Ethanol free Or Not

My boat is a 1989 sea ray 5.7 L I/O it has never had reg gas always ethanol free can I start using reg gas with it it might have some fuel left in the tank,,and if so what should i put in the tank to help with the ethanol fuel??? Obviously I cant afford that fuel anymore,,,,Thanks Greek

Re: Ethanol free Or Not

Many will tell you that the problem with Ethanol fuel is the fact that it is alcohol and alcohol attracts water, which is detrimental in a vehicle that spends a lot of time in water.
That said, I only run pump gas in mine and have not had a problem yet. I am wary of leaving it in the tank over the winter though, as it has a long time to go stale and collect water from surrounding vapor through the tank vent.

The next thing about ethanol is your fuel tank. What is it made of? Some boats have fiberglass tanks and ethanol fuel causes problems in fiberglass tanks. I do not know the details, I just know I have been told to avoid ethanol fuel in fiberglass tanks. Fortunately my tank is aluminum.

Chris

Re: Ethanol free Or Not

Here is what Mercruiser has to say about fuel for your boat.

http://www.mercurymarine.com/servic...nd-maintenance/faqs/mercruiser/?category=fuel

Re: Ethanol free Or Not

Greek56 said:

My boat is a 1989 sea ray 5.7 L I/O it has never had reg gas always ethanol free can I start using reg gas with it it might have some fuel left in the tank,,and if so what should i put in the tank to help with the ethanol fuel??? Obviously I cant afford that fuel anymore,,,,Thanks Greek

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If you are going to use most of the regular pump gas right away, you should be fine. But, if the boat sits for a while without use (a month or more), then use ONLY non-ethanol fuel. The boat sitting with ethanol fuel in the tank WILL attract moisture, and even with a water serarating filter, it can cause a lot of headache.

Re: Ethanol free Or Not

if the boat sits for a while without use (a month or more), then use ONLY non-ethanol fuel.

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Did you make that up all by yourself?

Re: Ethanol free Or Not

Why not just add stabil or something similar when you fill up at the pump?

Stabil is supposed to keep the fuel good for up to a year...

Re: Ethanol free Or Not

Don S said:

Did you make that up all by yourself?

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Ok *****. What the hell is your problem?? Awefully opinionated for a moderator, aren't you?? Make it up?? It's a widely known fact that if ethanol fuel sits for long periods of time, you will likely get water in the tank. I also speak from 20 yrs of boat owning/boat maint experience.

Re: Ethanol free Or Not

Harbor Hopper said:

Ok *****. What the hell is your problem?? Awefully opinionated for a moderator, aren't you?? Make it up?? It's a widely known fact that if ethanol fuel sits for long periods of time, you will likely get water in the tank. I also speak from 20 yrs of boat owning/boat maint experience.

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I own 5 boats myself and have 45 years of first hand experience. If you add my kids' boats and all my boater friends I can think of up to 20 boats that use E10 and have for the last 10 years (or when we first got stuck with it) and not a single one ever had water in the tank. This is northern NY weather, so we lay them up with full tanks all winter long.

I realize that some people do have problems, but the implication that everyone will is a myth. A lot has to do with the environment the boat is kept in, plus whether you treat the gas and what you treat it with.

Re: Ethanol free Or Not

All I can say is this... We took our 2 week vacation with our family down to Dale Hollow and pulled our 1996 Sylvan V196 with a Mercruiser 4.3 LX & Mercarb 2 barrel along with us. Six months before that trip was made... the boat went to our local marina who works on 3 of our other boats and had the timing checked, filters changed, plugs changed, and the usual routine maintenace. Within those 6 months after having that done... the boat ran FLAWLESSLY! The weekend before we left... just as ALWAYS on the way to the lake... we filled up the boat at our local Kroger (supermarket gas station) then headed out for the day. When we got to Dale Hollow we dropped the boat and ran on that same tank of gas until it got down to about 1/4 of a tank. I decided to spend $100.00 to fill it up with the "ethanol free" marina gas and we went out for the day. On the way back from about 4 hours on the water... the boat started surging and stalling. I limped it back to the dock, went in and bought some Star Tron and tried to start it again. The motor would not even hold idle. After messing with it for 2 days while on vacation trying to get it to run... I paid the marina to pump the gas out, rebuild the carb, pulled it out of the water and took it to "Joe's Gas Station", filled it back up with 87 octane, and lord and behold... after about 15 minutes of sputtering... it runs just as FLAWLESS as before. Just a thought on "ethanol free" fuel!

Re: Ethanol free Or Not

I am not sure that one isolated case would sway me one way or the other.

Blame the place you bought the last load of fuel prior to the "problem"..........they gave you possibly contaminated gas. (ethanol or no)

Re: Ethanol free Or Not

JimS123 said:

I own 5 boats myself and have 45 years of first hand experience. If you add my kids' boats and all my boater friends I can think of up to 20 boats that use E10 and have for the last 10 years (or when we first got stuck with it) and not a single one ever had water in the tank. This is northern NY weather, so we lay them up with full tanks all winter long.

I realize that some people do have problems, but the implication that everyone will is a myth. A lot has to do with the environment the boat is kept in, plus whether you treat the gas and what you treat it with.

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When you store them over the winter with FULL tanks, then you likely will not have a problem with water, since the tank is full, which means there is little room for large amounts of water to accumulate. Plus if you add a fuel treatment, great. Not everyone does.

Re: Ethanol free Or Not

Harbor Hopper said:

When you store them over the winter with FULL tanks, then you likely will not have a problem with water, since the tank is full, which means there is little room for large amounts of water to accumulate. Plus if you add a fuel treatment, great. Not everyone does.

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I agree with that statement, but not everybody does. Look at other threads about e10 and half of the people will swear that you have to keep the tank low over winter.

Re: Ethanol free Or Not

JimS123 said:

I agree with that statement, but not everybody does. Look at other threads about e10 and half of the people will swear that you have to keep the tank low over winter.

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I would say MORE than half. I have NEVER stored my boat with a full tank. And in fact I have ALWAYS stored my boat with between 1/4 and1/2 tank.

And since 10% ethanol has become standard replacing MTBE, I have ALWAYS stored my boat with 1/4 tank or less.

No Water. I live in Western Wa. Hi humidity and cool temps. NO WATER. I am believing the guy that said he doubts pleasure boat fuel tanks "condense" a lot of water.. http://www.yachtsurvey.com/myth_of_condensation_in_fuel_tanks.htm

At least with my 44 gallon tank.


If you have water in your tank, look at the fuel supplier and your own fuel tankcap (leaking in the rain during washdown etc)