H Thats a state thing though. I can easily get non E gas in my state and in GA. Its not at every station but if u keep your eyes open you can easily find it
It's not as evil in boats as some of you think. There's far too much infrastructure in place ( plants are all over) to totally get gid of it.
I'd like to invite you down to ANY of the outboard shops on LI. There is a waiting list to get service at ANY of them, because they are busy cleaning out carbs, secondary fuel systems, on engine fuel tank compression tanks.... THEY ARE SO SICK OF IT, many of these shops want to close there doors! Try going to Block Island (a small island off the end of Long Island) and sit on the Dinghy dock Saturday afternoon. There is a huge anchorage, where 100's/1000's of boats are anchroed up in the large protected harbor. Watch how many dingy's come in being towed by a buddy or rowed (if they have oars on board). CLOGGED fuel systems! On any given day, I'd say 25 to 50 come in broke down because there little 2hp, 4hp, 5hp or 10hp Mercury or Yamaha motor has clogged up from E fuel! It's a freekin nightmare! There are 2 small outboard shops on the island, they are booked solid for 2 months in the summer when they are open. Most people are their on vaca for 3 or 4 days, so that doesn't help them. Then there is a lineup of I/O's and inboards with gassers stalling, clogged carbs and injectors... stuck on the island for weeks because they can't get the boat home, and there is nobody there to work on them for weeks or months. No, it's not a problem at all!! Dude, it's an absolute DISASTER, trust me! It might be one thing cruising around on a little fresh water lake, but it's a whole other issue dancing around in the ocean get thrown around. The humidity is high, the salt water air makes it worst, and old fuel tanks, fuel systems and motors that were NEVER intended to run E fuel is nothing but a disaster. I repeat, and there is NO way around it, it was one of the DUMBEST things congress ever did, PERIOD.
It doesn't harm all outboards, but it harms many of them. I go to Canada each year for fishing. The marina on the lake there does a huge amount of business with American boats. All fuel system and carb stuff. It began when they started putting ethanol in our fuel. The Canadians use non-E fuel in their boats and not surprisingly their problems are few and far between. David
Most issues with 10% or less ethanol in outboards, or any motor, is due to contaminates getting freed either before it gets into the tank of the vehicle, is station tank or holding tanks, or from residue in the fuel system of the vehicle once the ethanol starts cleaning the fuel system. Obviously ethanol is not friendly to rubber, and soft parts like hoses, seats, etc, but those are wear items, especially on boats. Fuel lines, like all marine rated tubing and hose are date coded. Older carb parts that were pre ethanol are affected more, but things like viton are much more suited to use with e10. These are wear parts anyway. It's easy to blame ethanol, and it may have made some parts needing early replacement. I've seen all this first hand. Yes in boats, or any motor. Notice how the places to recently get e10 are having these issues? We had that years ago. SE Wisconsin switched to e10 over 24 years ago. We've been through this already, and the sky has not fallen. Wisconsin has the most registered snowmobiles in the states, more lakes than Minnesota, and marinas and ports on both lakes Michigan and Superior. We have a ton of boats here, even a few boat / ship builders. My point is, we've worked through the residue issues from old fuel, and degradation of rubber/ soft fuel system parts. You will work through the issues too. The mechanics in your area should be happy about added work. Once they figure it out and get better at diagnosing fuel system issues, they'll gladly do the work efficiently and not complain. Neglecting preventative maintenance on an ocean going boat is not wise. Also, we have some very dangerous lakes here in Wisconsin. The great lakes often times have waves that are more dangerous than in the ocean. Yes. It's true. Regardless, putting any life in danger is good to avoid. So while I go on smaller lakes as I am a recreational boater, I also know lake Michigan is a dangerous lake, and despite my boats 21ft length, it was never designed for the great lakes, and I won't take it there, despite lake Michigan being only 3 miles from me. As an aside, one notable good thing about using ethanol is that in boats and especially sleds, is that carburetor ice up issues are a thing of the past. I can tell you that carb icing has led to a ton of 2 stroke burn downs over the years. That's a thing of the past. Seriously guys, you'll all get over the issues that happen after switching to e10. That reminds me, when I pull the boat out of storage soon, I'll take the holley 4160 4 barrel off of it and check the power valve, needle and seat, gaskets and o rings, and replace them while I'm at it as preventative maintenance.
Horkin, Your preaching to the quire. My boat is an Offshore Tuna fishing boat with a 500 mile range, I've been offshore fishing for 30+ years. I know ALL about the proper maintenance and safety issues while offshore, my crew and my life depends on it. I just came back from my marina shop during lunch, my Port motor (Yanmar 6LPA-STP) was pulled from my boat for some maintenance this morning. Getting the intercooler and heat exchangers cleaned out... The shop had a line of small outboards (40 or 50 of them!) hanging in the shop. Wanna guess what they are all doing there? I should have taken a picture for you... That said, you can make all the excuses in the world about E fuel, and that it will "work itself out". We have herd it ALL!! We went to E fuel over 10 years ago, and it has NOT worked itself out. And no, the shops to NOT want to spend there time cleaning out the same fuel systems time and time again. They don't want that business, they are tired of it! And they are backed up, and boats are lined up to get into the shops. PEople are losing their entire short seasons because of it, some of those people depend on their boats for income. Stop trying to justify it, there is absolutely NO REASON we should not e using non-E fuel in the marine industry, period. It's just plain and simple WRONG. Here's my port motor....
I'm talking about gasoline engines, not your yanmar diesel, or any diesel for that matter. I've never owned a diesel anything, and may not ever. I know a lot about ethanol used for gasoline engines, but honestly never knew that ethanol was even used in diesel production. You simply said that ethanol shouldn't be used in marine use, not specifically in diesel applications. I know outboard, inboard, and I/0 gas engines, but beyond Rudolph Diesel's principles, I have no actual diesel experience. I also know diesel is a lot less refined than gasoline, so maybe ethanol in diesel IS a bad idea? A diesel fuel system must be crazy filthy compared to the cleaner fuel that gas engines use. All of those outboards at the shop, you can't tell me they all have had proper PM done to them, and beyond that, that ethanol was absolutely the reason they are not running? I'm trying to keep this civil, but now that I know this is your livelihood, it's hard to talk about this with you. Also, there's the whole diesel equation, and I don't know much about that. I do know what I know though. With that, there's no way I can convince you otherwise due to your profession. I won't comment more beyond this regarding ethanol in diesel engines, but I will for gasoline engines. Both sides of the political spectrum have ethanol in their future. They differ on implementation, but it is in both sides futures, so it isn't going away.
There is no ethanol in diesel!!! He was just refering to the fact that he use to run gassers on the same boat bit gave them up cause of the trouble. He put twin yanmars in it for that reason. He then made a comment about all the boats in for ethanol related repairs. Modern diesel is a whole nother thread. They have pulled the silver from the fuel there is less btus in it and does not have its lubricating properties cause of it. And now their 4engiens have to run DEF and have reburn systems and regenerating emissions systems. Those things go out all the time and cost guys big bucks.
Yes, they do put ethanol in diesel. https://www.dieselnet.com/tech/fuel_ediesel.php I don't know the back story of why he harbors so much hatred for ethanol. To be honest, I don't care either.
Lol. I hate E fuel for the same reason everybody else in the marine industry does! It ruins engines, and costs a foretune to constantly repair them fro. The e fuel damage, not to mention the lost time on the water. My current boat was purchased new, with yanmar oil burners in it. My previous boat had twin Yamaha outboards, and spent many an hour at the shop getting fuel system cleaned out. My point with the diesels was only pointing out I have a lot of experience out on the water, offshore fishing, and maintaining an offshore boat properly (the reason my port motor was hanging from a crane this morning). There is no E in Disel fuel, around here anyway, never herd of it.
I've been running boats (diesel & gas) for almost 40 years, 12 years as a commercial fisherman in the northern gulf of Mexico (Florida panhandle). Stared having problems with fuel system in a 40 hp Yamaha from 2003 until I sold it in 2008. I blamed the motor at the time, but know better now, it was ethanol. In the manual of my 2005 Mercury jet outboard it sates in bold red letters "Do Not Use Gas With Ethanol In This Motor". This motor has non-E fuel mix in it year around and sits all winter. Not a problem in 10 years...
