07-11-2007, 05:14 AM
I've got a question for those of you who are mechanically minded. I've got a 6 hp two-cycle Johnson outboard trolling motor that uses mixed gas. The manual says to use a 50:1 mix of gas and oil, but when I was at Fish Lake recently, that mix didn't work very well. My motor kept stalling out. The guy in the boat house said that they usually mix gas at a 100:1 ratio because of the altitude (elevation 9000 feet). I added some unmixed gas to my 50:1 gas-oil fuel and brought it up to more like 80 or 90 to 1, and the little motor ran just fine. This solution brings up two questions.
1. When I run the motor with a leaner oil mixture, does it reduce the lubrication that the mixed fuel provides and that the motor needs? In other words, am I running any risk of damaging my motor?
2. When I return from Fish Lake (elevation 9000 feet) and go out on Utah Lake (elevation 4500 feet), should I put more oil back in the mixed gas? Then when I go back to Fish Lake should I add more gas to the mixture? This could get confusing!
I would appreciate hearing from anybody who knows about such things--either through physics and chemistry classes or mechanical experience.
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1. When I run the motor with a leaner oil mixture, does it reduce the lubrication that the mixed fuel provides and that the motor needs? In other words, am I running any risk of damaging my motor?
2. When I return from Fish Lake (elevation 9000 feet) and go out on Utah Lake (elevation 4500 feet), should I put more oil back in the mixed gas? Then when I go back to Fish Lake should I add more gas to the mixture? This could get confusing!
I would appreciate hearing from anybody who knows about such things--either through physics and chemistry classes or mechanical experience.
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