Do you use non-ethanol gas?

Mobile Mike

Mobile Mike

Member
Aug 10, 2015
61
Mobile Alabama
Boat Info
205 Sport, 2012
Engines
5.0 Mercruiser
Do you use only non-ethanol gas, and if not, have you had any problems with your fuel system? I have the 5.0 Mercruiser EFI, and the prior owner let it sit up for long periods of time with Ethanol blend gas in it. Only had 49 hours on it, 2012 model, when we bought it last September. Mechanic told me I would have been better off buying a 2012 with 300 + hours on it than one with that few. Live and learn. Having the engine pulled to replace the fuel pump and related accessories, the boat was built around the fuel pump obviously. Mercruiser says E10 is okay, but the mechanics I have talked to say it is not worth the risk, even if you use a stabilizer.
 
My marina sells 89-90 octane, non-ethanol fuel... that's all I use.
 
I go to the Gas Hole at LOTO. They sell 87 and 93 octane that is non-ethanol. And for an added bonus, the women working there are super hot. :smt038
 
I have a 2008 185 Sport with 4.3L carburetor which I bought last year. Like your purchase, the previous owner used ethanol fuel and it sat for 2+ years with only a half tank of gas and no stabilizer. Also like yours it only had 100 hours on it. It ran poorly at low speed idle even though I changed the fuel separator and added CRC Phase4Guard on each fuel up. At mid summer I switched to only using non-ethanol 90 octane gas. It started running better but I was still not totally happy at summer's end. After winterizing, again changing the fuel separator, filling the tank with non-ethanol and stabilizer, the boat runs great this year.

Net Net - go with non-ethanol.
 
I don't have any ethanol free gas near enough to fill the SeaRay. I use the gas at PWM which is 89 with valve tect additive. I have never had a problem but I do put about 100 hours a year on it.

The Whaler has a fiberglass Pate Plastics fuel tank. I only use non ethanol fuel in it. I have to drive 35 miles to get it and I fill 3 5 gallon containers. I have family in the area so I get gas when I go to visit. I don't want to recreate the ethanol issues that the previous owner had to deal with when he got the boat.
 
If you can get ethanol-free, get it - for me, it's a little inconvenient to find so I don't use it. Instead, just use a good additive (like Startron) at every fill-up and baring some weird scenario, you shouldn't have any problems. The additive is an excellent thing to use, regardless.

As Blaster said, one caveat is if you have a fiberglass tank. Ethanol will eat the tank (soften the resin) and it can kill an engine. But, you have a plastic tank so you don't have to worry about it.
 
I ran ethanol gas in my boat for a few years and added Stabil. After about two years I started having problems, turns out the fuel line was deteriorating from inside, looked fine on the outside. I started seeing what looked like pepper in the fuel filter. Hard to say if the ethanol fuel caused this, this was the original fuel line (12yrs old), but it was A1 rated for alcohol. Boat was running terrible (surging, idling poorly, all the symptoms of a fuel problem), when I opened up the carburetor I found out why, the bits and peices of the fuel line were making their way past the water separator filter and past the carb inlet filter and making a general mess inside the carburetor. I rebuilt the carburetor and replaced the fuel line and have had no issues since, later I replaced the fuel fill and vent hoses for good measure -- I also have not put a drop of ethanol fuel in it since then. I can't say for sure that ethanol caused this problem, I think it was a combination of an aging fuel line and the ethanol helped it along. Also, I switched from non-ethanol to ethanol fuel about two years before this happened, ethanol is very good at cleaning out your fuel system, gum, varnish all the muck that accumulates in a 10+yr old fuel tank. My thinking is, on a newer boat that has always ran ethanol fuel, you should not have problems, an older boat or a boat you have been running non-ethanol in, stick with non-ethanol. Given a choice I would go non-ethanol.

I think on new boats that have to meet the new evaporative requirements, this is less of an issue.
 
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Ethanol free only. I filled the tank with E10 once last season and my boat ran like crap. Ran the boat for 2 days to burn through that garbage then I changed the fuel filter/separator and filled up with $250 of non-ethanol. Never again will E10 touch my boat.
 
I have run nothing but E10 for the past 3 summers since we bought our boat. I use Startron every time I add gas, and double dose it when winterizing. I have never had any issue. Change/clean the fuel filters and inspect every fall as well and have never had much of anything in them. I do keep my tank full. When we use the boat, I always stop and fill it back up on the way home and dose it with Startron.

Bennett
 
NO such thing as ethanol free gas in NJ. Been using E-10 in this boat and my previous boat since whenever that crap came out (2006? 7?). ALWAYS dosed appropriately with Startron. Never a problem. Neither boat has sat idle with the same gas, other than at winter lay-up (a period of around 7 months).
 
Marina's has ethanol (grrr!!) and I use Startron every time I fuel (including dosing the nearly full tanks when I purchased the boat spring 2013). We don't winterize, just launch considerably less; this year I chose to use Stabil when I topped off for the cold months. So far no performance issues. (But I haven't torn apart the engines, either....knock wood!)
 
I guess I'm the exception, but I do have all teflon lined braided fuel hoses, which are impervious to all common fuels, including straight methanol, ethanol, gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and even nitromethane. I fuel up regularly with E-10, never use any additives, and have never had even the slightest issue with the fuel. The important thing is to leave the tanks full, to reduce condensation in the tanks, and run quality water separating fuel filters (I replaced the Merc inline filters with Racor Aquabloc units) that have enough capacity to capture any crud that the ethanol loosens up in the fuel tanks. The ethanol will actually work to clean the interior of aluminum tanks, and once any buildup has been dissolved into the fuel, and captured by the filters, your tanks will actually be cleaner inside.

If you need to transition to E-10, don't be afraid of it, but recognize what you are dealing with, and how it works. Replacement of all questionable fuel lines, and use of high capacity filters will see you through the initial tank scouring phase, and after that you shouldn't have any issues. If you just throw it in the tanks, after years of using ethanol free fuel, you may have issues immediately afterward.

Dale
 
blaster said:
I don't have any ethanol free gas near enough to fill the SeaRay. I use the gas at PWM which is 89 with valve tect additive. I have never had a problem but I do put about 100 hours a year on it.

The Whaler has a fiberglass Pate Plastics fuel tank. I only use non ethanol fuel in it. I have to drive 35 miles to get it and I fill 3 5 gallon containers. I have family in the area so I get gas when I go to visit. I don't want to recreate the ethanol issues that the previous owner had to deal with when he got the boat.
Click to expand...

ValveTect is ethanol free. It's what I use in my boat, too
 
Steve195 said:
ValveTect is ethanol free. It's what I use in my boat, too
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Valve tect is an additive. The fuel at PWM has 10% ethanol. Some marina's may sell ethanol free fuel with valve tect though.
 
last year i ran the valvetech at the local marina at 4.25/gallon. this year i have been using E10 with startron added. so far no issues
 
My marina sells ethanol with valvetech. Interestingly it is more expensive than the marina not too far away that is ethanol free, but not by much. I fill up at the cheaper place unless I need a pump out. I pay the extra dime a gallon for ethanol with additive when I need my free pump out. Pump outs are around $25 - $30 on the lake if your not a marina member or don't get gas depending on where you stop.
 
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blaster said:
Valve tect is an additive. The fuel at PWM has 10% ethanol. Some marina's may sell ethanol free fuel with valve tect though.
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I always thought ValveTect was ethanol free plus some additives, but after looking at their website, you appear to be correct. Although their website claims "ValvTect Marine Gasoline is "specially formulated" for marine engines and is designed to prevent the problems of ethanol gasoline". It doesn't specifically say it's ethanol free. I think I made an assumption that it was.

I purchased my boat from PWM and it was full of their gas. My boat is on Lake Anna and Anna Point Marina has ValveTect, so I've kept using it, all along thinking I was ethanol free. Oh well, the boat runs well so I guess I'll keep using it.
 
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