Gas Line Anti Freeze

In really cold weather, I have always dumped a bottle of gas line anti freeze in my vehicle tank. It is mostly alcohol. With todays modern gas blends, it says at the pump they contain up to 10% alcohol. Am I wasting my effort? I have never had a frozen line on a vehicle.

Ethanol blended gas eliminates the need for gas line anti freeze.

Yup wasted effort and money.

Gary

different kind of alcohol, dont know it works the same way. Bill

When it gets cold you see so many people dumping Heet into their gas tanks. Well when it's 0 degrees outside it's too late to pour it in. If there is water in the tank it needs to be tended to before the cold season arrives. Take some water and mix some heet additive with it. Shake it up then let it set and see what happens. It may surprise you!

No need for any extra alcohol in the gasoline. 10% from the pump is quite sufficient to handle any water problems.
I have not used a gasoline drier product for 30+ years since Ethanol blended fuels came out.
PS: I live in West-Central Minnesota lake country.

(quoted from post at 14:57:00 01/19/13) When it gets cold you see so many people dumping Heet into their gas tanks. Well when it's 0 degrees outside it's too late to pour it in. If there is water in the tank it needs to be tended to before the cold season arrives. Take some water and mix some heet additive with it. Shake it up then let it set and see what happens. It may surprise you!

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IF you have a frozen gas line, that can of HEET® will travel to where the frozen area is, as it's heavier than gasoline, and dissolve the ice blockage. Hasn,t been necessary since 10% fuel came out.

With the 10% blend you wont have any problems.

two thoughts here: if you have that much water in the tank it needs to be tended to anyway (disassembel and clean)!!! 2. lots of this stuff is like engine rebuilder in a can (snake oil)

Yes, we haven't used it in 30+ years, had some bottles on the shelf that evaporated without ever being opened!

yes.

Brad

When I was a sales rep for Sinclair Oil we used to call all those little cans on the shelf "Mouse Milk". The dealers liked it though because the profit margin was quite high.

I used to put in two bottles per year, and believed that I no longer needed it. A few weeks ago one cold evening, my wife's car started to miss occasionally. We stopped at a store, and I got a bottle and dumped it in and it has been good since. Could it be it just needed a five minute break.

biggest thing is to keep your tank full of fuel, not on the empty side. ya i know what some will say , thats hard to do. its big temperature changes that produce condensation.
just like when it warms up outside you can see your fluid level in your tractor tires.
i have never once has a gas line freeze up, and do not use the stuff.

Only kind of alcohol to add to any fuel system, in particular any fuel system with any type of injection. Is IPA, isopropyl alcohol which is the least metal and plastic aggressive.

What problem are you trying to solve? The purpose of gas line antifreeze is to disperse water in fuel, but if you buy your gas from a reputable dealer and keep the gas cap closed, you shouldn't get water in your fuel.

A lot of people used to put gas line antifreeze in their fuel in the mistaken belief it would prevent carburetor icing. It won't, because carb ice is caused by water in the air freezing in the venturi, and gas line antifreeze will never prevent that. Carb ice is a thing of the past now, of course.

Around here, all regular gas is up to 15% ethanol. I never buy it for my truck or wife's car. That hasn't stopped the gas companies from putting regular gas in ALL ther underground tanks. Irving was caught doing that last winter. However, I have had frozen gas lines when it gets down to -18C or lower. I keep a gallon jug of methyl alcohol just for that purpose, and I can say with assurance, that it works better than the ethyl alcohol based gas line deicer bottles from Canadian Tire.

As others have posted you should not have gas line freeze ups when using E-10 fuel. Any free water present should not freeze and will go back into solution at the next fill up.

You can prove it to yourself if you like: Take 48 oz (3 pints) of E-10 fuel and add 1 oz of water. Shake or stir and allow to settle, you should see a water/ethanol phase form at the bottom of the container. If you place the container in the freezer (leave outside if cold) it should remain liquid.

The fuel above the water/ethanol phase is straight gasoline. If you pour off the gasoline and again add 1 oz of water as before you will note the water will freeze - don't try this in your freezer with a glass container. This is why we needed Heet before E-10 fuel.

You may find it interesting to note: At 70 degrees F, E-10 will absorb approximately 0.5% water by volume before phase separation occurs as compared to straight gasoline which will absorb approximately 0.02%. One of the ways water enters fuel is by condesation of humid air inside a less than full fuel tank. The amount of water condensed in this manner is the same regardless of the fuel in the tank, E-10 or straight gasoline. From this one can expect less chance of free water when using E-10 blends versus straight gasoline since E-10 can hold much more water.

From my experience: As a kid I remember periodically removing the sediment bowl on our 8N Ford to empty out the water. I have had my 8N for over 10 years now and use E-10 fuel - I have never observed water in the sediment bowl.