# Ethonal Damage **URL:** \ **Category:** Power/Fuel\ **Tags:** aura, saturn, gasoline\ **Created:** [September 14, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethonal-damage/36600 "2009-09-14T01:09:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![1stclassdriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/da6949/32.png) [@1stclassdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/1stclassdriver)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethonal-damage/36600/1 "2009-09-14T01:09:04Z")
I have heard that if you use Ethonal in a non “Flex-Fuel” vehicle, it will damage the the metal components of the fuel system. Is that true? ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethonal-damage/36600/2 "2009-09-14T01:37:04Z")
If you use the 85% ethanol formula and your car isn’t designed for it then YES it can cause damage. Many gas stations sell 10% ethanol formula which is perfectly safe. ---
**Author:** ![1stclassdriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/da6949/32.png) [@1stclassdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/1stclassdriver)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethonal-damage/36600/3 "2009-09-14T01:49:58Z")
Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![mcparadise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mcparadise/32/32_2.png) [@mcparadise](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mcparadise)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethonal-damage/36600/4 "2009-09-14T01:58:08Z")
10% ethanol won’t hurt anything. If you use E85 in a vehicle not designed for it there will be negative consequences. Define “Ethanol.” More information, please. ---
**Author:** ![BustedKnuckles](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bustedknuckles/32/25_2.png) [@BustedKnuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BustedKnuckles)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethonal-damage/36600/5 "2009-09-14T01:58:20Z")
If you try to use E85 (85% ethanol) in a non-flex-fuel car, you risk damage to the fuel system, because flex fuel cars have special fuel lines to resist the highly corrosive fuel. Also, the non-flex-fuel car may have a hard time getting the timing advanced enough for E85. E10 (10% Ethanol) is supposed to be a non-issue. But some people have experienced problems even with this small amount the ethanol blended in. There’s even a thread about damage to small engines due to E10. [http://community.cartalk.com/posts/list/2128985.page](http://community.cartalk.com/posts/list/2128985.page) ---
**Author:** ![1stclassdriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/da6949/32.png) [@1stclassdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/1stclassdriver)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethonal-damage/36600/6 "2009-09-14T04:17:43Z")
When I mean Ethanol, (sorry for typo), I mean 10%, the mechanic I spoke with said he would drive across town to find a gas station that had “0%” ethanol gasoline. Of course the lower priced gas stations tend to have 10% ethanol in their gas. ---
**Author:** ![mcparadise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mcparadise/32/32_2.png) [@mcparadise](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mcparadise)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 4:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethonal-damage/36600/7 "2009-09-14T04:40:16Z")
10% ethanol is common, and won’t damage fuel system components on a modern car. If I can find 0% ethanol gas I’ll gladly buy it (better mileage), but most of the stations in my area have E10 and it hasn’t hurt either of my my cars. Your mechanic is a bit too conservative. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethonal-damage/36600/8 "2009-09-14T15:17:38Z")
> When I mean Ethanol, (sorry for typo), I mean 10%, the mechanic I spoke with said he would drive across town to find a gas station that had “0%” ethanol gasoline. Of course the lower priced gas stations tend to have 10% ethanol in their gas. If that was true…then we’d be seeing THOUSANDS if not MILLIONS of problems every year. Where I live…I don’t have a choice…10% Ethanol is MANDATORY. I can NOT buy gas anywhere near me without it…and neither can several million cars across this country. ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ethonal-damage/36600/9 "2009-10-25T19:46:14Z")
If you think 10% Ethanol fuel is damaging your car, you better look for a solution. It looks like Ethanol, whether corn based or made from other materials, is here to stay. Embedded video from [CNN Video](http://www.cnn.com/video)