Ethonal in 2 stroke?

I noticed that the pumps at the local gas stations have added a sticker stating that the fuel dispensed may contain up to 10% ethanol.
I've just purchased a 78 crestliner with a 135 hp johnson on it. I am concerned what the ethanol will do to this motor. Will it kill it?
I know the guys running snow machines around here avoided fuel with mte in it because it would burn the two stroke motors up. Will 10% ethonal do the same type damage?

Re: Ethonal in 2 stroke?

There are tons of posts on this topic. The opinions vary, but here are some issues:

Ethanol dissolves older rubber such as fuel lines so you want all of them replaced with alchohol tolerant. And don't use a fiberglass tank.

You MUST have a water seperator type filter, in addition to whatever the engine has in it. No paper filters in the engine.

Start clean: empty your tank and clean it; get new gas. Consider a carb job (and new water pump) as part of your purchase price.

Ethanol causes "phase seperation" of the gas and can cause water to accumulate in the tank. To help reduce this, don't keep gas over a couple of months (the best excuse to go run your boat around!), treat new gas with stabilizer (you can't treat old gas), keep your tank full to minimize condensation, try not to leave portable tanks in the sun when not in use.

You can run old gas through a larger engine such as a car but not really nasty gas.

The people who say they have no problems with ethanol live in colder regions where the evaporation/condensation/humidity is not a large factor. Disregard statements like "I run old gas in my '67 Camaro" b/c as I said, larger engines can take it. There has almost always been some ethanol in gas but the percentage is higher now.

Re: Ethonal in 2 stroke?

I have several old two strokes. They were built when leaded gas was the norm, then unleaded came along and now unleaded with 10% ethanol for many year. Never an issue with any of them. I however kept adding lead substitue when unleaded was phased out. Here in MN they are always talking about upping the ethanol to a much higher mandatory content to keep the industry going as most folks don't desire ethanol. I dread when that happens. We have gas with as high as 85% ethanol here but you opt to buy that.

Re: Ethonal in 2 stroke?

jkust said:

I have several old two strokes. They were built when leaded gas was the norm, then unleaded came along and now unleaded with 10% ethanol for many year. Never an issue with any of them. I however kept adding lead substitue when unleaded was phased out. Here in MN they are always talking about upping the ethanol to a much higher mandatory content to keep the industry going as most folks don't desire ethanol. I dread when that happens. We have gas with as high as 85% ethanol here but you opt to buy that.

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2 strokes don't need lead or lead substitutes.

Re: Ethonal in 2 stroke?

1) E-85 is intended for flex fuel vehicles only and MUST NOT under any circumstances be used in an outboard motor. It is 85% ethanol/15% regular gasoline. When the price differential is greater than 40 cents/gallon I use it in my car.

2) We have used ethanol blended fuel (E-10) in Minnesota since 1997 and simply do not have issues with it "unless" the engine in question happens to be a non-ethanol tolerant age. Even then, simply replacing the non-ethanol tolerant rubber hoses is all that's needed.

3) Ethanol is a super fuel system cleaner. Old engines (or even newer ones) that have neglected fuel systems due to lack of fuel system treatment use or simply long periods of storage, can have the gum and varnish deposits cleaned up and deposited in the filters and small carb passages. If the engine tends to run lean, better rebuild the carb(s).

4) Four stroke engines definitely need water separating fuel filters. EFI/DFI two strokes also need one. Older carbed two strokes are much less problematic in this area but it is still a good decision to add one.

5) SeaFoam or Stabil should be added to the fuel especially on boats that are used rather infrequently. When added, run the engine long enough to get the treatment into the engine.

6) Six - Nine month old fuel is still perfectly usable if properly treated. Use it in your lawnmower if it was not treated.

E10 is just fine and will not damage an engine if you understand the precautions that need to be taken.

Re: Ethonal in 2 stroke?

Silvertip said:

1) E-85 is intended for flex fuel vehicles only and MUST NOT under any circumstances be used in an outboard motor. It is 85% ethanol/15% regular gasoline. When the price differential is greater than 40 cents/gallon I use it in my car.

2) We have used ethanol blended fuel (E-10) in Minnesota since 1997 and simply do not have issues with it "unless" the engine in question happens to be a non-ethanol tolerant age. Even then, simply replacing the non-ethanol tolerant rubber hoses is all that's needed.

3) Ethanol is a super fuel system cleaner. Old engines (or even newer ones) that have neglected fuel systems due to lack of fuel system treatment use or simply long periods of storage, can have the gum and varnish deposits cleaned up and deposited in the filters and small carb passages. If the engine tends to run lean, better rebuild the carb(s).

4) Four stroke engines definitely need water separating fuel filters. EFI/DFI two strokes also need one. Older carbed two strokes are much less problematic in this area but it is still a good decision to add one.

5) SeaFoam or Stabil should be added to the fuel especially on boats that are used rather infrequently. When added, run the engine long enough to get the treatment into the engine.

6) Six - Nine month old fuel is still perfectly usable if properly treated. Use it in your lawnmower if it was not treated.

E10 is just fine and will not damage an engine if you understand the precautions that need to be taken.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. This is the info I was hoping to get.