I have a 2003 Key West 196 Bay Reef with a 150 HP 2-stroke Johnson. I bought it 3rd-hand in January. I have until recently only put ethanol-free fuel in it, and also put Star-Brite Fuel Treatment in it as well. I changed out the fuel/water seperator filter about 3 months ago.
We were down in the Keys 2 weeks ago and ran the boat a LOT - about 200 miles. We had no problems at all the entire time with the motor, but about halfway through our trip I had to start using 89 Octane regular gas that was the standard "less than 10% ethanol" fuel. We got back home with 1/4 tank and it sat for two weeks. I fired it up this morning before trailering to warm up and things were fine.
Along the way we stopped at a 7-11 and got about 30 gallons of 89 Octane mid-grade with the "less than 10% ethanol" but I neglected to add any Star Brite.
When we got to the ramp I had a hard time getting the engine to fire. It finally did but smoked a bit and sounded rough. When we got out and on plane it just sounded "off" - a bit louder and "grumpier" but I was able to get things moving at about 41 mph and about 4500 rpm. Things were going fine for a while with a good water pressure reading on my gauge - this lasted for about 15-20 minutes when suddenly the engine just totally cut off, like I had turned the ignition off - no shudder, sputter, nothing. Couldn't get her started up again. Checked intake, fuel lines, etc. So we sat for a while and did some fishing, snorkeling, and wondered if we'd have to call Boat US towing. Well, I gave it a lot of throttle after disengaging the prop, and it eventually fired but was rough. We sort of limped back to port at about 24 mph and had one other episode of it dying on us.
So, what could it be? Could I have gotten some bad gas? Most people don't use mid-grade and perhaps it had been sitting at the 7-11 for a while? Maybe a fuel pump problem? Spark plugs? Carbon? Fuel lines? Or perhaps this motor just hates ethanol?
I plan on taking off the fuel filter/water seperator and checking the fuel for milky-white residue. Find it hard to believe I need to change that filter out already.
PS - when I got home and set up the ears to flush it had a tough time starting again and when it did was loud, shuddered a bit, and wife said it spewed out an orange-brown smoke before going to white/grey and then subsiding.
__________________
We were down in the Keys 2 weeks ago and ran the boat a LOT - about 200 miles. We had no problems at all the entire time with the motor, but about halfway through our trip I had to start using 89 Octane regular gas that was the standard "less than 10% ethanol" fuel. We got back home with 1/4 tank and it sat for two weeks. I fired it up this morning before trailering to warm up and things were fine.
Along the way we stopped at a 7-11 and got about 30 gallons of 89 Octane mid-grade with the "less than 10% ethanol" but I neglected to add any Star Brite.
When we got to the ramp I had a hard time getting the engine to fire. It finally did but smoked a bit and sounded rough. When we got out and on plane it just sounded "off" - a bit louder and "grumpier" but I was able to get things moving at about 41 mph and about 4500 rpm. Things were going fine for a while with a good water pressure reading on my gauge - this lasted for about 15-20 minutes when suddenly the engine just totally cut off, like I had turned the ignition off - no shudder, sputter, nothing. Couldn't get her started up again. Checked intake, fuel lines, etc. So we sat for a while and did some fishing, snorkeling, and wondered if we'd have to call Boat US towing. Well, I gave it a lot of throttle after disengaging the prop, and it eventually fired but was rough. We sort of limped back to port at about 24 mph and had one other episode of it dying on us.
So, what could it be? Could I have gotten some bad gas? Most people don't use mid-grade and perhaps it had been sitting at the 7-11 for a while? Maybe a fuel pump problem? Spark plugs? Carbon? Fuel lines? Or perhaps this motor just hates ethanol?
I plan on taking off the fuel filter/water seperator and checking the fuel for milky-white residue. Find it hard to believe I need to change that filter out already.
PS - when I got home and set up the ears to flush it had a tough time starting again and when it did was loud, shuddered a bit, and wife said it spewed out an orange-brown smoke before going to white/grey and then subsiding.
__________________