fuel

[hikbik88]

I've been told that outboard engines need to have something done to them to prevent damage from running fuel that is 10% ethanol. Is this true? What needs to be done? New Triumph owner of a 2004 191FS w/ an 05 Yamaha 150 Four Stroke.

 

[cagrove]

Install a fuel filter

I've been told that outboard engines need to have something done to them to prevent damage from running fuel that is 10% ethanol. Is this true? What needs to be done? New Triumph owner of a 2004 191FS w/ an 05 Yamaha 150 Four Stroke.

The engines are designed to run the E10 fuel. However, you can run into problems if you get water in the fuel as the alcohol attracts the water and carries it to your carbs where it forms a gunky mess. You need to have a good 10 micron fuel filter in the fuel line to separate the water. Other than that, you should be fine with the E10.

 

[Procon]

if you dont have a fuel/water separator, it would be in your best interest to install one E10 fuel or not. The small filters on the Yamaha's are good, but a canister type fuel/water separator is the best way to go.

 

[Dave LeGear]

All good and logical tips above and in the last issue of Shallow Water Angler http://www.shallowwaterangler.com/
they had a good read on this subject and that article alone was worth the price of the magazine in my opinion

Ethanol does make for a very good octane booster, but what seems to be the concern of some is how many times is X amount of fuel is getting treated with the Ethanol blend? Thus E10 could equate to more like E15 or even higher when exiting the pump.

Ethanol also does not have the same amount of BTU's (about half) as regular gasoline so I do not see E85 as a real solid solution to buying less overseas oil either. From the test results I have read, the same Chevy truck running E85 went from 15 to 10 MPG thus your cost per gallon was even higher from burning more of it Something they also fail to mention on the TV ads now don't they...

I say such because your Outboard "may / will" do the same if you buy your gasoline / white lighting blended fuel above the tested and allowed 10% mark. Thus you may find out (the hard way) that the fuel you are trying to burn, has been treated more than once with Ethanol.

Here again, if you are not tracking fuel burn rates you may "suspect" such, but will not have the hard numbers to compare these trends and really know. Reading the numbers though only helps when all things are equal meaning... The engine is NOT in need of any service work like a Spark Plug replacement or having plugged and dirty fuel injectors. Just another good reason though to track fuel usage, this so you can change fuel suppliers if needed

 

[hikbik88]

Thanks to all for the great advice!

 

[MolarBoater]

Install a water separator and always....year around....treat your gas with StaBil fuel preservative.

Try to use your boat more frequently.

This is my theory on boat storage for 3+ months.

1) run gas to @1/4 tank with Stabil treatment
2) add 5 gallons of fresh premium Stabil treated gas every month
3) run fresh mix thru motor if possible
4) top of your batteries while your at it
5) that gives you 6 months minumum while decreasing condensation space

other option,
1) prior to storage, with near empty tank, fill tank with premium Stabil treated gas
2) this initially eliminates "condensation space"
3) this starts you at the highest octane levels
4) ethanol gas may loose freshness quickly so you will be working your way down from high octane to low octane during storage. How fast, not sure, but this has always been the manner I have stored my boat and will do it again this year. If trouble in the spring, I will do the new method.

 

[Dave LeGear]

Chevron states that in "Ideal" conditions that fuel can be stored for up to one year...

http://www.chevron.com/products/prodserv/fuels/bulletin/longterm_gasoline/

I though have seen fuel (mostly your Diesel grades) start to break down in as little 45 days. The above link though does have some good tips for long term storage with the best option (of course) to use it up as fast as possible. Now I do not see Octane degradation being much of an issue since most Outboards are "designed" to run on 87 octane fuel. Here again, that ECU programming to run on 87 grade fuel was done when the engine was as clean (zero to low carbon build up) which in many times is NOT real world conditions at all.

 

[foxbo]

Filled up last fall before storing the boat for witner with 87 octane treated with stabil. This past spring the engine ran like a piece of crap. Finally ran her under a quarter tank and refueled with 93 octane. Took awhile to get her run out but now idles and runs smooth again. This year I filled with 93 treated with stabil.

 

[Jan from Humboldt]

Switch to Startron, I think it works better than Stabul.