is Ethanol at 10% safe on a 6th generation civic?

babyontheway · 06-20-2008

Hey ladies,

quick question - i am somewhat concerned. I live in Montreal, and today, for some stupid reason i decided to fill my 6th generation civic si with ethanol gazoline (I usually use the 91 octane). In Montreal, the ethanol mix is at 10%.

I called Honda and the guy told me that i should drain the tank right away because it might damage my cat converter.

I had put ethanol in the past on my 1991 BMW 530 and on my Nissan sentra 1995, in addition to my GMC Jimmy 1999 without any issues and used it for the longest time. I actually noticed that the car was smoother, runned faster and was more responsive.

So what gives? do you guys have any idea if what I did is safe on a Honda seeing that this is my first Honda, and it has 244000km on the ODO (but runs like a charm with 37mpg!).

I hope someone can answer my concerns

Cheers

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valenzuela · 06-20-2008

right now i am running a third of a tank of e85 with two thirds of a tank of 87 Regular. and i monitored my fuel rims with my laptop im running a completely stock engine and my short term fuel trims went 26% and my long term fuel trims went to 0.8% and i feel a big power difference but i never heard of e85 ruining a cat. i work at honda also and never heard that. im about to convert my honda to 100% e85 and hopeing for some big increase in power and torq.

valenzuela · 06-20-2008

right now i am running a third of a tank of e85 with two thirds of a tank of 87 Regular. and i monitored my fuel rims with my laptop im running a completely stock engine and my short term fuel trims went 26% and my long term fuel trims went to 0.8% and i feel a big power difference but i never heard of e85 ruining a cat. i work at honda also and never heard that. im about to convert my honda to 100% e85 and hopeing for some big increase in power and torq.

ONE7thREBUILT · 06-20-2008

e85 sucks....the only thing it will do for you is decrease gas mileage. Its a great idea (natural resources to make fuel), however, at this point you will get charged the same amount (or more) and you will see no benifit (or worse).

Even 10% decreases mileage.

greeen01civic4d · 06-20-2008

yea, ethanol is def a 10% difference in mileage, i only buy gas without ethanol, period, and e85 makes soda more xpensive, as well as anything with corn in it, and i live in the midwest, its all corn here

Maple50175 · 06-20-2008

all gas stations have 10% in their gas.

babyontheway · 06-20-2008

thank you Valenzuela - i will try it for now and will see if I get more mileage out of this car. I might reach the 40mpg (the price of ethanol in Montreal is $1.39 a litre)

Thks

greeen01civic4d · 06-20-2008

i got 41 last week, without ethanol, and not all stations have ethanol, shell runs vpower without ethanol, 93 octane, and some stations advertise "no ethanol"

FoSho · 06-20-2008

Well.....hondas & toyotas alike can use up to 10% ethanol....but that is all that is recommended. Not e85 or e95....just e10 is allowed per manufactuers. What I see working at the dealership.......people fill up with a full tank of e85 & 10 mins down the road they get check engine light for lean codes. If it's bad enough and they are freaked out about it enough I will offer to drain the tank for a fee. I can usually do it without taking the tank out. I really dont like doin that but it's whatever they want. I like to suggest just driving it lightly, no hard acceleration that could cause detonation, and fill up as soon as you can with the highest octane gas, do this continuously, until you balance it out.

Most people beat me too this step and do this....so I usually clear the code and test drive the vehicle monitoring fuel trims & most importantly the 02 sensors. If you know the values they're like little AFR gauges. If everything looks good (not running lean and not pingin) I usually let the customer go with the previous instructions for higher octane gas.

As long as you do not make a continous habit of this and the engine is not running lean you should be just fine. The ethanol will actual act as a fuel system cleaner! Extra Bonus. The Honda store you called is misinformed. A customer thought I was lying so she called honda, the rep on the phone gave the same info on E10 only.

Unfortantuely hondas & toyotas are not flexfuel like most new Gm products. The only difference is they have a sensor in the fuel system that can detect ethanol levels.....this is sent to a computer that changes fuel trim, ignition, and so on........I'm sure a honda computer would be more than capable to adjust....they just lack something telling it to do so....a sensor

TemjinX2 · 06-21-2008

should be fine...i believe all newer cars can run with at least 10%. California has 10% ethanol in its gas to help with emissions.

babyontheway · 06-21-2008

You guys have a great deal of info on this - i just freakin realized as I passed at the station again, that there is a sticker on the ethanol station that says the fuel contains lead mixed with an anti detonnant mixture.

Now I am seriously freaking out - i never realized this before, and in any case, would they allow lead in gazoline nowadays???????

bare in mind, I am in Montreal (Canada) and 99.99% of cars run on unleaded fuel only - why the hek would they put that sticker on the ethanol gaz pump?

unless ethanol has lead in it, i researched the net and did not find anything that resembles lead in ethanol.

cheers

FoSho · 06-21-2008

No lead.....your fine....just keep driving it

kailicious · 06-27-2009

i fill mine with 10% ethanol and it works just fine... and its cheaper! i have not yet heard any complaint from fellow honda drivers with the 10% ethanol gas. BUT, my friend who's driving a Lancer GSR said that he's having problems with that and had to do an oil change. He said all mitsubishi drivers he knows are having problems too.

gearbox · 06-27-2009

10% will not cause problems with any car. in some places, all the gas stations put ethanol to lower emissions. it burns better than gas and wont hurt anything in that low a concentration. higher concentration will tear apart your fuel system and dry rot the seals. and yes having some ethanol in the gas will lower power and mileage, but will not cause engine damage.

kailicious · 06-27-2009

I agree with gearbox regarding the power.
just be sure you have a fuel injection engine and youre fine.