85% methanol in fuel

[SDrake]

Accidently put a little over 2 gallons of the 85% methonol into my tank recently and when I noticed the yellow handle I quickly shut down and continued to fill up with diesel, the green handle. I continued the refil because I had read posts where people who had put small amounts of gasoline into their tanks topped off with diesel and drove on with out incident.



Next time I stopped at this station I realized it was not gasoline but 85% methanol I had put into the tank. that got me to worrying because of a connection to alchohol perhaps which is bad for diesels.



I have pretty well purged, --- now ready for second fillup and as soon as I do I am changing my 3 fuel filters (Cat1R-0750, Baldwin PF7977 and 1212).

The reason I am changing them is I read somewhere that alchohol destroys the water separation filttration of the filters. Who knows what other compatabilities the 85% Methanol might have with diesel filters?



I am posting this as a heads up. don't just look for a non-black handle at the fuel stop. The Yellow next to the green got me. I removed fuel cap, turned and saw a colored handle and momentarily went brain dead. Been fueling for over a million miles and never made a mistake like that. Actually in my mind there were only two kinds of fuel at the pumps. I was unaware of 85% stuff. What rock I crawled out from under I know not



Stop the world I want to get off

 

[AH64ID]

Yikes!

You are probably fine, but good to know.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Where(what states) are they selling that stuff? bg

 

[RustyJC]

Where(what states) are they selling that stuff? bg

I suspect it's actually E85 (85% ethanol). I'm not aware of anyone adding methanol to gasoline - it's REALLY bad stuff!



Rusty

 

[B.G. Smith]

Thanks Rusty. I watched a race held in Ohio a week or so back and the commercials were praising the virtues of ethanol. Must have been sponsored by our illustrous government. bg

 

[SDrake]

I suspect it's actually E85 (85% ethanol). I'm not aware of anyone adding methanol to gasoline - it's REALLY bad stuff!



Rusty

E85 - is what was on the pump, maybe it was ethanol. This pump was in Madison, AL or Huntsville metropolitan area. Just remember I said Yellow handle on pump. I have seen the yellow handles other places. One of them was on a diesel nozzle. We need to be more cautious about these colors. No symptoms yet but I am still thinking another shoe might drop, like CP3 seals or something like that.

 

[RustyJC]

E85 - is what was on the pump, maybe it was ethanol.

Yep, the E in E85 stands for Ethanol.



Rusty

 

[rashwor]

Ethanol is bad all the way around. Vehicle fuel econ goes down compared to gasoline and you have to be a moron to think it is a good idea to put human food staples in a car's gas tank!!!#@$%!



Hijack over.

 

[The patriot]

Ditto rashwar.



I wouldnt even think about it with my 12 valve.

I'm not too sure in the newer more fragile fuel systems.