Thread: Ethanol gas

I only run ethanol-free gas in my 1986 Evinrude 150 with marine Sta-bil added every time I add fuel. I have only used the boat 2-4 times per year because I work out of state a lot. It always starts and runs great.

Ethanol free in all small motors . Only time I ever had an issue with a boat motor was mixing gas with cheap Walmart oil .

E-10 in everything, boat, car, lawn equipment. Only exception is my Polaris 570 4 wheeler. They recommend non ethanol. Also, in reply to eagle 1's comment. I also used walmart oil in several boats( I have owned 13 with mercs, johnsons, evenrudes and yamahas. ) and it has the same specs as the rest. It is not made by walmart. Some oil companies market off brands. Some convenience stores use different brands of gasoline, depending on best deal for them, with or without ethanol.

I really believe if you're running you boat or any other small engine on a daily basis or even a weekly basis like M R Dux and others, ethanol is not a bad thing.
But most of us don't get to take the boat out 2 or 3 times a week. Therein lies the problem with ethanol as far as I'm concerned. Any kind of down time allows the impurities to turn into varnish and coat everything. So my only solution is to either run non ethanol or fish more often. By the way I'm in favor of option 2.

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Originally Posted by Pithon

I really believe if you're running you boat or any other small engine on a daily basis or even a weekly basis like M R Dux and others, ethanol is not a bad thing.
But most of us don't get to take the boat out 2 or 3 times a week. Therein lies the problem with ethanol as far as I'm concerned. Any kind of down time allows the impurities to turn into varnish and coat everything. So my only solution is to either run non ethanol or fish more often. By the way I'm in favor of option 2.

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Now you are talking!! I say go for every day!


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That’s a great idea Pithon.

“Honey, I HAVE to go fishing, I put ethanol gas in the boat. You know that stuff will
mess up my motor if I don’t go.”

If you use your boat alot, you’re good to go. IF you don’t use it often, make Dang sure you park the boat with a slap full tank of gas. 2 years in a row, I didn’t. Tank drain, Carb rebuild 2 years in a row teaches you a lesson. Out if 15 gallons in my tank last year, 8 was water. Used real gas this year, had bout 3/4 tank and no water in my fuel/water seperator when I ran in the other day for 30 minutes in the yard. Small engines heck no. Nothing but real gas in them

I run non ethanol in my older early 90's OMC motors for two reasons, one that's what they were designed to run on and two the fuel tanks are pre ethanol era. I run ethanol in my truck, four wheeler, small engines and anything modern. I have a small 2.5 Suzuki I bought last year and the owners manual recommends non ethanol 92 octane or higher, but states you can use ethanol gas, so I do. I agree with others, gas sitting for long periods without a stabilizer additive is probably the biggest enemy. I had an 08 Yamaha 40 and ran nothing but ethanol thru it for more than 5 years with 0 problems.