Fhits about to hit the san

[Montauk17]

Marathon Oil in Garyville notified it's distributors on June 6th that effective June 21st this month, they will NO LONGER PROVIDE ethanol FREE gas from their Garyville Refinery. Guess they too fell for the $0.45/gallon tax credit and has decided to blend ALL of it's fuel from Garyville as ethanol gas.

That's real bad for our sources of ethanol FREE gasoline. Marathon was one of the largest suppliers of ethanol free gas in not only south Louisiana but also north Louisiana. I spoke with a retail station owner in the Shreveport area about two weeks ago and he told me that he was notified that effective the end of June he was not going to be able to get ethanol free gas from the Arcadia terminal. I'm sure this terminal is supplied by Marathon by pipeline.

Not only will Marathon's decision hurt boaters and fishermen in finding a source of ethanol free gas, but many small grocery and convenience store owners have told me that if they cannot continue to get ethanol free gas they will stop selling gas altogether as they cannot afford the high cost to clean their tanks and install new electronic water monitoring equipment and expensive filters to sell ethanol gas. The average cost to get fuel tanks ready to sell ethanol gas is between $1,500 to $2,500 per tank, depending on the size of the tank. Marathon's decision will hurt small business people also.

I spoke with Waguespack Oil today and they indicated to me they will try to get ethanol free gas from the Murphy Refinery in Chalmette, but it will likely be 5-10 cents/gallon higher due to the longer distance they have to truck it. The only other refinery that is still supplying ethanol FREE gasoline in the south Louisiana area that I am aware of is Placid Refinery in the Baton Rouge area. I'm not sure if the Lake Charles area refineries have also yet gone all ethanol. I do know that all Exxon/Mobil, Chevron/Texaco, Shell and BP are 100% ethanol in Louisiana. Marathon going 100% will hurt everyone very badly! All for the almighty $$!

So, we can now add Marathon to the list of refiners Exxon/Mobil, Chevron/Texaco, Shell and BP hated by boaters and fishermen.

I will testify before a State Commerce Committee in Baton Rouge next week to try to make them aware of the growing ethanol free gas problem and hopefully get some support in addressing it. I tried this last year before the Agriculture Committee and ran against a total roadblock (learned they won't dare do anything that in the remotest way hurt farmers). If we cannot continue to find sources of ethanol FREE gas, when 15% ethanol replaces the current 10% ethanol, it will SHUTDOWN the entire marine industry in Louisiana! There is not one marine engine that can operate on 15% ethanol gas, and neither can motorcycles, four wheelers, jet skis, chain saws and lawn and garden tools. We're in for a tough fight fellas.

http://www.petelandrysrealgas.com/index2.html

[iron man]

this blows!

[Ray]

Conoco refinery in Lake Charles still distributes ethanol free gas. Most, but not all Conoco stations around my house do sell ethanol free gas, and they are sure to put the signs out front to let you know.
Both fuel docks for recreational boats in Lake Charles have ethanol free gas also.

[Lake Chuck Duck]

I have found that its usually the "American owned" gas stations that sell the conoco ehtanol free gas in Lake Charles. I can only think of 2, Cormies and Jimbos, both of which support outdoor hunting and fishing.

[flounder_smacker]

I run aft gas in all my fourwhellers, lawnmowers etc. Things that dont burn much fuel. The boat gets regular fuel with ethanol but I add startron in every tank and haven't had any problems. The only problems I had was in the beginning using startron it cleaned out all the deposits out of my tank which is a aluminum. Had to change filters out all the time but now it's fine. I get my aft fuel at the jeanerette airport. They have tanks u can go right up to swipe ur card and go. That's the only place I know of u can still do that.

[specktator]

People are also switching b/c ethanol fuel is about 8-10 cents cheaper/gallon.

[Finfeatherfur]

Calcasieu Refinery in Lake Charles was producing ethanol free gas the last time I talked to them. It will be harder and harder to find ethanol free gas in the future as no major stations outside of a area close to a marina will be able to get it. All major stations will have to carry this craaap.

While up in Minnesota last week, I had the chance to spend some time with one of the operators at the terminal where the work we were overseeing was being done. This terminal is a loading facility where fuels are piplelined in, then sent out via transports from a loading rack. It was very, very similar to the Chevron terminal south of Opelousas if anyone is familiar with that site. Anyway, I asked if they were having issues w/ ethanol being they were in corn country and had so many supportors of it. I almost got smacked for even bringing it up! They hate it also and I got to see first hand what it does to their equipment. I will try to get the guy to email me the pictures he sent me of their screens and filters from this past winter. Incredible! This stuff gummed up so bad it shut a terminal down for 2 days! It looked like rotten peanut butter all the way up to their pump suctions!

At this point, I will continue to put in ethanol treatment to every gallon of gas I purchase, no matter where it comes from. Until someone in Washington makes people understand that Ethnaol has been a failure, we are stuck with it. And making people in Washington understand common sense has not been to successful for the past 50 years! When it cost $8/gal to produce and then they give money away to use it, I just sit back and try to figure out where they got their education because their math teacher must have been on crack!

[Ray]

Citgo on the corner of Lake and 18th st. has no E-10.
There is a Conoco Sampson in Westlake with no E-10 also.
Browns in Hackberry. No E-10
Parkside in Moss Bluff. No E-10
Gaspards in South Lake Charles. No E-10
Boone's Corner in Grand Lake. No E-10
Chesson's Grocery in Grand Lake. No E-10



E-10 doesnt' really bother many newer outboards, except for the Honda's.'
If you have a new boat and motor, it normally won't bother them.
It will screw up an old boats tank, hoses or engine.
If you have an old boat with new engines, watch out.
Be sure to change out all the hoses to the newer A-1 rated hoses and clean out the tank.
I know a guy who put new Yamaha's on his offshore fishing boat and when he filled up with the E-10, it messed up both new motors.

[Montauk17]

Originally Posted by Ray

Citgo on the corner of Lake and 18th st. has no E-10.
There is a Conoco Sampson in Westlake with no E-10 also.
Browns in Hackberry. No E-10
Parkside in Moss Bluff. No E-10
Gaspards in South Lake Charles. No E-10
Boone's Corner in Grand Lake. No E-10
Chesson's Grocery in Grand Lake. No E-10



E-10 doesnt' really bother many newer outboards, except for the Honda's.'
If you have a new boat and motor, it normally won't bother them.
It will screw up an old boats tank, hoses or engine.
If you have an old boat with new engines, watch out.
Be sure to change out all the hoses to the newer A-1 rated hoses and clean out the tank.
I know a guy who put new Yamaha's on his offshore fishing boat and when he filled up with the E-10, it messed up both new motors.

My concern is how long will they be allowed to sell non ethanol fuel. Damn feds are trying to put a stop to it 100%. I have not put a single drop of ethanol blended gas in my boat since I rebuilt the engine a few months ago. Guess I need to start running ethanol now before I put too many hours on it. Your right Ray, biggest problem is not the age of the motor,it is how many hours it has on it. The older the engine is the more carbon deposits it builds up. The ethanol breaks those carbon deposits up and scars the cylinder walls up and goes downhill from there. And of course the water intrusion because of the non sealed venting system on all boats and other small engines.

[Ray]

I try to run non ethanol gas but I have put some in my boat several times with no issues.
I know of 2 guys with new Honda's that had issues with Ethanol. They still run, but lose economy and power with the E-10.
I can't see any issues with my Yamaha when using E-10, yet.

In my opinion, Startron is snake oil. There is a Startron company rep. from Fla. that says Startron will reverse phase separation, which is impossible. He also says you get more speed at the same RPM. Which is also impossible.

I haven't used anything to prevent the phase separation yet, but I don't keep gas in my boat for long either.

[Montauk17]

Originally Posted by Ray

I try to run non ethanol gas but I have put some in my boat several times with no issues.
I know of 2 guys with new Honda's that had issues with Ethanol. They still run, but lose economy and power with the E-10.
I can't see any issues with my Yamaha when using E-10, yet.

In my opinion, Startron is snake oil. There is a Startron company rep. from Fla. that says Startron will reverse phase separation, which is impossible. He also says you get more speed at the same RPM. Which is also impossible.

I haven't used anything to prevent the phase separation yet, but I don't keep gas in my boat for long either.

I use the marine sta-bil,the blue liquid. There is no additive that will reverse phase separation,I don't care what they advertise. Sta-bil will help prevent it though. Best thing to do is use your boat atleast twice a month to keep the gas fresh.

[jldsc]

Ive been using the sta-bil marine ethanol treatment also and so far no problems with either of my motors which have alot of hours..just keep my fingers crossed and do my best not to put e10

[Slidellkid]

This crap blows.

Ray, when you say an "older boat" how old are you talking about. I am in the market for a new boat and will probably buy used. Now I am concerned that I could end up with a problem. What is the person selling the boat has been using ethanol gas and letting it sit? I could be in for some serious problems down the road.

[Ray]

If you buy a used boat, make sure the owner lets you run it wide open for at least 5 minutes. Also run it as long as he will allow, and that you feel it is good with you.
If a boat has been running E-10 gas for a while, you shouldn't have any issues. If it has been running regular gas without E-10, it will clean out the tank and it can take soften up the inside of the fuel hoses if they are not rated for ethanol.
It will also loosen up any gunk in the hoses and the rest of the fuel system and clean out the inside of your motor. That's when the trouble starts.
My brother in laws friend had an older Regulator. When he repowered with new Yamaha's, the tank and hoses were cleaned out and gunked up his injectors.

If the gas has been sitting but the boat runs good, be sure to either get rid of it or add a lot of fresh gas to the tank to freshen it up. If the gas is bad, it won't run good, don't buy the boat let the owner deal with it..