Ethanol in your gas

[stackenem]

Just read an artical in the Detroit news where a man is sueing the gas companies for not telling the boating public that ethanol based gas will eat your fiberglass gas tanks and cause alot of problems. It actually ate a hole right thru his tank and cost alot of $$$$$ to repair and fix his engine.

[SethV]

Eat a hole in his gas tank???  I don't think so.  I think he will have a real hard time with that lawsuit.

There is no way E10 (10% ethanol) will hurt a marine gas tank.  Anything over 10% has to be declared on the pump (such as E85).  Even with E85, I would not expect tank damage....but you better not run anything over E10 in your motor.  I am running E85 in my truck, I love the idea of not paying the oil companies....but we can't run it in our motors.

Ethanol is different from tradition hydrocarbon fuel in that it absorbs water, is more corrosive, sofens natural rubber, has less energy content per gallon and is higher octane.  It is a great fuel, and if a motor is designed for E85, you can get the same fuel ecconomy as gasoline if you can dedicate it to E85.  Flex fuel requires the engine to be low compression to still handle 87 octane.  If you can raise the compression to take advantage of 105 octane, you get that lost efficency back.

If the guy in the lawsuit put E85 in his tank (still no tank damage) he is an idiot.  If he put E10 in, he has no case.  LOL

Seth

[stackenem]

The artical said it ate thru his fiberglass gas tank. It is on Page 5c in todays detroit news bottom of the page.

[motocross269]

Modern outboards are designed to run 10 percent ethanol...You just have to watch the water seperator closely..There is a ton of info available on the internet about running ethanol in OB motors..
I will have to find the article, but I agree with Seth I don't see how ethanol could cause tank damage..

[fowlmouth]

I received a letter from Bertram a couple of years ago warning about running ethanol at all in our boat. They stated that any ethanol would eat away the gel coat in the tank. They said to have the tank coated inside or replaced with a poly tank of some sort.
Keep in mind this is a large tank (300 gal), built out of fiberglass below decks and between stringers. Luckily our fuel supply is not a blend .
Most modern bass boats have plastic tanks and should not have these problems.

[cr]

I've known about this for years , I ran into the same thing with my fiberglass tank on my race bike . The tank got soft on the bottom , and started seeping fuel . The petcocks also filled with goo and turned slow off and on . I asked the manufacturer , First Klass Glass , and Jack said it was the ethanol in pump-gas . I think there's some fiberglass that is compatable with but it cost more to use .

[GotstaFish]

The worst part of running e10 in an outboard is that with all the water around you have a tendancy to absorb more than you would when using it in a car and it also softens your fuel fill and fuel lines. I just replaced all of them this spring and was told that the ethanol was the culprit...  Here in Iowa (Corn Capital USA)its pretty tough to find regular, every place has ethanal in their gas except one station and if I'm not heading that way its a 1/2 hour out of the way 

[Skulley]

Most boat companies tell you to run midgrade in your tank.  Ethanol is usually found in regular.  I have been running midgrade in my boat for as long as I can remember.  As you get more octane there is less ethanol.  Ethanol also burns up engine and oil seals.  That is why my dealer has told me to run mid.  Just my 2 cents.  Oh yeah, I also represent some fuel experts at work. 

BD             

[cr]

I bought a new Skeeter with a 200 yamaha last year from Freeway and a new Ranger with a 250 yamaha from Wonderland and they both said to run 87 . Ethanol is in all pump gas except Citco 93 .

[JCOOPER]

Any boat dealer telling you to run 89 is feeding you with false info.  Most outboards were designed to runon 87.  An optimax for example will not handle 89 well at all.  It was designed to run on 87.  An XB on the other hand will only run on premium and was designed accordingly.

[ronhuntfish]

The key to this guys claim is the FIBERGLASS tank.  Yes, even 10% ethanol will damage these tanks, mostly found in older, large boats.

Check with Boat US or any other boating organizations and they will tell you this has been shown to be true.

[Skulley]

Any boat dealer telling you to run 89 is feeding you with false info.  Most outboards were designed to runon 87.  An optimax for example will not handle 89 well at all.  It was designed to run on 87.  An XB on the other hand will only run on premium and was designed accordingly.

That is new outboards are designed to run 87.  Mine is old.  16 years old to be precise.  I know that mine runs way better when running 89.  I have been running mid for years.  My engine performs best with mid.  And not all gas has ethanol in it.  Ethanol was used as a cheaper octane boost.  I will go with what my boat dealer says and the fuel lab at my place of employment.  As a result I have had absolutely no problems with fuel.

BD                 

[1javelin]

I used to run only 93, that is what the previous owner ran in it and I saw no reason to stray from that.  I also mixed StaBil in every time in order to prevent the water breakdown typical in gas stored near water.  With gas prices where they are, I now use 89.  Won't go less, even on a 2000 engine.  UAW, is the octane level of 93 the reason that I have 4 cylinders not running right on my engine?

1Jav

[Skulley]

That could very well be.  I wouldn't run stabile in the gas everytime out.  Stabile is good for water breakdown if your engine is not going to run for a lengthy period of time, such as winter storage.  If gas is going to sit in your tank for 3 or more months, then stabile is necessary.  I would say that the stabile is the reason your engine is not running right.  Run all the gas out of your tank and then refill with fresh gas.  Maybe change your spark plugs and see how it runs then.  I know when I was running stabile in my boat early this year, the engine lacked some power.  Once I ran all the stored gas out of the tank and added fresh, it ran great.  It ran great today out on St. Clair.  I tried running 87 a couple of years ago and the motor would not idle properly.  I went back to 89 and it ran great.  My motor is a 1991 OMC Johnson/Evinrude industrial motor.  No aluminum.  All cast iron.  Cast iron powerhead, etc.  I am sticking with mid.

BD