Gas for your outboard

Do you put gas with ethanol or alcohol in your outboard ?Most manufactures tell you not to do this.Who sells gas without this additive?

Tom, I try to avoid it, just because that is what everyone says to do. I am by no means a mechanic and I have no idea what it can do to the engine. But, I try to take really good care of my engines and when my mechanic said to try to avoid it, I did.

The manual for my 2000 Merc XR-6 150 states to use 87 octane with no more than 10% ethonol. That’s what I use, regular 87 with the blend. Never had a gas related problem.

There are a lot of places that sell non-oxy. It’s usually premium. In Minnesota it will have a sticker on the pump that says something like “To be used in Boats, RV’s and Classic Cars only” Most M&H stations sell the non-oxy here in the cities.

Since I live in the cities I have been using city gas for years in outboard and sleds. No problems. Be careful when using non-oxy gas in special pumps at city stations, usually the outskirts. Usually they don’t get used much. I believe I got bad gas from such a pump once and took out a piston. Fresh gas is better than old of any kind so stick with the popular pump where ever you are.

From what I hear from mechanics is that 87 ethanol gas has a shelf life of 30 days. I went from July to Sept. a few years ago without using my boat and the gas was bad when I got up to Winnie. Wasted a good part of a day with the boat in at Rapids Marine. They diagnosed bad gas and said there was a real rash of this problem. Some resorts will not sell 87 ethonal as it caused them problems. I use 91 non-oxygenated gas and I also use Sea Foam the year around as well as in storage. I have not had a problem since I switched from 87 ethanol. That goes for my mowers, snow blowers,and whatever small engine usage I have. High Plains in Plainview sells non-oxy. I believe there is a station in Wabasha but I do not know which one.

The manual for my 2-cycle Mercury outboard states not to use ethanol blended fuels (from 1994). The alcohol in the fuel attacks the rubber and plastic components in your engine. I stick to regular-grade fuel for my outboard which is not supposed to have any alcohol in it. Regular grade costs a few pennies more per gallon but I think it is worth not taking the chance. I don’t know whether you can burn ethanol in a 4-stroke or not but I know that it is not recommended for my 2-stroke. I would suggest checking your engine’s manual or contacting the manufacturer to check on it.

Eyehunter

Drive safe and watch for deer!

Ethanol runs hotter.

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I stick to regular-grade fuel for my outboard which is not supposed to have any alcohol in it.

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All of the gas sold in the 9 county metro area (St Paul, Minneaplois and suburbs) has 10% ethonol added by Federal Law regarless of grade. The only non-oxy available here are in specially marked pumps and a station can only have one pump.

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All of the gas sold in the 9 county metro area (St Paul, Minneaplois and suburbs) has 10% ethonol added by Federal Law regarless of grade. The only non-oxy available here are in specially marked pumps and a station can only have one pump.

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I belive that is true for all of Minnesota.

My manual for 2001 yammi 4 stroke says 10% ETOH is Ok.

For older outboards, ethanol will eat the rubber and plastic parts, as stated previously. Same is true for carb and fuel hose/pump parts in older cars. Newer cars and outboards are designed to handle the ethanol, but you need to be careful of one other thing, and that’s the fact that ethanol will bond with water whereas gasoline will not.

If allowed to sit for an extended period of time, condensation in the fuel inlet hose and tank will be absorbed in the gas and it will not burn efficiently. By ‘absorbed’ I mean chemically bonded, so there’s nothing that can be done once it’s in there other than siphon or run rough for a tank. It is a good idea when putting a boat away for winter storage, in addition to using fuel stabilizer, always run the ethanol out of it and fill it with regular ol’ gasoline.

Gianni when you say “Newer cars and outboards” how new are you talking about? I have a 1997 40 Envinrude, I use a can of Seafoam about every other tank of gas and it seems to help. Before I used Seafoam I could never get the motor to troll down to idle speed without dieing on me.

Go with what your manual says, I guess. I would’ve thought that by ’97 they would have all been transitioned, but someone above said their ’94 manual indicated that ethanol was a no-go.

Regardless of whether or not it will damage your motor though, you should still store it with non-alchohol gasoline. What I was talking about above was the fact that if you take a gallon of ethonol and dump in a half gallon of water, the resultant volume won’t be 1 1/2 gallons. The alchohol will chemically bond with the water, and there’s no way to separate it (outside of burning it at a loss of efficiency).

My motor is a ’97, I’ve always run just regular 87 octane gas with any problems what so ever….

For those, who want to run only non-oxy gas this link should help you, it’s a current and updated list of non0oxy gas pumps in the state of MN MSRA’s Non-oxy gas link

Thanks for the list Nick

But the list show december of 2003 on the top??? How up to date is it??

Brian I check out the 37th ST Citgo station today and they do have it, they have leaded and unleaded non-oxygenated gas.

For you guys that use non-oxygenated gas do you use leaded or unleaded? The leaded non-oxygenated was $3.25 a gallon. The unleaded non-oxygenated was $2.04 a gallon.

Dec of 2003 was the start date for the list, not the last updated…. MSRA is a big active group, I’d bet if they say some place carries it, they really do.

Thanks for the update guys!