Marathon - Ethanol

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Charlie Carter

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With all of the recent posts, I decided to contact Marathon, which has a refinery in Catlettsburg, KY, that is about 15 miles from my home. Their response to my ethanol inquiry was: "We do not have any locations with any form of conventional fuel in your area. All Marathon fuel contains 10% ethanol. Thank you for contacting Marathon Petroleum." None of the the local Marathon stations have an ethanol sticker on the pump. :(
 
I contacted Marathon as well about a month ago. The lady was very nice. She said even though Marathon produces 100% gasoline it's up to each station as if they want to sell it. Stations are independently owned and that decision comes from the owner.



I was at one local lake (45 minutes away)last Saturday and they have a Marathon that has the 100% gas. It was actually 5 cents cheaper than the E10. I guess you could try contacting a station owner by you and ask :huh:
 
There is a marina in Morehead, KY, on Cave Run Lake, that supposedly has 90 octane that contains no ethanol. Bad thing is, it is over an hour from my home. I get to Cave Run a few times a year, but it is not my "local lake".



I've got e-mails out to Speedway, BP, Shell and Valero. It will be interesting to see their responses. Speedway is a Marathon affiliate, so I can guess what their answer will be.
 
You don't want to run 90 in your Merc anyway. Running a higher octane than 87 will cost you some big $$$ down the road.
 
GRR - Your second comment is very interesting. Interesting because I was just told by a boat shop last weekend to run 90 or 93 octane in my Mercury motor. Can you elaborate about costing me some big $$$ down the road? Thanks in advance.
 
READ YOUR OWNERS MANUAL!!!!



Some mechanics will tell you that to avoid the ethenol problems (and for job security!!!). Higher octane fuels burn cooler.
 
Especially in older Mercs, the highest you want to run is 89 octane! Dunno about the newer ones. I run 87 per my manual....like Mini said and my old Merc rep.
 
To elaborate on costing you more money, it will cause the daggum thing to blow up!! I lost my last Merc because of that. Listen to a mechanic about running 90 octane in it and it blew after about a month. I was away from home so I took it to another mechanic and he ask if I was running a high octane and I said yes, he said well that explains it!
 
Thanks for the info. I would read my manual if I had one, but there was no manual available when I bought the boat from a guy. I'm waiting to get one in the mail this week.
 
"All of the Speedway locations in Michigan sell gasoline that contains up to 10% ethanol.

Regrettably, we do not have any stores in Kentucky that sell 100% gasoline without any ethanol. Speedway blends a maximum of 10% in all of our 87 Octane fuel."



Still waiting on the other brands.







 
Here's the problem. Say you do find a station with 100% gas. First I would pick up one of the test kits just to make sure. But.....what happens when you go somewhere else? As I understand it, mixing the 2 is worse yet. Soooooo....put the corn gas in it and treat it and forget about it. It's a heck of a lot easier to find the corn fuel and your good nationwide. My next motor might just have to be the Yammie SHO 4-stroke if it stands up and they don't have any problems. Time will tell but I am leaning in that direction.



TOXIC
 
"Shell is converting many stations to gasoline containing up to 10% ethanol due to the requirements of the EPA Renewable Fuel Standard, which applies to all gasoline brands.



When Shell adds ethanol to gasoline it is usually at 10%. In some western states it may be slightly less than 10%, but it is never more than 10%.



Shell gasoline containing up to 10% ethanol is approved by all vehicle manufacturers and has the new Nitrogen Enriched cleaning system and is Top Tier certified.



If a Shell station has ethanol in the gasoline, it is usually in all 3 grades, regular, mid grade and V-Power. Whether the gasoline contains ethanol or not is usually determined by local supply and marketing considerations. Since most Shell stations are owned by local wholesalers and not Shell, they can choose their own supply. However, many areas of the US are required by the EPA to use reformulated gasoline that contains ethanol. You need to check with your local station owner to see if their gasoline contains ethanol or not. All Shell stations are required to have a label on the pumps if the gasoline contains ethanol."
 
"CITGO does not supply fuel to the state of Kentucky. Currently, ethanol content in our fuels shouldn't exceed 10%.



The addition of ethanol to our fuels is based upon the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPA05) and the New Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 signed by President Bush in December 2007.



The entire gasoline supply chain must transition to ethanol blended gasoline in order to comply with renewable fuel measures.



This transition takes time and cannot be implemented overnight to be done correctly. When ethanol is distributed, the pump must be marked as such to inform the customer of ethanol content.



Studies have shown that consumers can expect a 3% decrease in fuel economy as a result of the ethanol blended gasoline.



Thank you for contacting CITGO."
 
"Due to the changes in the industry, Pilot Flying J as well as most other companies are drifting away from pure gasoline. We currently have a few locations across the country that has no ethanol gasoline; however, this is changing daily and soon none of our locations will carry pure gasoline. We have at least 10% ethanol in all of our gasoline."
 

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