ETHANOL

[Drago]

Here is the odd thing. We have had the boat 4 1/2 years and I have not put a lot of hours on it during the winter months. I have sampled the fuel at regular intervals and have found it always has the same percentage of ethanol - beginning or end of season. I'll add that the fuel drained from the Yamaha water separator looks very different than the fuel from the bottom of the tank. Next time I change or drain the separator, I'll check the water content of the fuel there. It might be very interesting. I did not use the boat from July 4th last year until Early March of this year and the fuel tested the same. Try these kits to test...
http://www.fuel-testers.com/index.html

[badmoonrising]

Went out to start my Max ATV last night and the fuel pump is bad. Second one I replaced since I've owned it. It's a Kohler MV20 with the plastic bodied fuel pump. First one was leaking at the body seam, this one appears to have a bad diaphragm. No doubt due to shitty corn gas.

I do burn alot of gas through it, so I guess the fuel pumps don't like E-10.

[ROLAND]

This won't help you, but it may help anyone who boats at Lake Of the Ozarks in Missouri. All the marina's on the lake only pump ethanol free fuel, thanks to a couple of folks in the Missouri legislature.

I use Mercury's KwikCare ethanol treatment when I buy 87 octane gas on land. The recommended dosage is 1 ounce per 10 gallons of fuel (that's US gallons).

At the end of the season I add SeaFoam at one ounce per gallon of fuel. I store my gas tanks at least 90% full and I use the same treatment for all my gas powered yard equipment and store them the same way.

I've been using SeaFoam for at least the last 5 years and the Mercury treatment for the last two.
I do not fog either boat motor, I just make sure I run the motor(s) until they are completely warmed up and the treated fuel has had a chance to get into the system.
I've never had an issue with starting any of my equipment using this regimen. You will see lots of suggestions, so use the one that works best for your situation.

Bass.... I pretty much do the same as you but a quick question... I"ve always treated my fuel with either star tron or stabil marine, like you said I think it's 1 oz per 10 gallons of fuel.. and at the end of the season I normally store it about 90% full and treated with one of the two products previously mentioned.. but I never used seafoam when storing.... is it ok to add seafoam to fuel that already has an ethanol treatment in it? Mixing the two and letting it sit for 3 or 4 months won't hurt anything?

[pote]

Anyone given any thought about what will happen come winter with the drought conditions? Wonder which will get a higher priority- corn being used for animal feed, HFCS, human food or ethanol? No doubt the cost for everything will rise, but do you think the oil companies skimp will on ethanol being added to gasoline (but still raising prices to widen margins)? Wonder if we see the ratio drop with corn prices rising.

[ronb]

Don't forget, corn is also burned for heat in some areas similar to 'pellet stoves'. I doubt the consumption will stop in any market, there will be a large increase in the prices of anything corn related and they will blame it all on the cost of importing corn. FWIW, the corn by my house is easily 6.5-7ft tall and looking good. The sugar beet harvest started last week (earliest on history).

[GoFastr]

Use Startron and/or Stabil for Marine engines in your fuel. Best to get in the habit each time you top off especially as fall approaches meaning a long sit period. Boats, mowers, weed eaters, etc that tend to sit over the long winter months where phase separation happens and water accumates. Fuel that sits in the carb fuel bowl or injector rails will gum up causing the item to either not run or run crappy and you'll spend tons throwing parts at it before you realize it. Really old fuel lines and feberglass fuel tanks will fall apart from the stuff. Just google ethanol fuel and phase separation and read some of the various links.

[Just Laxin]

In our last boat which was a Deck Boat, never had a problem for over 6 years, I would always add Startran to the fuel at every fill up. Plus boating year round sure helps. I now use the Startran in our new Toon with every fill up.