E10

[Zuke]

Apparently my IS250 2007 can not take E10 petrol.

What exactly is the problem there? 

[J Henderson]

The fuel pump, or parts of it are more likely to corrode or fail due to the higher ethanol content.

Have a read through This Thread for the specifics.

 

[MrTrendizzle]

E10 eats away at the rubber seals etc... I've run my IS250 on E10 almost since it came out and i've got zero issues beyond a little less ommpff. 

Altho i'm fully aware at some point i will most likely need to replace some rubber seals/fuel lines. From my understanding the main pump seal inside the cabin can be destroyed over time and leak fuel vapors in to the cabin which is a HUGE no-no for Lexus so instead of just swapping the seal with an updated rubber compound they just rate the IS250 for E5 only. From a few threads it looks like the E10 seals are the exact same part number as the IS250 E5 rated seals which means at some point the rubber compound was updated so if it does fail you car will eventually be ok with E10 as you replace each seal as they breakdown. 

There's others with more info so take a good read, IMHO the only difference between E10/E5 is price, power and MPG.

[H3XME]

44 minutes ago, MrTrendizzle said:

E10 eats away at the rubber seals etc... I've run my IS250 on E10 almost since it came out and i've got zero issues beyond a little less ommpff. 

Altho i'm fully aware at some point i will most likely need to replace some rubber seals/fuel lines. From my understanding the main pump seal inside the cabin can be destroyed over time and leak fuel vapors in to the cabin which is a HUGE no-no for Lexus so instead of just swapping the seal with an updated rubber compound they just rate the IS250 for E5 only. From a few threads it looks like the E10 seals are the exact same part number as the IS250 E5 rated seals which means at some point the rubber compound was updated so if it does fail you car will eventually be ok with E10 as you replace each seal as they breakdown. 

There's others with more info so take a good read, IMHO the only difference between E10/E5 is price, power and MPG.

Why not just run E5 then? It makes ~£5 difference to a full tank and you'll get that £5 in mpgs, keep the engine healthier and you'll avoid replacing seals etc..

[Linas.P]

1 hour ago, H3XME said:

Why not just run E5 then? It makes ~£5 difference to a full tank and you'll get that £5 in mpgs, keep the engine healthier and you'll avoid replacing seals etc..

It doesn't make £5 difference in MPGs, E5 is ~1.5%, for simplicity let's say £2 per tanks. Also E5 is ~14p more expensive on average, so that makes it ~£9 more per tank.

Also it doesn't make engine healthier, ethanol is actually common additive to clean the injectors and even carbon build-up.

If my memory serves - the only part at risk was 1 or 2 o-rings in fuel tank. But again 10% of ethanol is too low concentration to cause any issues (in my opinion), I have run my car extensively on E85 without issues, so I can't see how E10 could hurt. Besides many cars in Europe run exclusively on E85 and there are no reports on anything failing. 

[H3XME]

52 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

It doesn't make £5 difference in MPGs, E5 is ~1.5%, for simplicity let's say £2 per tanks. Also E5 is ~14p more expensive on average, so that makes it ~£9 more per tank.

Also it doesn't make engine healthier, ethanol is actually common additive to clean the injectors and even carbon build-up.

If my memory serves - the only part at risk was 1 or 2 o-rings in fuel tank. But again 10% of ethanol is too low concentration to cause any issues (in my opinion), I have run my car extensively on E85 without issues, so I can't see how E10 could hurt. Besides many cars in Europe run exclusively on E85 and there are no reports on anything failing. 

Regular E10 is £1.46/L by me.. Esso 99+ is £1.55/L. That's ~£5.50 more over 60l tank. I'll stick to Super Unleaded :) 

[Linas.P]

No doubt - you are free to run your car any way you like 🙂

I am just saying it isn't the same price and there is no risk of damaging the engine. 

[Zuke]

The main reason for asking is we are about to go up to Scotland touring in the car. There does seem to be a reasonable amount of petrol stations with E5, from what I'm reading, if I'm stuck , the odd tank, or half tank of E10 will be ok.

Previous to the switch to mainly E10 I used standard unleaded, which was E5. Since now only running on premium, Vpower etc I have noticed a gain in performance. Also MPG seems to have improved .  

[Ozzay]

34 minutes ago, Zuke said:

The main reason for asking is we are about to go up to Scotland touring in the car. There does seem to be a reasonable amount of petrol stations with E5, from what I'm reading, if I'm stuck , the odd tank, or half tank of E10 will be ok.

Previous to the switch to mainly E10 I used standard unleaded, which was E5. Since now only running on premium, Vpower etc I have noticed a gain in performance. Also MPG seems to have improved .  

I went Scotland for the NC500 in my IS250. Down there I found pumps Unleaded 95 without the E numbers. E10 won't hurt I didn't notice a difference in performance I must have used it twice at least out there I think I filled up 4 or 5 tanks worth in my whole journey.

[Zuke]

22 hours ago, Ozzay said:

I went Scotland for the NC500 in my IS250. Down there I found pumps Unleaded 95 without the E numbers. E10 won't hurt I didn't notice a difference in performance I must have used it twice at least out there I think I filled up 4 or 5 tanks worth in my whole journey.

The trip is evolving more in the direction of the west coast, Mull Skye Oban.. but we may tootle up that way, the joys of being retired Oz. Good to know it wont kill the car. Are there any additives that might help?

 

[Mr Vlad]

Use this

[Ozzay]

21 hours ago, Zuke said:

The trip is evolving more in the direction of the west coast, Mull Skye Oban.. but we may tootle up that way, the joys of being retired Oz. Good to know it wont kill the car. Are there any additives that might help?

 

I would want to visit the Isle of Skye someday

I used the Wynns Specialist E10 Protector. I can't say anything about it except I hope it did something in there. But like Linas said, can't see how a few tankfulls would do any damage. It's long-term use of the stuff that builds up the water. Vlad posted some stuff from Millers. Just used Millers oil in the IS250 and I think the oil is meant to be top-notch so probably can trust this brand.

 

I probably would not waste money worrying about a 2-3 tanks of E10 so don't waste your money buying protection.