Bad Gas!

[JMHJ]

Got a hold of some bad gas a couple days ago...

I meant to get gas at my normal 100% place on the way home from work, but just forgot, so I stopped at the nearest alternative and put the E10 91 octane stuff in (it's for a ZX-11, that I've had for nearly 3 years now). I almost always get 100%, but have used the other stuff a time or two without apparent issue.

I went over over a dozen miles on it without noticing anything, then on the way home the next day, I was fiddling with the fuel selector and put it on Reserve. I sort of had the different gas in mind and thought if there was anything odd toward the bottom I'd go ahead and pull it on through. That's my habit after I get gas - leave it on Reserve for the rest of the way home to see how it acts.

Anyway, it started losing power on the busy interstate shortly after that, and I had to pull off on the inside shoulder. Going back to the normal On position didn't fix it. It didn't die while I was sitting there, but it didn't want to rev very high. I said a prayer or two for help to get home, and was able to get it to rev normally shortly after that. It went 10 miles or so without anything noticeable, and I got home, thankfully.

It seemed like fuel starvation, and I was suspecting the fuel selector since I'd just messed with it, or maybe the fuel pump, but the different gas was an awfully suspicious coincidence. This morning I tried it again, and didn't get out of the neighborhood before it started acting up again. Before I left the house, I could hear the fuel pump clicking if I left the selector Off, so it didn't seem to be that.

This evening I started draining the gas (from Reserve) in prep for changing the selector (I've got an old one that probably still works), and the gas was milky looking... I had drained some off before I captured that sample in the glass. It's got 3 distinct layers there, two close to the bottom. The thing that was most obvious when I first drained it was the sugary looking layer above the clear stuff at the very bottom. It sort of changed to just 2 main layers after it sat, but the one on the bottom doesn't look like water really, and the stuff above is still cloudy.

I got the rest of the tank drained, and put a couple of gallons of 100% 91 octane in there and ran it for 10min in the garage, but Idk if that's going to be enough to fix it or not. I certainly hope so. I'll find out tomorrow, probably.


Layered Gas.jpg

[Syd]

Interesting you wrote "first drained it was the sugary looking layer"

From a Google search -- "E10 fuel is a mixture of 10% ethanol and 90% petrol, with the ethanol being a biofuel produced from the fermentation of sugars and starches found in crops like sugarcane and grains. Sugarcane is a key source for ethanol production, and the fermentation process converts its natural sugars into alcohol".

Here in Australia we tend to be very cautious when it comes to E10 fuels. Some modern vehicles are supposed to be 'tuned' to run E10 with fuel injected systems.

Personally I wouldn't use it in anything with a carby.

[JMHJ]

I'm wondering what diesel looks like. That mixture I showed settles down into two distinct, clear layers, but goes cloudy again very easily if agitated. Like I said, the bottom one does NOT look like water.

I stopped by the station a little while ago to let them know what they'd sold me, and see if they'd refund the money, but the young manager basically looked at me like I'd just crawled out from under a rock and didn't show the least bit of empathy over the whole thing. I came home and made a customer complaint entry online with the corporate brand after that. The refund of $15 wasn't the issue, it was the complete lack of concern over it.

More importantly, my bike seems Ok (thank God), but it wasn't for a little bit. It was still iffy on the first part of the test ride I did this afternoon; mid range RPMs were sputtery when I tried to rev it (like all the cylinders weren't firing or something). I kept trying, and it cleared up (yes!). Idk if there was residual bad stuff still being worked through, or some of the passages were actually clogged with something.

Oh, I'm pretty sure my owner's manual says E10 is Ok, but I avoid it also, in the bike for sure, and also in a couple of other older vehicles I have, including a boat.