I saw this mentioned on Alan's forum and then this article popped up today. The ethanol added to gasoline is very bad for marine engines. The government just passed a regulation increasing the allowance from 10% to 15% ethanol in gas. This is bad news for boat owners.
http://blog.wired2fish.com/blog/bid/7056...hing-Boats
Has anybody had problems with this? Do any of you use ethanol treatments for you marine fuel?
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Mercury released a statement about it. Something about how 10% is ok, but 15% can really eff up your engine.
Break Out Another Thousand
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Ethanol cost me 3000$last spring! gota love it![mad]
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Alan mentioned a similar warning from Yamaha, but it was 10% is bad..... 15% is worse.
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I'm sorry to hear that, fishley. What do you do now to prevent the problem from happening again?
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The problem with Ethanol in Gasoline is that it bonds with water very readily. While this is not an issue in cars and trucks, it is terrible for marine motors because they are used exclusively in moist and wet conditions. The bonded water and ethanol can gum up and ruin fuel system components *and can eventually cause motor failure.
From what I gather, the options to prevent trouble are using an ethanol treatment, only using very fresh gas (discard old gas that sits for more than a week) , and flushing unused gas from your motor after each use.
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If you have a Yammie 2 stroke you should be using a gas treatment. Especially in the winter when the cold temperatures will precipitate moisture in your tanks. Marine Stabil with gas fills and Seafoam once a year is what I use.
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