Ethanol proof outboard?

Dave Diefenderfer

Dave Diefenderfer

Well-known member
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Are there motors manufactured differently to accommodate ethanol? Starting with a certain year? Anyway to retrofit a motor? Certain fuel lines to use? Any science to this or just legends and tribal knowledge?

Thanks, Dave
 
New motors are manufactured using better fuel lines and hoses but are not impervious to ethanol. To my knowledge there are no motors that are being manufactured specifically to accommodate ethanol and no retrofits besides changing the fuel lines to a better grade line. Just use a good fuel stabilizer and don't let your fuel supply sit to long. The problem is more of an issue when the fuel is left un-treated and phase seperation starts to set in. When the ethanol sits in the rubber fuel lines and other areas of the fuel delivery system it starts to break down the inside walls of the hoses and thats were the trouble begins. Fuel lines collapsing, older tanks having resins breaking down and clogged fuel injectors to name a few problems. Best thing you can do is use your motors frequently and make sure your running fresh fuel through the system. Unfortunately ethanol is here to stay.
 
Like john said its all how you maintain the motor. I use startron gas additive and when finished with the motor for the day I run the motor and lines dry of gas so it won't sit in lines and carb. I also use the highest grade octane gas, as the ethenol robs octane. I also never get gas from a marina cuz they don't go through gas as fast and it sits in there tanks. I always go to a gas station that is used by a lot of people so the station gets fresh gas more often a few simple things to get the most for your buck hope this helps

Kinda off track but I read in boat us artical that the epa is looking to allow an increase to 15% etenol in gas
 
Yes there has been approval of more ethanol in gas.....bad news for wildlife actually as it will put pressure to produce more corn...more acres...less cover and habitat...it will also mess with the commodity markets and potentially raise prices..
 
1) Change to better quality fuel line
2) Sta-Bil type fuel additive @ fill-up
3) REMOVE in-line fuel filter
3) ADD Racor type water/fuel separator

The number 1 issue with outboards & small lawn type engines is the phase separation of the fuel as early as (30) thirty days of stagnation (non-use).

The crap in the either plugs up the in-line filter or builds up on the bowl of the carbs, eventually reaching up to the needles/injectors.

By using a quality Racor type filter, you're more than (100) one hundred times muliplying the filter area that the fuel is passing through.

You're also able to drain off any water are build-up from the peacock on the bottom of the bowl, which I do about every other trip.

Another tip, the see-through plastic bowls & the gaskets on the peacock on these filters are also being effected by the ethonal so dump it.

They are now making aluminum bowls with a NPT fitting.

It's not see-through but there's nothing to breakdown & it makes you more diligent in draining the filter.
 
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just because it was so vintage of Lee Harker...

sea foam additive instead of Sta-bil, look it up on here or on line, much better.

Also, BDavies and Lee (amoungst others) discussed this "burp the motor" of gas at the end of the day or not, epic issues if you want to dig.

Love sea foam because of Lee.
 
just because it was so vintage of Lee Harker...

sea foam additive instead of Sta-bil, look it up on here or on line, much better.

Also, BDavies and Lee (amoungst others) discussed this "burp the motor" of gas at the end of the day or not, epic issues if you want to dig.

Love sea foam because of Lee.
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The dissertation and frequent reference to "burping the motor" was pre-this forum incarnation. Just for the sake of clarity and historical accuracy to burp or not to burp was in relation to purging the impeller/pump housing/cooling system of water at the end of the day, it had nothing to do with fuel.

I too use Seafoam because of Lee and always think of him when I buy a new can.
 
Chris,
Just an anal point but ethanol doesn't"rob octane" it actually improves the octane rating. DO NOT GET ME WRONG, I HATE THE STUFF. But for a lot of other reasons. Octane rating is the resistance to detonation, in other words it slows the burning rate of the fuel which raises the octane rating. I am not a chemist nor play one on TV but the confusion over octane rating is so common I am just striking a blow for education (tech ed that is). Even if ethanol was a good fuel and it is not the subsidies are the only thing making it financially possible. AND my dad raised corn so this is not dinner table conversation at my parents house. ;-))
 
Come on Tom, don't you know corn ethanol is 'Green'? hehehe Farming from ditch to ditch on marginal land is now 'green'.
It's only cheaper because it costs us more.

Tim
 
Can't you guys find non-etheol any where? Here we can by it at 3 different places within 10 miles of the house.
 
I religiously follow the manufacturer recommendation for additives on my 175 hp 2 stroke. For my 2 smaller motors I try to run them dry every time.

The 175 OMC is a post "Bombarier" model, but the dealer I bought it from installed it with a Yamaha filter he likes best.

I prefer 2 strokes as the jets are bigger (& they are lighter & some other reasons)
 


The dissertation and frequent reference to "burping the motor" was pre-this forum incarnation. Just for the sake of clarity and historical accuracy to burp or not to burp was in relation to purging the impeller/pump housing/cooling system of water at the end of the day, it had nothing to do with fuel.

I too use Seafoam because of Lee and always think of him when I buy a new can.
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of course Tod, I remember it well, if you read above one guy mentions burping and since I was referring to Lee on one issue, it made me think of the other as well. they do cross over from impeller to fuel lines if you think about it and all the arguements then still hold.

I have the opportunity to have several small engine guys as patients and I ask them all which additive, well over 90% of them all use sea foam, either professionally or at least in their own engines, they all uniformly hate stabil, some guys are forced at work to use it, but they don't recommend it.
 
I have done the recommended things for my Honda 4 cycle, like change to a Racor fuel filter/ water separator, ( high micron, better then the spin ons)
and adding stabilizer. I use the marine formula Stabil which is supposed to be formulated for the ethanol treated gas, any Stabil haters have an issue with this formula?
I found the Startron additive not good enough by itself, I do use it though mixed with the Stabil, I occasionally use Sea Foam too, even a dose of Marvel mystery oil or a shot of 2 cycle oil once in a while. No problems since the changes, but I use the boat commercially so the gas doesn't sit around long.

So.. two questions, Why is the Sea Foam allegedly better? and, can someone give a final definitive answer to running the motor dry for longer layups?
 
2 cycles motors should not be run dry due to the lubrication process of the fuel/oil mixture.

4 cycles can be but you should also pull the plugs & shoot the inside of the cylinders with a product like a "storage fogging oil" found @ any marina/parts store.

The "MOST" important thing about any outboard motor is to store it in the "DOWN/LEVEL" position whenever not in use.

NEVER STORE A O/B MOTOR IN THE "UP/ANGLED" POSITION!!!

Storing level will prevent internal seals & gaskets from drying up that can leaks, excessive valve wear to leaks & smoking issues.
 
I use SeaFoam all the time...in all my vehicles and motors of all types. Heck, I'd even drink it if I got desperate enough because I'm sure it would cure what ailed me. That said, I don't like it for battling ethanol. I use Startron...by my way of thinking SeaFoam actually exacerbates the issue associated with water. I ran premium all winter in boats and ATV's and they run so much better its worth every dime. Some premiums don't have ethanol the last I checked but of course that may have changed so I still put the Startron in.

I'll run the V8 on 87 octane...that's it. I'm done with it for everything else!
 
Can't you guys find non-etheol any where? Here we can by it at 3 different places within 10 miles of the house.
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Nope, closest listed on http://pure-gas.org/ to me is Harrisonburg, a good hour away. But I'll have to look closer at the pumps, maybe the higher octane is E10 free? But then the new OB is not to run octane above 87 per the manaual.

Dave
 
But I'll have to look closer at the pumps, maybe the higher octane is E10 free?
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Dave,

Probably the other way around ( reference Tom's comment above). Around here, the ethanal blend is 89 octane and the pure petro is 87 octane. Adding ethanal increases the octane rating.
 
Can't you guys find non-etheol any where? Here we can by it at 3 different places within 10 miles of the house.
Click to expand...


Nope, closest listed on http://pure-gas.org/ to me is Harrisonburg, a good hour away. But I'll have to look closer at the pumps, maybe the higher octane is E10 free? But then the new OB is not to run octane above 87 per the manaual.

Dave
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Lots of us are in areas mandated to have ethanol (used to be MTBE) to improve air quality. I woudln't be surprised if you were given your location.
 
But the 93 octanes available from several different oil companies that I know of have zero or very little ethanol so it's pure petroleum. Dave, you're saying that the 87 octane has no ethanol? Why would the cheapest fuels available with the lowest octane have no ethanol. Don't make no sense to me!
 
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