non-ethanol gas

[cfelton]

Rode out to the Eagle Mart by the Coast Guard base in Elizabeth City and bought 25.75 gallons of 93 octane non-ethanol gas yesterday. It was 4.34 a gallon. I'm gonna drain out all of the gas left in my tanks before filling with non-ethanol. I haven't had any trouble with my 170 I/O yet but dont want to later on either. The last time I took it out it had a little hesitation when throttling up, thinking it may be the old 10% ethanol gas. Anybody else changed over to non-ethanol gas and have you seen any difference in performance? Since I live close to Va. I looked there and found non- ethanol100 octane at the Suffolk Airport. Might have to get me some of that!

[bradford]

I run non ethanol in everything except daily driven gas vehicles. Boats, lawn equipment, motor home, etc. It runs about 3.99 a gallon near me, and a lot of stations have started carrying it. Def a good idea.

I had an old runabout several years ago that started running like crap with it, mixed a few 6 gallon cans of non ethanol with an additive and was able to clear it up. Had a chainsaw and leaf blower that I ran the hell out of regularly that started running like crap and had to go through the carbs, that's when I switched over to non ethanol exclusively.


Here's a site that will tell you who has it.


http://wellcraftv20.com/community/showthread.php?t=14635

[Destroyer]

Unfortunately, there is not a single registered E0 gas station in NJ. You would think with all the boating that is done here they would sell it at marinas, etc. But I cannot find any that do. They may be out there, but they are hidden from public view. This may be the result of irresponsible legislation, something New Jersey is well noted for. :bat:

[bradford]

This may be the result of irresponsible legislation, something New Jersey is well noted for. :bat:


No.... that could never happen.


I seriously don't know how people in NJ, NY, California, and Illinois live there.

[Destroyer]

No.... that could never happen.


I seriously don't know how people in NJ, NY, California, and Illinois live there.

Well, for NJ, 196 miles of white sandy beaches probably have something to do with it, along with mountains, farms, forests, pine barrens and the like. If we could just get rid of the dumb politicians, and the people that keep electing them, this state would really be heaven.

[macojoe]

There are none here in Mass eaither! :cry::deer:

[spareparts]

why do you think every one is moving here?

[THEFERMANATOR]

Can find it at multiple stations down here, and most marinas have switched over to it as well. Florida did away with the ethanol mandate, but the refineries are still blending it for road use.

[awthacker]

I keep my boat on the trailer, sometimes in the water but I only have a floating dock... No lift yet. I always fill from the gas stations, very rarely dockside. I fill with low octane (87?) if I am heading out on a long trip and know I'll use the majority of the fuel. If I'm filling after a trip or if it's unlikely that I'll use most of the fuel, then I'll go with the high octane (93?). I have not subscribed to the prices of ethanol free gas yet because I haven't had any fuel issues. For my mower and hand tools I also use high octane but not E free. I used to fill up after each trip (which I prefer so I know how much fuel I used), to prevent moisture in the tank, but now I mostly fill up before each trip so that I'm burning fresh gas.

[phatdaddy]

have a friend with an ethanol test kit. he went around a couple of years ago testing the amount of ethanol in various brands of gas. he found out most of your cheaper "off brands" had much less than the name brands, some almost zero. the sticker on the pumps says "may contain up to 10%" the ethanol is added when the gas is delivered to the station. the tanker gets 90% gas and then blends up to 10% ethanol and depends on the sloshing and movement to the station to blend.

here is a link for a test kit, but i just made one out of a caper bottle

http://www.amazon.com/Briggs-Stratton-795161-Gasohol-Replaces/dp/B002WNULS4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395591085&sr=8-1&keywords=ethanol+tester

[cfelton]

Yea, I haven't had any trouble with the boat being an I/O but my weed eater, leaf blower and chain saws really have a hard time swallowing the ethanol. I've been running 93 in my truck since new and had no trouble. All my 2 cycle motors really dont like it, even with stabilizer. I think the trick is use it quick and don't let it sit in the tank very long. The E15 is really gonna cause trouble!

[twhrider2]

I'm with Bradford... only daily drivers get ethanol, everything else including boats and tractors get non.

[bradford]

Down time and the price of new carbs (nobody rebuilds chinese carbs for small 2 stroke equipment anymore), plus the machine running like crap isn't worth saving 70 cents a gallon to me. I still add stabilzer, or for the small 2 stroke stuff I use the stihl silver bottle 2 stroke oil which has them already included.

[cterrebonne]

same here, daily or weekly used stuff gets e10, other stuff gets e0.

I know it might not make a difference, but I would like to see the air to fuel ratio of an outboard without an 02 sensor running ethanol and non-ethanol fuel. I imagine the ethanol fueled engine would run leaner.

[THEFERMANATOR]

same here, daily or weekly used stuff gets e10, other stuff gets e0.

I know it might not make a difference, but I would like to see the air to fuel ratio of an outboard without an 02 sensor running ethanol and non-ethanol fuel. I imagine the ethanol fueled engine would run leaner.

A 10% blend isn't supposed to lean out the engine to much as the lower viscosity of it allows it to compensate some there. And if you do the math you only need about 4-5% more E-10 than regular pure gas to achieve the same power output. And with ethanols cooling effect it isn't a problem either. 15% and up is where you start playing on thin ice and worry.

[cfelton]

Finally got around to draining my gas tanks yesterday. My 77 has saddle tanks with the fill up towards the front so I dropped the bow down before draining. I taped a clear 3/8 hose to a small dowel rod and positioned it in the bottom front corner of each tank to drain them. It pulled all but a teaspoon out. Got 12 gallons out all together, the last 2 gallons looked like milk! I had put Stabil and Gas Shok in last fall and it still absorbed moisture. Filled it back up with 93 octane non-ethanol gas, should be good to go as soon as I change the fuel filter. Did I say I hate Ethanol!! Ha Ha!!

[bradford]

Glad you got it out of there Cfelton. 17% water!

And your V is obviously well taken care of and maintained. Imagine whats lurking in the tanks of boats whose owners aren't as meticulous.

[Destroyer]

Glad you got it out of there Cfelton. 17% water!

And your V is obviously well taken care of and maintained. Imagine whats lurking in the tanks of boats whose owners aren't as meticulous.

Even being meticulous doesn't help when all you can get is E10. Here in NJ our only recourse is to completely drain the tank all the time. (and you know that's not going to happen).

By the way, has anyone noticed that as a nation, we've accepted paying 70 cents more for a gallon of non ethanol gas? WHY? It costs the producers ZERO cents more...yet they charge more and act like they are doing us a favor by selling it. Talk about a RIP OFF!!!

[THEFERMANATOR]

Even being meticulous doesn't help when all you can get is E10. Here in NJ our only recourse is to completely drain the tank all the time. (and you know that's not going to happen).

By the way, has anyone noticed that as a nation, we've accepted paying 70 cents more for a gallon of non ethanol gas? WHY? It costs the producers ZERO cents more...yet they charge more and act like they are doing us a favor by selling it. Talk about a RIP OFF!!!

Only 70 cents more a gallon, not down here. Try $1.25 a gallon more for ethanol free. It's still cheaper than having to do carbs all the time, and not having to worry about vapor lock. My air cooled KOHLER's on the mowers HATE ethanol blended fuel, and vapor lock anytime you put a hard load on them and get em hot.

[cfelton]

Yep, I know how you all feel. Can't wait till they start pushing that E15. We're in for it!!

[nymack66]

I am still applying CPR to my engine after a long sleep. I am guessing I have to pump the gas out again!
I found an awesome site one can use to locate E-Free gas, I just found a station which I pass every day and had no clue.
Going forward I will heed the advise here, I did not know the E10 was so bad after all.:cry:

http://pure-gas.org :nice:

[bradford]

Yup.

http://wellcraftv20.com/community/showthread.php?t=14635

[bradford]

Only 70 cents more a gallon, not down here. Try $1.25 a gallon more for ethanol free. It's still cheaper than having to do carbs all the time, and not having to worry about vapor lock. My air cooled KOHLER's on the mowers HATE ethanol blended fuel, and vapor lock anytime you put a hard load on them and get em hot.


What Kind of Kohlers do you have Ferm? I have a 27 HP Command Horizontal shaft on the Z. And a 25 HP Vertical on the garden tractor.

Never had any problems, probably because all they see is 0% ethanol gas with Stabil.

[THEFERMANATOR]

What Kind of Kohlers do you have Ferm? I have a 27 HP Command Horizontal shaft on the Z. And a 25 HP Vertical on the garden tractor.

Never had any problems, probably because all they see is 0% ethanol gas with Stabil.

The infamous KOHLER CV25 vertical shaft 25HP KOHLER COMMAND PRO is the WORST friggen engine for vapor locking I have ever run. It doesn't help it's the commercial low boy style where the muffler is RIGHT there in the V next to the carb. I ended up heat wrapping the muffler, heat shielding the fuel lines, and putting a heat shield around the carb. This worked OK, but if I was running it HARD(pushing it alot harder than I should. A 61" ZTR isn't meant to be doing bush hogging) it would still vapor lock. Switched to ethanol free fuel and no more problems.

These 25HP vertical shaft KOHLERS are sort of the scourge of the mowing world with all of the problems of head gaskets popping, crank keys shearing, mufflers blowing out, and vapor locking. The 26HP was teh same basic engine, but was fuel injected and didn't suffer hardly any of the shortcomings of the 25. And the horizontal shaft 25HP KOHLER didn't have much trouble either. The 22HP vertical shaft on the bagger is a good engine, but it suffers from lifter bleed down. Doesn't really affect how it runs, but is sure annoying.

[spareparts]

I told the Kohler factory rep that their generators rust too fast to use as an anchor. I also told him they pass their dealership around like a bad case of the clap.



Can you tell I don't like kohler

[reelapeelin]

I told the Kohler factory rep that their generators rust too fast to use as an anchor. I also told him they pass their dealership around like a bad case of the clap.



Can you tell I don't like kohler


Don't hold back, Brother...let 'er rip!!...:you:

[spareparts]

I told them to stick to spigots :laugh:

[cfelton]

That was good Spare, made me laugh! Ive never had a Kohler motor, always had the old cheap Briggs & Strattion engines. Always had good luck with them.

[spareparts]

I've never messed with Kohler engines, only their generators, and they are complete crap. I used to fight with the 'authorized dealer" of the week on getting warranty work done for my customers. They are hte most popular marine gas generators out there, because they are the cheapest. I met the Kohler reps while I was at service classes for Carver Yachts, I gave them both barrels. Three days later, I had the same people at service classes for Cruisers Yachts, I just sat in the back and laughed out loud every time they mentioned warranty(yea, I had a few in me at the time), they knew better to say something to me in front of another group of people. I told them the most cost efficient way to fix a Kohler generator was to replace it with a Westerbeke :butt:

[randlemanboater]

I have a Kohler Genny on the RV, other than seeping a little oil its been great...pushing 3000 hrs on it.

But we all know the salt environment will uncover weaknesses fast.

[spareparts]

I think that was their biggest issue, they took an RV generator, used a water/water heat exchanger and called it a marine generator. Does your's eat spark plugs? I keep 4 on the van all the time