I was wondering what your thoughts are on using ethenol blended gases on outboard motors? I have a new (to me) Mercury 20HP motor, its in great condition and according to the guy that winterized it for me it has very few hours on it at all.
So with that in mind I’d like to help keep it in the great condition it is. I ran across a few posts last year about not using ethenol blended gas. Your thoughts and comments are appreciated… 
I’ve seen what a mechanic told me was damage to fuel lines and other engine parts due to blended ethenol gas, if I have an option, I choose no ethenol.
Here we go again 
I was told by a guy that works on Small Gas engines years ago that ethenol will reduce the life of your engine becuase it is so corrosive and absorbs water.
All I can say is I don’t use it in my small gas engines and as long as the Greenies don’t get it mandated for all fuel I will never use it. I have never had any problems with my equipment. It is bad stuff
That is all I use in my vehilces. Get 19mpg on my 2001 GMC truck on the highway. As for lawn mowers etc. Never use it. The boat……only if I can’t find regular gas.
I’ll will pass on what the local small engine repair shop owner has experienced. The big problem seems to be in the blend ratio. When you purchase at the pump the blend ratio indicates a 10% blend, but the real ratio seems to vary depending on the level of the underground tank, as he tells me that ethanol and gas have differing properties. His experience with customers who have had problems with small engines is the the level of ethanol varies from 10% to as much as 18% in some small engine tanks. The equipment mfg. now requires him to take a sample of the tank fuel and send it for testing before they will warranty any engine that has had a ethanol blend fuel.
Bottom line he recommends NOT to use any ethanol mix in a small engine, outboards included.
Hmmm…interesting.. Could this also be a part of my initial startup problems? I use starter fluid for the first start then after that I have no problems refiring. The Mercury mechanic told me that it was the fuel/oil blend that was the problem. I needed to use a better grade of oil. I’ve still got some ethenal blended gas in the tank but will fill my 5gal portable with regular this time.
You mentioned using starting fluid on initial start ups…
Does that mean yearly, if so that may be normal.
If its daily or weekly you have fuel supply issues, my guess is the carb needs cleaned or adjusted, or fuel pump issues. Just from experience.
For the small amount of gas that 20hp will sip I wouldn’t even consider using ethanol. How much extra is it going to cost to run it all season? $5? Not worth the risk.
You guys are seriously all buying super-premium non-oxy fuel for your boats? I’ve never had a problem with plain-Jane 87 octane straight outta the pump. I’ve never seen non-ethanol in 87 octane anywhere, and there’s no point running premium gas in a motor designed for 87 octane.
I did the ethenol in my lawn mower and about half way through mowing, it just stopped. I tried to fix it, but ended up taking it to repair shop. That guy said that it tends to “clean out” the junk in the hoses etc and that will clog filters etc. He replace hoses and filter and said now it is OK to run the ethenol. Ran it all the rest of the summer and it is great. I have run it in my boat for 2 years now (25 hrs Johnson) and have had no problem.
Just so everyone is clear, most pump gas is ethanol blended. I’m not referring to E85.
Isn’t all octane 87 a 10% blend of ethanol in MN??
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Isn’t all octane 87 a 10% blend of ethanol in MN??
As far as I know, it is.
I’m with Ralph. All I’ve ever run on my Johnson 150 is 87 octain fuel. So far I’ve never had a problem
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You guys are seriously all buying super-premium non-oxy fuel for your boats? I’ve never had a problem with plain-Jane 87 octane straight outta the pump. I’ve never seen non-ethanol in 87 octane anywhere, and there’s no point running premium gas in a motor designed for 87 octane.
I agree. I run 87 octane 10% blend in everything. Never a prob.
-J.
Best thing to do is check your owners manual.My Yamaha 250 4 Stroke calls for Premium gas with a minimum octane rating of 89.T8 has a minimum octane rating of 86.Ethanol is OK if it doesnt exceed 10%.
When Ethanol first came out vehicles had problems with pluged filters due to the Ethanol loosening up things in gas tanks and lines.Also older gas lines werent as good and Ethanol could deteriorate them.The newer gas line is much better.
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You guys are seriously all buying super-premium non-oxy fuel for your boats? I’ve never had a problem with plain-Jane 87 octane straight outta the pump. I’ve never seen non-ethanol in 87 octane anywhere, and there’s no point running premium gas in a motor designed for 87 octane.
I have been buying premuim in my boat but not non-oxy. I do however use non-oxy prem in all my small engines including mower.
My outboard has hatched twice in 10 years. For all I know it is gas related. I’ll never know.
just depends on the equipment your running, my outboards are too old to run blended gas but newer ones especially four strokes are engineered to run on the stuff. i have occasionally run ethanol through my 1980 evinrude without consequence but i wouldnt do it all the time.
In Iowa 87 octane is regular gas with no ethenol. 89 has 10% ethenol as does the Premium….93 octane. In Wisconsin last summer, Kwik Star had both 87 & 89 on the same pump….both having 10% ethenol plus the Premium. Don’t make sence to me.
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You mentioned using starting fluid on initial start ups…
Does that mean yearly, if so that may be normal.
If its daily or weekly you have fuel supply issues, my guess is the carb needs cleaned or adjusted, or fuel pump issues. Just from experience.
Well unfortunately it is everytime I start my motor for the first time that day. After that I have no problems. Again the mechanic said it was the oil I used, was not mixing properly with the gas and as a result had poor start ups (cold starts). Once I’ve had the motor going it starts with one pull every time. I won’t really know if that is truly the issue till I add 5 gal of new fuel with the oil he recommended.
I only buy it if I have no other choice. I have a 2001 Merc. 90 h.p. I use high octane gas and use Sea Foam year around. This is a carburated engine, as was the 50 that year, and I have never had an issue with gas. 
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Isn’t all octane 87 a 10% blend of ethanol in MN??
My local Fleet Farm has non-ethanol 87 octane. And my small engine shop says to avoid ethanol if at all possible.
You people that live out of Minnesota might be able to find 87 octane non-ethanol, but here in Minnesota, this is all we can get. The only non-ethanol is 92 octane premium. Not only is this more than recommended, but the cost far outweighs the benefits.
MN politics is talking about going to a 15% blend to replace the 10% too. 
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