Fuel Line Anti Freeze aka Dry Gas

[George Bokros]

With the fact that most gasoline today has ~10% ethanol do you still use gas line antifreeze in your car?

I have been since I started driving but looking for opinions.

Thanks

[Lee Schierer]

I've never really used gas line antifreeze even before ethanol was added, but you certainly don't hear of anyone having a problem and there is no advertising for the product that I've seen.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The Heet brand of gasoline antifreeze used to advertise.

In places where it gets Bitterly cold they often use it. My brother was drilling on oil rigs in Gillette, WY and owned a brand new Jimmy diesel. It sat for nearly two weeks due to frozen fuel lines. It get's cold enough there that they wrap the derrick in tarps and have steam radiators. It was so cold, when rigging up on a new location, they had to superheat sections of pipe for the steam heat because it was freezing before they could make the connection to the next pipe.

In areas they actually have plug-ins by the parking lot in motels so motorists with engine heaters can plug them in to keep them warm so they will start the next morning. I saw that first at a Super8 north of Sandpoint, ID.

[Bruce Page]

The Heet brand of gasoline antifreeze used to advertise.

In places where it gets Bitterly cold they often use it. My brother was drilling on oil rigs in Gillette, WY and owned a brand new Jimmy diesel. It sat for nearly two weeks due to frozen fuel lines. It get's cold enough there that they wrap the derrick in tarps and have steam radiators. It was so cold, when rigging up on a new location, they had to superheat sections of pipe for the steam heat because it was freezing before they could make the connection to the next pipe.

In areas they actually have plug-ins by the parking lot in motels so motorists with engine heaters can plug them in to keep them warm so they will start the next morning. I saw that first at a Super8 north of Sandpoint, ID.

That is waaay to cold for me! I had a neighbor when I was a kid that moved from Alberta Ca. His dad's '58 ford had an electrical wire with plug behind the front grill. I thought it was cool.

[Howard Garner]

The Heet brand of gasoline antifreeze used to advertise.

In places where it gets Bitterly cold they often use it. My brother was drilling on oil rigs in Gillette, WY and owned a brand new Jimmy diesel. It sat for nearly two weeks due to frozen fuel lines.

But diesel is a different story. It does not freeze, it gels and clogs everything up.
There are products that reduce the gelling and winter diesel is adjusted to reduce the possibility.
(It also reduces the energy content with winterized fuel,making for reduced mpg.)
None of the gasoline products should be used in a diesel for this use.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I realize that Howard. That's is exactly why I pointed out it was a brand new Jimmy diesel. I also am aware that the diesel gels. I was just using my brother's Jimmy as an example of what can happen when it gets extremely cold.

My Ford F-350, 460 ci gasoline engine had a block heater, the recirculating type in it. I bought it used. The previous owner was a local rancher and he installed the block heater. I never found the need to use it.

In the past, I've used gasoline anti-freeze but haven't for decades.

[Stan Calow]

No, its just methanol.

[roger wiegand]

Never needed it in Ohio/Chicago/New England cold either pre or post ethanol addition. I'm not sure what it is supposed to do in theory; increase the solubility of water in the gasoline/alcohol mix?. Given that it's just an alcohol (methanol or isopropyl, smaller and bigger than ethanol respectively) the added ethanol in most gas would do the same thing-- I suspect not much.

[Rich Engelhardt]

George,
I think the fuel line freezeup thing was just cheaper for Sohio to use as a come-on than offering a free set of dinner plates or S&H Green stamps or - a way to get people to use Boron instead of Extron!
(You'd have to be from NE Ohio in the 1960's to figure this one out..)

[George Bokros]

Both my father and I had fuel line freeze up. My father had it in the early 60's and I had it in the early 90's. I was fortunate enough that my boss let me push my truck into the plant and in about 30 minutes it has thawed.

All this was before the advent of gasoline containing ethanol. The fuel line anti freeze contains alcohol that will mixes with the moisture in your car's fuel system and allows it to flow into the injection system and be burned.

[Shawn Pixley]

Ethanol mixes well with water. Gasoline does not. The water would freeze in the gas lines not allowing the gas to flow to the carb. Before, you would add "Heet" orsimilar product to mix with the water and keep it from freezing in the gas line. Heet was primarily Methanol or Ethanol or other similar solvent. With Ethanol, it acts the same way. It will also carry the condensed water through combustion and out of the car.

There are a few easy demonstrations that I used to do. One was to mix Ethanol with water, soak my hand in it, and light it on fire (do not try this at home). I could stand there with my hand on fire and give the rest on the lecture with my hand burning.

[Wade Lippman]

Interesting question. I had frozen fuel lines several times 40 years ago, but none recently.
Don't know if it is improved car design, ethanol in the fuel, global warming, or having a garage.

I suspect the gas now has the dry gas built in, as you suggested.

[Kev Williams]

As noted above, Heet is just methanol. Which is just Ethanol with an "M"

One night way back in the early 80's I was coming home from my Friday poker game in my '56 F-100 pickup, when it up and quit. it was -15°, so I figured it the gas line was froze. I had to walk about 3/4 mile to the Sev, picked up a bottle of Heet and walked back. I got in and tried to start it. No go. Got out, poured in the bottle of Heet, turned the fuel pump on for a few seconds, and she fired right up. That amazed me, as I figured it MIGHT work, and I'd have to wait for it to help. It literally worked within 10 seconds.

But never had a fuel line ice up since Ethanol. Hasn't gotten to 15 below many times either, but still

[Tom Stenzel]

A couple of other things also reduced fuel line freezing. One is the evaporative controls on gas tanks, there's less air and moisture getting into gas tanks.

Some years ago the EPA created a bunch of rules for buried gasoline tanks. Their concern was gasoline leaking into the ground. But that wasn't the only leakage, ground water would leak into the tanks and then get pumped into your car. To me fuel line freezing went down about the time that happened. But ethanol addition occurred soon after so it's hard to tell.

A couple I bowled with years ago ran a gas station. They had problems with both gas getting out and water getting in their underground tanks. They solved the problem by getting out of the business.

-Tom

[Stan Calow]

I thought the water problem was from condensation that occurred inside your cars gasoline tank. Old tanks were open to the atmosphere allowing ambient air to go in. Now that the venting is controlled and those charcoal canisters make it a closed system, water less likely to get in the gas that way.