Outboard Water Separators?

[jeb]

So silly question here.......

What do you do with old fuel?

I never have any from the boat. It's 3 years old now and I have 400 hours on the motor and over 1500 hours on the front depth finder. It doesn't sit around much. But when we do have old gas to get rid of, we mostly burn it through our John Deere garden tractor. But I'm not talking known bad fuel. This would be stabilized fuel and/or dirt bike fuel that has been in the tanks for a month or more. I'm not sure what to do with old, unstabilized fuel.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

I have never used any kind of fuel stabilizer (not saying good or bad, just haven't), and my small engines have always started. I don't have a boat motor, but my lawn mower gas can sits for quite a while, and the fuel in the mower has never gave me any kind of problem. My last mower was 7 years old and never has been "winterized", always started up for me in the spring, my weed trimmer is still going after 7 years, and that fuel is stored longer. The trimmer fuel is mixed and I have been told that the oil mix acts as a stabilizer. I don't know though.

[Stump bumper]

Not to down anyone's belief system I just put 0 confidence in "manufacturer's recommendations" since I know marketing and know everyone has a price. If one more mechanic tells me the factory rep won't pay for an engine repair due to me not buying oil at their shop or a certain brand I will record it and sue the dealership. Every Ford gas cap between 2006- until the BP Oil spill recommended BP gas but I know there is zero difference in BP, Shell or Exxon gas and funny how Ford changed their mind when BP got negative press.

J-Doc I know it is not PC but people have been killing brush with gas and desiel long before Walmart or Home Depot were thought of, and after it seps into the ground you can't light it. Just make sure it is somewhere you never want grass to grow. Before EPA was so strong I dropped 10,000 gallons of Jet fuel from a helicopter due to sling loading in a cross wind and all we did back then was wash it down it with a fire hose and the grass grew back the next spring.

If you really need to get rid of a few gallons just bring it to me and I have a $25 lawn mower that I don't care what I burn in it and you can mulch the leaves in the back yard if it makes you feel greener.

Guess I just never had the money to worry about a lot of "old gas" since I have trouble affording "enough gas" just to get through the day and have always brought the boat home dry. But I have pumped out a gallon or less that sat for a while(like a year) and the old push mower never complained about it.

The real funny part of this everyone told me I need to add "dry gas" when I lived up North for almost 20 years and now those same people complain about "ethanol" and both are just another way of saying ALCOHOL so someone make up my mind does ALCOHOL remove water or add water to fuel because every product that "removes water" is just alcohol.

If any one needs to dump alcohol my truck burns E85 and I will except all the Ethanol you need to dispose of.

[jeb]

Not to down anyone's belief system I just put 0 confidence in "manufacturer's recommendations" since I know marketing and know everyone has a price. If one more mechanic tells me the factory rep won't pay for an engine repair due to me not buying oil at their shop or a certain brand I will record it and sue the dealership. Every Ford gas cap between 2006- until the BP Oil spill recommended BP gas but I know there is zero difference in BP, Shell or Exxon gas and funny how Ford changed their mind when BP got negative press.

I understand. But often times companies will "recommend" a product because they have ownership of the brand or a marketing agreement. Like Ford recommending Motocraft filters, etc. When they recommend a product they have no apparent financial interest in, it carries more weight with me.

The real funny part of this everyone told me I need to add "dry gas" when I lived up North for almost 20 years and now those same people complain about "ethanol" and both are just another way of saying ALCOHOL so someone make up my mind does ALCOHOL remove water or add water to fuel because every product that "removes water" is just alcohol.

I lived in MN for 35 years before moving here, so I feel your pain! There are different kinds of alcohol. The stuff used in the fuel "dryers" is usually methanol or isopropyl. With the advent of ethanol fuel, the need to run the dryer additives has pretty much gone away. All 3 of those alcohols remove water from the TANK by attaching themselves to any water molecules (known as hygroscopy) that may exist in the fuel. Then they carry the water through the fuel system to be burned safely in the motor. Otherwise, the water could build up in the tank and cause frozen fuel line issues and other problems.

I never really heard anyone complain about E10 up north. MN was one of, if not the, first states to mandate its use. There was a lot of fear about it when it first went on the market, but it was all for naught.

[Stump bumper]

I agree Jeb, but I have a Bass Fishing site that people blame every small motor or truck problem on E10 and they range fro Michigan to New Jersey. They are also still dumping in Dry gas so guess I was just voicing frustration in the wrong place.

I remember when they took lead out of gas and it caused real problems with the engines we had at the time, but everyone seemed to accept that much better, but when they found out that the replacement additives were more cancer causing than smoking and ethanol was safe and much greener all I heard was complaining and government control ect.

I have been driving an E85 Truck now for 12 years( though I don't burn much E85) and have trouble believing that that and industry as big as the outboard motors have not caught up on the fact ethanol is in fuel and have not used the proper lines and gaskets by now.

[J-Doc]

Well, my old gas is at least 2yrs old and I used Staybil at the time. I have a full 6-gallon Evinrude can full of fuel mixed at 50:1. The other 6-gallon can has about half a tank I believe. I could be wrong. I hate to pour it out but I don't want to use 2yr old gas in a newly-rebuilt motor. If Fishingwrench says it's "OK", I trust him but it just feels wrong instinctively.

As for EPA and dumping, I've seen my Dad pour out things that would make the EPA faint! LOL! Changing the oil? Dump it! Burning a brush fire? Mix some oil and gas and light it up! Hahaha!

I live in the city and it's not exactly easy to dispose of 6-10 gallons of fuel without the risk of fire and I don't have a place that I don't want grass growing so I'll have to find another option. I wonder if Walmart will take fuel? I know they take DIY oil.

[fishinwrench]

If Fishingwrench says it's "OK", I trust him but it just feels wrong instinctively.

Nope, get rid of it. Or bring it and I will.

[jeb]

I remember when they took lead out of gas and it caused real problems with the engines we had at the time, but everyone seemed to accept that much better, but when they found out that the replacement additives were more cancer causing than smoking and ethanol was safe and much greener all I heard was complaining and government control ect.

I understand that arguement. And really, ethanol has come back to bite many of the greenies groups that were at least partly responsible for pushing it through. With the steeply rising corn prices caused by ethanol demands, more and more margainal farm land is being brought back into production, impacting land and water health. And impacting wild game populations because of loss of habitat. It also increase food prices, which leads to more starvation in 3rd world countries. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I have been driving an E85 Truck now for 12 years( though I don't burn much E85) and have trouble believing that that and industry as big as the outboard motors have not caught up on the fact ethanol is in fuel and have not used the proper lines and gaskets by now.

They have. Ethanol use has been approved in all the major outboards for a lot of years now. But it seems the engine referred to in this thread was built before ethanol was around.

[Quillback]

Arkansas pols (Democrats and Republicans) asked the EPA to temporarily roll back the ethanol mandate, mainly because of the impact it has on poultry and animal feed. EPA refused to do it. So we'll get to pay more at the grocery store, folks in the 3rd world can starve, and the EPA will continue it's assinine policies.

[rhondafish]

For Fishin Wrench. We run a 2004 Merc 4 Stroke and have a 1999 Yamaha 2 stroke 9.9 kicker.

Both have only had no ethanol in them, and we are real careful about clean fuel. We only plan to run pure gas, but this discussion has made us curious

Question is this: Are these engines safe to run ethanol thru?

If not, what do you suggest?

We are pretty much Do It Yourselfers...learning as we go.

Thanks