Marco Mechanics United in Cautioning Part-Time Islanders About Pitfalls of Ethanol Fuel

If you ask these guys to name their favorite car, they would likely never agree on one. But ask them about the impending move to 15 percent ethanol gasoline and they all stand united.

In an effort to address high gas prices, President Joe Biden directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to issue an emergency waiver and allow gasoline that uses a 15% ethanol blend to be sold this summer. The fuel is known as E15.

"It’s really garbage fuel that we’re putting into our vehicles,” said AT Schmadtke, owner of A-Tech on Elkcam Circle. "The newer vehicles can handle it. The older vehicles don’t run as well on ethanol. At 10 percent ethanol we were really pushing the envelope, going to 15 percent ethanol is really horrible. Plus, it decreases fuel mileage. Ethanol is just dirty fuel.”

Mechanics on the island see damage caused by ethanol every fall when winter residents return to their cars that have been sitting all summer.

"It used to take six months for gasoline to go to varnish,” Schmadtke said, “now with ethanol it takes three months. It breaks down. It loses it. That’s why it’s so important for anything that sits - lawnmowers, weed whackers, anything to vehicles, that it gets stabilizers or fuel additives. It’s critical. It’s not uncommon to find out they have injector problems, fuel pump problems. It’s a big deal. We’ve seen it over the years. Sometimes it’s simple, sometimes with high end cars, $1,000 is nothing."

Justin Silsley, from BG Fuel/Air Induction System Cleaning Service, walks in Schmadtke’s office and immediately contributes to the discussion.

“Huge problems,” Justin Silsley said. "A prime example: Executive Auto is working on a Cadillac right now that has an issue with their fuel gage. It’s a dual pump. They’re getting corrosion because of the ethanol. That customer, I can tell you, is going to have a $2,000 repair bill."  

"Ethanol becomes a problem when it sits in vehicles for two or three months with no activity,” said NAPA’s Dale Williams. “When it gets in the carburetor it just gums it up. If you use your vehicle constantly, it probably won’t cause problems. It really affects your two cycle engines.”

Keith Pershing, owner of Island Automotive, has been repairing cars on the island since the 1970s.

“A fuel system chemist told me E15 is horrible for the environment,” Keith Pershing said. "To put ethanol fuel in any old car is just terminal cancer. Older cars, anything with a carburetor, is terminally ill when you introduce ethanol fuel. In our climate, any coastal region, ethanol absorbs water out of the air. This leads to phase separation. The ethanol turns into a puddle of water in the bottom of your gas tank. If it's a metal tank, you have a rusty gas tank. For sure you’ve got trouble with your fuel pump. Many times in the fall as we tow in cars that have sat for the summer, the fuel pump is seized, the minimum damage is $1,000 to $2,000. A lot of times it pumps water up the injectors and the entire injector system is wiped out - $3,000 to $5,000. We see the failed fuel pump 98 percent of the time.”

According to Pershing, there’s even more drawbacks to ethanol.

"Ethanol has less energy,” Pershing said, "so to achieve the same horsepower you have to burn more. That gives you more drivability problems. Lots of variables. No matter what, it’s going to make cars self-destruct. It has no positive attributes to the automobile. Period."

Do additives help? Yes and no.

“I have customers from all walks of life,” Pershing said. "I talked to a fuel system chemist who makes the bottles of stuff we put in our fuel tanks. It for sure won’t help water. But everything I see, if I’m fixing a car that sits, the problems are obvious. It’s corrosion. I’m told by professionals it’s bad for the environment. It’s always terminal. I’ve seen fuel systems fail in a few days. I’ve seen brand new parts fail in days because they weren’t ethanol tolerant.

"It sits in the fuel tank, that’s where it separates. A gallon of water in the bottom of the tank. Your fuel pump has to be in the bottom of the tank. Your pump always has a pick up really close to the bottom of the tank. The last time I researched this, I spoke with two local distribution centers. They were having the same problems with their pumping systems that we’re having with cars. The hoses at the gas pumps exploding. The seals and everything in the triggers are leaking. Equipment failing because of it.”

So, what can Marco’s seasonal drivers do to protect their cars?

"Anybody who asks,” Pershing said, "I advise they fill up their gas tanks with recreational fuel before they leave and their car’s going to have less trouble. You can add the fuel stabilizer, it will stabilize the fuel. It doesn’t fix the ethanol problem. If you use recreational fuel - non-ethanol, and you put in a fuel stabilizer, there’s a really good chance you won’t have a fuel system problem. If you don’t, there’s a medium chance you will have problems."