High-octane ethanol vs. non-ethanol?

[PathfinderNI]

Just wondering guys......last time I took my 4-stroke Yamaha in for servicing at Trails Yamaha in Henderson, a couple of the heads were underperforming big time. Owner told me that normally at this stage the heads are shot. He did a shock treatment I suppose with ring free and got the compression back down to normal percentages. Anyway, I asked him what caused the problem and he said bad gas. I asked him if I needed to be using non-ethanol and he said that would be even worse than the low-octane ethanol I had been using! He said there was not enough oxygen in the non-ethanols anymore and that he recommended 93-octane from Shell or some other quality name.

Thoughts??

[LPfishnTIM]

I always get high octane for the boat, ethanol or non and I never have problems I don't let a tank of gas sit longer then 3 weeks either!

[Montauk17]

First I ever heard of that....I always use 89 octane ethanol free

[PaulMyers]

Originally Posted by Montauk17

First I ever heard of that....I always use 89 octane ethanol free

Ryan, that's still better than the 87 octane. 1 thing to note is 87 and 89 octane gasoline is made from the same blend components, just different percentages. 93 octane is a completely different blend using mostly different components. (cleaner components)

[jchief]

What about using ring free or something on every tank? When I was running my Skeeter 201 bass boat, the guy's at the Yamaha Shop told me to add some to every tank to help the motor. This was before ethanol.

[PathfinderNI]

He did also tell me to add ring free in the tank and gave me a bottle. I had been using Stabil and will probably continue using that as well since I don't get to use my boat very often.

[Montauk17]

Originally Posted by PathfinderNI

He did also tell me to add ring free in the tank and gave me a bottle. I had been using Stabil and will probably continue using that as well since I don't get to use my boat very often.

That is more of a problem in my opinion than what gas you use....worse thing for any outboard is to let it setup. Running it on the hose helps but it is much better to take it off the trailer and burn a few gallons.

[Marshrat]

Originally Posted by PathfinderNI

He did also tell me to add ring free in the tank and gave me a bottle. I had been using Stabil and will probably continue using that as well since I don't get to use my boat very often.

I was having a problem with my fuel system a while back and had stabil in the tank. I went to NAPA and ask a few questions about stabil and found out that it does not mix with the fuel, instead it sits on top of the fuel and creates a buffer and doesn't always prevent fuel from going bad. He told me to try seafoam, it is a petroleum product that mixes with the gas and it hasn't given me a problem since.



Warren

[Montauk17]

Seafoam is awesome stuff.....use it in everything. Put it in our tractor,toyota,and four wheelers at the deer lease that sit for months at a time. They fire right up no fuel problems.

[Hydro]

Stabil mixes with your fuel... Its an oxidation inhibitor (of sorts) which SLOWS the "souring" of your fuel... If not, you would have an undissolved layer of water on the bottom of your fuel tank which wouldnt be good at all...

I pulled my generator out and ran it last weekend and the treated fuel still smelled fresh, looked clear and ran great...The fuel in it is at least from last hurricane season, but it does stay in a climate controlled shop which helps with the condensation factor...

I have not tried the Seafoam, seems like good stuff... With our humidity anything will help !!!

Ringfree and Stabil go in the boat tank with every fillup and I have not had fuel issues since ethanol showed up... I do run a seperate 10 micron spin on fuel filter which is replaced yearly during my other routine maintenance...

Keep your tanks full and filters clean, that's half the battle !!!

Hydro