with alcohol engines. Pure alcohol- you have to squirt in gasoline to start the engine then it runs on alcohol. But you have to wear a respirator because if you don’t, the running engine will kill you. The idea that corn juice is poison free is the biggest joke in the world. When my 69 Camaro wouldn’t pass smog, an option WOULD have been start it on gas and drive down to the smog shop and test on pure corn alcohol. It WOULD have passed with flying colors even if it failed insanely on gasoline, because the toxin in the exhaust isn’t measured for. If I WOULD HAVE ever done it I had to make sure it was on a windy day to not mess up the guy smogging it.
I WOULD never admit to breaking the law on a public forum so I MIGHT say something like a story of possibility, like how OJ wrote a book about IF he had done it…
The things I read in about a 10 minute search for people saying the gubmint added something new to the fuel that is burning up trucks- nonsense. There isn’t federal agents opening fuel caps and pouring in something. They aren’t at mixing plants dumping in drums of something. They aren’t at distilleries pumping in a tanker full of compound TB (truck burner).
Is corn juice eating fuel lines, causing them to rot from the inside out making fuel leak and burn down the vehicle on occasion? Yes. But not in Hawaii. Afaik not in Alaska.
We all talk about it here- and after a while of me joining here when I realized there are many people that don’t know about the fuel line differences- I make it a habit to chant the specification hoping it will spread so every diy wrencher and pro wrencher learns the spec: SAE 30 R 9 as the MINIMUM requirement for their fuel line when they replace it. And that if they are running a truck, car, motorcycle, go cart, golf cart, etc from before year 2005, they consider acting preemptively to replacement of the fuel lines. Not all the places are using corn ethanol- so not everyone is going to experience it. Some of the methanol derivatives have absolutely no negative effects on the fuel lines, on the fuel lubed injectors, etc. but that is very few of them. And if one month it is cheaper, exxon will use it, then next month might use methanol that is a version that is not as bad. The corn juice is not destructive to all types of hoses, just some. But the corn juice always puts out different deadly toxins that are not monitored for in any smog test. So congratulations, you quit smoking cigarettes, but only smoke crack once a day now as it’s replacement.
We the people vote and decide yes or no on pot legal in our state. We the people decide yes or no on smog test requirements in our counties and states. We the people by accepting the smog issue determine what is more profitable for the fuel companies, who make fuel based on our purchases.
the DEF systems (i hate them too) far exceeds the difference made by 5% alcohol now.
If diesel owners simply refused buying alcohol fuel and relied on burning more def fluid, then there would be no alcohol in diesel fuel. The non def pickups would pass smog as easy, but think about this- 90% of coal rollers don’t have to detune to go pass smog. They just do a physical limit in throttling to 75% by crimping on a lead fishing weight so the inspectors cant get 100% for that 5 minute test. Then remove the sinker afterwards.
The electronic throttle guys do a version of brick under the pedal. So is the smog really great at stopping people from polluting when they want to- no.
