ethanol sucks

[mjk86]

My truck and everyone elses car works just fine on ethanol added fuel. Its no more aggressive than any other organic solvent you run through there (in fact less so). Ethanol causing harm is a giant myth. If you spend 50 grand on a brand new outboard....its built to run on ethanol fuel. Ethanol is a liquid carbon fuel source, it burns like all the others. (FYI....look up all the ethers, ketones, chlorinated solvents, acetates and other solvents that are in stabil/sea foam....they are all MUCH more aggresive than ethanol.)

[dtrs5kprs]

Rapid Roberts in KC gas ethanol free although it's 93 octane. Phillips 66 in Branson West has it in 91 octane.

Every gallon in my boat, except what the dealer put in it, has been from Rapid Roberts in Kim City. 93 all the way, for 10 years. I do regularly use QuickKleen and Merc stabilizer.

[TRRANGER]

My truck and everyone elses car works just fine on ethanol added fuel. Its no more aggressive than any other organic solvent you run through there (in fact less so). Ethanol causing harm is a giant myth. If you spend 50 grand on a brand new outboard....its built to run on ethanol fuel. Ethanol is a liquid carbon fuel source, it burns like all the others. (FYI....look up all the ethers, ketones, chlorinated solvents, acetates and other solvents that are in stabil/sea foam....they are all MUCH more aggresive than ethanol.)

Yes you are correct cars do run just fine on ethanol fuel, but your car very rarely if ever sits for weeks or maybe a month at time and it is not 2 stroke. Ethanol fuel it self is not the problem, Phase separation and water absorbsion are the culprits in 2 stroke engines that require oil in the fuel to oil your cylinders. Phase separated fuel will smell and look totally different than any Gas you have ever been around. Stations fuel can separate in the tanks even very busy stations, the only way to salvage separated fuel is to add multiple gallons of isopropal alcohol to the tank and aggitate till it absorbs the water were it can be burned thus increasing the acohol percentage. If you want to know why I know this is because i worked for a company that built and repaired fuel station equipment and we got regular calls to fix separated fuel and a station will spend some money to not loose 3000 gallons of fuel. For you old timers remember HEET, if you ever looked at the ingreidients Alcohol It fixes water in fuel. Ethanol bad for 2 strokes and anything that sits for extended periods of time and anything carburated.

[flyrod17]

I use Marine Stabil every fill-up.

And I've tried the "ethanol free" route only to find out most stations have ethanol gas even though they think they are free.

When E15 comes to town...........look out.

Most folks won't see the labels on the pumps and E15 is a sure fire engine killer.

HATE ethanol gas...........

If you run Mercury they have a fuel additive for ethanol, but even with it my mechanic says that you should still run as pure gas as possible. He took a test kit to all the stations in our town that had "no-ethanol" and found only two places with < 1% and three places with as much as 3%. He says this is because of the ethanol "left over" after switching back and the traces in all gas.

[Blll]

Buying gas on the water gives me the chance to fill up with "E-TEC" marine fuel. That said most marinas have not lowered their price per gallon since I moved here and It's a crime to charge $4.50/gal. Horseshoe Bend Marina is my new best friend but do need to add a sip of Stabil.

[flyrod17]

My truck and everyone elses car works just fine on ethanol added fuel. Its no more aggressive than any other organic solvent you run through there (in fact less so). Ethanol causing harm is a giant myth. If you spend 50 grand on a brand new outboard....its built to run on ethanol fuel. Ethanol is a liquid carbon fuel source, it burns like all the others. (FYI....look up all the ethers, ketones, chlorinated solvents, acetates and other solvents that are in stabil/sea foam....they are all MUCH more aggresive than ethanol.)

But sir you are incorrect. The new vehicles, my truck included, will run and perform on ethanol gas because it's designed for Flex-Fuel but the gas mileage is significantly down graded. As for the damage ethanol fuel causes it's because of the condensation ethanol fuel promotes more than the actual performance of the fuel burning (BTUs) itself, which does burn hotter than regular unleaded gasoline. Also if you have a vehicle a little older like my 2008 work car, the ethanol laced fuel makes my engine ping/knock horribly. I could delve into the chemistry because I did the research when I bougt my new boat / Merc 250 outboard. They recommend absolutely no more than 10% ethanol by volume and even with that they require a stabilizer.

[Quillback]

Just went out and tested no-ethanol gas that I use for my small 2 stroke engines. No ethanol in it. I'm going to test that gas at the HWY 62 station at the pump, next time I stop there, you never know. But so far, I have yet to find any ethanol in gas that is labeled no ethanol.

[flyrod17]

Every gallon in my boat, except what the dealer put in it, has been from Rapid Roberts in Kim City. 93 all the way, for 10 years. I do regularly use QuickKleen and Merc stabilizer.

good to know that I have a place to fuel up in the area I'm staying next week. Thanks Dave

[flyrod17]

You guys need to get one of these

IMG_20150514_101909.jpg

and see what you are getting from your "no ethanol" stations. It's all E10. I test the fuel in every boat that comes in here and "good fuel" all tests the same regardless, and they come from all points between here and Minnesota/Florida/South Carolina/Colorado.

Stabil does a fine job on a tank of fuel that is SITTING MOTIONLESS for a month or more, but when you are shaking it around and just burning it you are wasting your money.

As for Seafoam and other non-combustables....I have attempted to manually clean gummy fuel system components and carboned ring grooves with it and it absolutely does nothing even when assisted with a brass brush. The only thing I have found that removes hard carbon deposits is a FREE substance called Water.

As for rubber degradation from Alcohol enhanced fuel....All I have to say is that things made from rubber have NEVER lasted forever and have always required reasonable replacement after time. All the crankshaft seals and such in your post 1990 outboards are "alcohol tolerant" material, but they still don't last forever. The funny thing about the alcohol tolerant rubber in your fuel lines and primer bulbs is that it degrades quicker from temperature variations (hot-cold-hot-cold) than regular rubber degrades from contact with alcohol.

You guys that are always mixing up this witches brew to burn in your outboards are honesty wasting your time and money. It might make you feel good or something, but that's only because you read too much.

I respect your professional opinion but as for southern Oklahoma, there may be a little ethanol, but not much, not nearly 10% and that's from my own eyes and someone that I trust. Bob

[Flysmallie]

If I cant get ethanol free, then I always pump the Premium stuff.

Premium usually means higher octane. You know how they get a higher octane? They add more ethanol.