Dealer efforts to help customers with problems surrounding ethanol-blended fuel received a recent boost with major Atlanta, Ga. dealer Howard Brothers. Howard Brothers hosted an ethanol seminar that included 90 attendees as well as a representative from Valero Oil, service trainers from Stihl and Kawasaki and an extensive presentation from B3C Fuel Solutions Business Development Officer Brian O’Neil.

During his presentation, which can be viewed in its entirety at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulx1W_sLGfQ, O’Neil started with the history of fuel additives, beginning with the introduction of MTBE in the ‘80s.

The presentation included looking at the nature of ethanol, how it burns hotter, affects plastic and rubber components (especially on older equipment) and causes gasoline to decompose more quickly. “In the last three years or so, many manufacturers have introduced replacement parts that will tolerate ethanol. But still, that aging fuel, once it starts to go bad, is not gasoline anymore.”

O’Neil added that another issue is marginal fuel that allows an engine to run but perform poorly while operating. “Bad gas is better than marginal fuel because an engine won’t run on it,” he said. But running equipment with marginal fuel leads to varnish coating inside an engine and ultimately engine seizure.

Fuel hygiene is a term dealers will become familiar with in the future, O’Neil said, and it begins with education and intelligent decisions following through several steps: buying from a reputable source, using additives, testing fuel and educating consumers on proper fuel handling and storage.

The event ended with a panel discussion with all reps on hand for a question-and-answer session. “It was very well received,” O’Neil says. “Everybody it seemed had questions, and a lot of people had stories about problems with ethanol.”

As a major dealer in the area with three stores, Howard Brothers personnel had seen plenty of ethanol problems, O’Neil says. “For a dealer to put together an event like this, a day-long seminar to talk about fuel issues, I was very excited and impressed,” O’Neil says.