Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

[Ken Clw]

I have a 1991 Mercury 4 cylinder outboard engine. I've been using BP gas which up until now was ethanol free. It now contains 10%. Will my engine run okay with the ethanol in it.

Thanks!

 

[JOSEPH FRISSORA]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

you can use it up to 10% but personally as a marine mecanic i couldnt recomend it it can cause preformance problems and its just best to avoid,the answer to your question is yes you can use it although i personally dont and strongly urge you not to

 

[JOSEPH FRISSORA]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

sorry, i didnt look at the year of your engine! no its not okay to use it with any engine made before 1992 those engines were not designed to handle the ammount of alchol in the fuel and it may cause major damage after constant use

 

[gss036]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

BP has been putting alcohol in their gas since the 80's. It will eat up your fuel lines if not changed and Merc specifically says not to use it, as they did for my1989 200 hp. I used it because of convenience (STATION 1 BLOCK AWAY) when I bought my boat/motor new in 1989, after a few months I started smelling gas and found soggy fuel line.

 

[109jb]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

In the midwest we have had 10% ethanol fuel for many many years. I used it in the 1976 Johnson 70 hp that I had and never had even one problem in the 10 or so years I had that boat. I've used it in old cars, old motorcycles, old everything and I have never never ever ever experienced any problems related to the fuel being an ethanol blend. Not saying it can't happen, but I haven't experienced it.

 

[BigBud08]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

Here in michigan they do not sell gas that does not have ethanol blended into it at the pumps. I am not talking about E85 but any unlead you do buy has 10% ethanol in it.

Make sure to clean and run out your carbs at end of season so not to let this corrosive fuel sit in your carbs and rot it away and use good fuel additives.

If I am wrong about purchasing ethanol free gasoline please tell me what stations sell it here in michigan so I can become "their best consumer of real gasoline" !

 

[JOSEPH FRISSORA]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

as a certified marine mechanic my oppinion is still no,mercury motors werent designed to handle gas with that much alchol in it untill 1992 and still shouldnt use it. and no fuel additive will counter the alchol either,the fuel lines will be destroyed and many internal parts could be damaged as well resulting in a very expensive repair, ive seen it happen many times

 

[daveswaves]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

Here in michigan they do not sell gas that does not have ethanol blended into it at the pumps. I am not talking about E85 but any unlead you do buy has 10% ethanol in it.

Make sure to clean and run out your carbs at end of season so not to let this corrosive fuel sit in your carbs and rot it away and use good fuel additives.

If I am wrong about purchasing ethanol free gasoline please tell me what stations sell it here in michigan so I can become "their best consumer of real gasoline" !

You may want to try these guys.
Sunoco 260 GT100 Locations
Consumer Products & Services?Race Fuels?Sunoco 260 GT100 Locations?Michigan





Michigan




Speedy Q
910 South Main St.
Lapeer, MI 48446
(810) 664-5831
Fairgrove Oil Company
1788 South Main Street
Fairgrove, MI 48733
(517) 693-6600

Speedway Store #3593
103 South Scott Road
St. Johns, MI 48879
(989) 227-1331

Van Manen Oil & Propane
0-305 Lake Michigan Drive
Grand Rapids, MI 49544
(616) 453-6344

Speedway Store #2290
880 E. Maple Road
Troy, MI 48083
(248) 585-6414
Speedway Store #2201
7 Mile Road & Newburgh
Livonia, MI 48152
(734) 464-3913
Corrigan Oil
1172 Venture Drive
Whitmore Lake, MI 48198
Contact: Steve Paul (517) 533-8310, ext. 2
Corrigan Oil
744 E. South Street
Jackson, MI 49203
Contact: Steve Paul (517) 536-8310, ext. 2

 

[corm]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

Hi,
You can always see if there is any of this in your area.
http://www.turboblue.com/typical.asp
It works great when running for beers.

 

[mjc3834merc]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

In Minnesota check out this web page. It's from the Minnesota Street Rod Assoc. web site. Lists the stations in Mn. that have Non oxygenated (no ethanol) fuel
http://www.msra.com/NonOxygenatedFuel/NonOxygenated Fuel List 08.01.09.pdf

 

[GonzagaCRO]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

In Croatia/Europe we have Eurosuper 95 and Eurosuper 98, 95 & 98 are octane values.
What kind of fuel do you have in America, I mean what octane value?
My friend was in Tampa Bay/Florida, he tried a Mustang with 210HP and Golf 5 GTI 200HP and said that my ?koda Octavia 1.8T with 180HP (motor is the same as in Golf 4 GTI) outperforms these two.
He also said that the mustang is slower that the GTI.
Is your fuel so bad or what?

 

[RaScLeS]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

all my fuel stations have ethanol in the gas, what am i supposed to do ? I ran two tanks of 91 with mixed 50:1 oil and it worked fine. but i dont want to wreck my motor. ive been using pump gas in all my old boats since i knew what they were. so....whats the solution if none of these special stations are around ?

 

[daveswaves]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

all my fuel stations have ethanol in the gas, what am i supposed to do ? I ran two tanks of 91 with mixed 50:1 oil and it worked fine. but i dont want to wreck my motor. ive been using pump gas in all my old boats since i knew what they were. so....whats the solution if none of these special stations are around ?

Solution is simple, upgrade your fuel lines to alcohol resistant type, change your fuel filter often, if you have a fiberglass tank consider replacing it. If possible buy your fuel from the same station each time. Marina,s are going to hate me for this but unless you know the marina has a good fuel system do not buy fuel there. If you have to buy fuel just buy enough to get home. I run my inlines on regular grade 87 octane oxegenated fuel with no problems. I have tuned my engines to run on 87.

 

[Jeff_G]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

Ethanol enriched fuel has been used for many years in the Midwest with few problems.
Alcohol is a solvent as well as an oxygenizer.
In older engines the alcohol will eventually degrade some rubber parts. Most engines from the late 80's,early 90's will have alcohol resistant rubber parts.
There has been a lot of talk about the ethanol all of a sudden destroying engines.
In my shop we are seeing more instances of water in the fuel. Some of the older fiberglass tanks are degrading.
In tanks in storage the fuel is also phase separating, attracting water and creating a soup on the bottom of the tank.
Some engines are still experiencing some rubber degradation.
However I personally believe some or most of the problems are the detergents in the fuel used to keep fuel injectors clean.
As for use in your engine. Go ahead and use up to 10% ethanol fuel if you can't find non ethanol fuel. Run with a good marine fuel stabilizer that helps reduce phase separation. Check your fuel for water. Just take a sample into a plastic bottle and let it sit for a minute or so.
Be careful of water separating filters. We are seeing more that are causing fuel starvation from swelling. The small inline filters are adequate for most outboards.
If you have an older outboard do as DaveW posted above and replace the fuel lines, rubber gaskets, diaphrams etc. The ethanol fuel won't hurt other parts of the internal engine

 

[daveswaves]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

Ethanol enriched fuel has been used for many years in the Midwest with few problems.
Alcohol is a solvent as well as an oxygenizer.
In older engines the alcohol will eventually degrade some rubber parts. Most engines from the late 80's,early 90's will have alcohol resistant rubber parts.
There has been a lot of talk about the ethanol all of a sudden destroying engines.
In my shop we are seeing more instances of water in the fuel. Some of the older fiberglass tanks are degrading.
In tanks in storage the fuel is also phase separating, attracting water and creating a soup on the bottom of the tank.
Some engines are still experiencing some rubber degradation.
However I personally believe some or most of the problems are the detergents in the fuel used to keep fuel injectors clean.
As for use in your engine. Go ahead and use up to 10% ethanol fuel if you can't find non ethanol fuel. Run with a good marine fuel stabilizer that helps reduce phase separation. Check your fuel for water. Just take a sample into a plastic bottle and let it sit for a minute or so.
Be careful of water separating filters. We are seeing more that are causing fuel starvation from swelling. The small inline filters are adequate for most outboards.
If you have an older outboard do as DaveW posted above and replace the fuel lines, rubber gaskets, diaphrams etc. The ethanol fuel won't hurt other parts of the internal engine

Thanks Jeff, one other thing that would add for those folks stuck in the cold belt like me. Conventional wisdom is to store your fuel tank full of fuel, with a fuel stabilizer. With ethanol enhanced fuel and our north eastern freeze/thaw I personally find it better to store the tank empty, burn the 2 stroke fuel in your snow blower to get rid of it.

 

[Laddies]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

You should be able to burn E-10 in today's engines and older engines that have been updated. Engines that are not updated may face running problems caused by blockages, the swelling and softening of inlet needle tips, the erosion of cork floats and many other problems, fire hazard caused by leaking fuel lines etc. Partial clogging of injectors and main jets can cause major engine repairs not covered by warranty. All of this on E-10, today there are many wholesale and retail fuel distributors that add additional alcohol to the mix causing the consumer additional problems, I have a sample that we took from a Northern Michigan boat that is beyond 50% and phase separated. The thing that never gets mentioned is the simple fact that oil or gas and alcohol won't mix so what lubricates your engine when the alcohol is on the way thru it. Here's a couple of facts from Mercury Marine the whole bulletin is a good read for the interested boater.

 

[Zrt1200]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

Solution is simple, upgrade your fuel lines to alcohol resistant type, change your fuel filter often, if you have a fiberglass tank consider replacing it. If possible buy your fuel from the same station each time. Marina,s are going to hate me for this but unless you know the marina has a good fuel system do not buy fuel there. If you have to buy fuel just buy enough to get home. I run my inlines on regular grade 87 octane oxegenated fuel with no problems. I have tuned my engines to run on 87.

What did you change to tune your engines to run on 87 octane with ethanol???

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

You don't need to change tune up specs to run ethanol blended fuel.

 

[daveswaves]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

You don't need to change tune up specs to run ethanol blended fuel.

Thats true, however, what I said was that I re tuned mine to run on todays 87 octane. Basically the timing was reduced 2 degrees. I run older engines and the octane rating back then was calculated using the motor metho d. Todays fuel is an average of the motor method and the research method. For example 87 octane today might be 85 motor method and 89 research method. (R+M)/2 = todays rating. (85+89)/2 = 87. there is nothing wrong with todays 87 ethanol fuel (up to 10%) you just have to consider its properties. If the ethanol get tied up with water, which can easily happen in a marine environment, it is not available to boost the octane.

 

[dadgummit]

Re: Fuel - Ethanol Okay?

You should be able to burn E-10 in today's engines and older engines that have been updated. Engines that are not updated may face running problems caused by blockages, the swelling and softening of inlet needle tips, the erosion of cork floats and many other problems, fire hazard caused by leaking fuel lines etc. Partial clogging of injectors and main jets can cause major engine repairs not covered by warranty. All of this on E-10, today there are many wholesale and retail fuel distributors that add additional alcohol to the mix causing the consumer additional problems, I have a sample that we took from a Northern Michigan boat that is beyond 50% and phase separated. The thing that never gets mentioned is the simple fact that oil or gas and alcohol won't mix so what lubricates your engine when the alcohol is on the way thru it. Here's a couple of facts from Mercury Marine the whole bulletin is a good read for the interested boater.

I think my needle valves are damaged from ethanol. On a '84 merc v-6 150. Is there an ethanol resistant needle valve available?