Ethanol Fuel Problems

[boattune]

I am a dealer (33 years experience) in central Fl and i have heard it all from all of the engine manufacturers(i am a dealer for all), so here is the scoop...

Ethanol goes through phase separation when stored. So don't store fuel when it has Ethanol in it.
Ethanol eats fiberglass and other materials. It is a tremendous cleaner. It will loosen fuel deposits in fuel lines, tank, and filters and send the crap on down the stream to your engine mounted fuel filters and fuel injectors. So don't use ethanol fuel one week then reg fuel the next, just stay with the one that is more convenient. preferably reg fuel.
If you have fiberglass tanks (like Yellowfins and Boston Whalers) you are in trouble. get new tanks if possible.
Make sure you have the correct size props, ethanol will give you less power and make your engines work harder. You should prop your boat so that your engines reach the top or slightly above the rec rpm range with your normal load. If the boat labors to get on plane it is a sign that your props are too "big". If you hit the rev limiter when you throw the throttles down, then you may have too "small" a prop.
Change your fuel filters at least every year. If you want, cut hem open and look inside. If it looks clean, great, but let it dry and you may notice a white powder appears. This is clogging the filter element. It's like seaweed, blocks your view in the water, but remove it from the water and it shrinks.

There really is not much to maintaining these new engines. the most important maintenance is oil changes, checking anodes, keep water pump kit fresh, ck thermostats, fuel cap O-ring keep battery and electrical connections clean and free of corrosion. Some need spark plugs more often, some it's like your car- not too often. 90% of the problems we fix are either fuel related or overheating from worn out or mis-installed water pumps. Fuel injectors get clogged from fuel "turning" into varnish. Use the boat and open it up every now and then. call or write if you need any advice, i'm not soiciting, just offering free help. Bob Leatherman 407-249-1124 bobl@boattune.com

 

[seasick]

E10 has about the same percentage of alcohol as does a decent beer. So.. don't spill beer on your fiberglass, keep it out of your tank and filters and instead of storing it, drink it.

 

[GWTour275]

Back when MTBE was added to fuel and ethanol first came out you could not mix the two, nobody has any fuel today that contains MTBE, it is perfectly fine to mix ethanol fuel with none ethanol fuel, all you are doing is diluting the % of ethanol.

 

[LUNDINROOF]

I hope that GWTOUR275 is right. The marina where I usually purchase my gas only provides alcohol free gas. 99% of my fuel needs are handled there. However, on the way back to launch my boat in February, I will pass 30 gas stations that sell alcohol laced gas for .80/gal less than the marina. This is too much of a bargain to pass up considering I will need a little more than 150 gallons.

 

[Curmudgeon]

This is too much of a bargain to pass up considering I will need a little more than 150 gallons.

Yeah, the money you save will get you a little more than an hour of shop time to diagnose any problems you might experience due to ethanol shock. Some folks have problems, some don't. Are ya feeling lucky ... :uhm

 

[LUNDINROOF]

Yes, I am. Also, once I fill up, I doubt this fuel will sit in the tank long. After three months of sitting in a warehouse, this boat and I are going to spend a lot of time together on the water.

 

[Grog]

Be sure to have an extra 10 micron (or less) fuel filter handy, the ethanol will clean your system. If you have carbs it's less of an issue but if you have injection, change the filters on the motor at the end of the season and look inside of the VST tank. Also if your low pressure fuel pumps are old, plan on changing them soon.

 

[Tucker]

Here in the ultra liberal state of Maryland we have had this Ethanol crammed up our a$$ for almost 10-years. There are no ethanol free pumps. Better learn to live with this stuff, they're even talking about raising it to 15%. Strongly recommend using those new 2-micron Racors and Startron. If that fuel phase-separates on you, you'll be hating life. Yep, been there.

 

[BobP]

I never get a drop of water from my racors 2 or 10 micron, since ethanol will not allow it. It's all burned. Can't even call it a water separator any longer.
The idea today is to check for abnormal color visually in bowl.

Make sure no water resides at bottom of tank in non-ethanol fuel tank. In it, just like oil -water goes right to the bottom. A little or lot, it's in there.

The old timers from the northeast will recall what dry gas is and when it was on sale (come Fall). If the gas line ever froze in car, no way starting motor.
Had to haul car into heated garage overnight and allow to thaw out.

So its the first batch of ethanol and subsequnet batches (after a long time period in between) that will show up as trouble or not, in non-ethanol tanks. Racors will take thedebris, perhaps varnish/gum on tank walls will dissolve and pass through (not good).

Fuel will last a long time when treated per product claims, I guess ethanol is even worse if tank is vented to (moist) atmosphere as it always is.

All that would happen to untreated non-ethanol fuel was varnish/gum and loss of octane (some power), but it burned. Water in a car gas tank would rust out the bottom from the inside.