Tip of the month

[Destroyer]

Got this in my eMail today.. thought it was important enough to repost here.

From the Boat U.S. Marine Insurance site:

Avoiding the Ethanol Blues

If your boat's engine runs on gasoline, then you need to be careful how you put your fuel to bed for the winter. These days, most gasoline you buy at a gas station or fuel dock comes with 10 percent ethanol, which can cause problems if stored for months, especially if the temperature is changing. Ethanol is hydrophilic - it attracts and holds water. Small amounts of water will be burned in the combustion cycle, but ethanol can only absorb so much water. When it becomes completely saturated, phase separation occurs, and the corrosive ethanol-water mixture sinks to the bottom of the tank. If the engine is run, this mixture can damage seals, O-rings, injectors, and other delicate engine parts. The upper "gasoline" layer will be depleted of ethanol and have a reduced octane level, which can also cause engine problems. Leaving your tank half full for the winter can greatly increase the problems. First, there is more room in the tank and less fuel, which means more surface area for condensation formation and less ethanol to absorb the resulting water. Second, cycling temperatures from warm to cold also increases the amount of condensation. Finally, ethanol cannot absorb as much water at low temperatures as it can when it's warmer, so the gasoline will phase separate more quickly in colder temperatures. So, what should you do? If you can empty your tank completely, you should do so. If not, add stabilizer and fill it most of the way, leaving room for expansion and contraction of the gasoline.

[bgreene]

Thanks for posting - what about if you use " the blue stuff ".......it's a stabilizer, forgot the name, maybe Stabil . My etec dealer recommends, and I use it 1oz per 10 gallons during the season, a bit more when storing.

The " empty vs full " discussion is interesting - of course really EMPTY would likely be best.

[garagenc]

Originally Posted by bgreene

Thanks for posting - what about if you use " the blue stuff ".......it's a stabilizer, forgot the name, maybe Stabil . My etec dealer recommends, and I use it 1oz per 10 gallons during the season, a bit more when storing.

The " empty vs full " discussion is interesting - of course really EMPTY would likely be best.

That's Star tron you're thinking of (blue stuff) great stuff, we use it in all our equipment an have almost eliminated all our primer bulb problems and carb issues.

[GREYWOLF]

I just winterized my 1989 yamaha 150 2 stroker, I had about 12 gallons of 93 SUNUCO left in the tank , I added 5 gallons of 105 octain racing fuel ( no ethanol) 2 pints of Sierra Combustion Cleaner and 4 oz. of stabil. this mixture has always worked for me now for 8 yrs. I ran this mixture for 5 minutes off my garden hose to get in into my water seperator and carbs. then ran the foging oil thru the plug holes to lube the pistons and rings , drained the carbs ran it again to get the carb foging oil into them . DONE
execpt for the lower unit , I always use racing fuel it is expencive but worth it