ethanol in gas

[local 11 spark]

I live in Oregon, anyone concerned about the ethanol that will be in the fuel here in Sept. 2008? If so, what concerns are they?

[hiqualityH2O]

I checked with Jay at AWS after I saw your post Local and he says with the newer boats there's nothing to worry about. The main concern is older boats where the ethanol will corrode non-stainless engine components and some fuel tanks.

[local 11 spark]

yea, kinda funny. Jay at AWS says to just run an octane booster every 2nd or 3rd tank. I said " octane booster? I run premium all the time!!!". He says that we can run 87 octane in these boats and run a booster every other tank...hmmmmm, save some money...

[c.rix]

My dealer told me that also just if you hear it "ping" you know that you need a higher octane. Also the ethanol in the gas isnt that big of a deal being i live in minnesota we have had it for some time now. But if given the chance or choice I would like to see the honest difference.

[hiqualityH2O]

I've been running with mostly 87 since I bought the boat last summer with out any noticable performance issues. The paper today (Register Guard) ran a big article on ethanol in boats and they make it sound bad. I think I'll be adding "Heat" a little more often. They also mentioned using a water filter/separator - might not be a bad idea. I think what it comes down to is the length of time the gas sitting in the tank - the longer period of time the more potential for water build up.

Enginenut can you comment on this?

[kaneboats]

That's a great solution. To keep fresh fuel in the tank just take her out more often and stay out longer. Works for me!

[1moomba]

I have a 04 Moomba XLV 340 HP 107 Hrs on the boat. I had a problem last time out last September. The boat would not go over 10 MPH. I brought the boat to Gillian Marine in Alton Bay and the found the Fuel pump and filter to be bad and contaminated. They replaced it and it failed first time out this year. I found it to be full of rubber. The fuel line has broke down from the inside and is about half deteriorated and is plugging up both the pump and filter. We have 10% Ethanol in our fuel and that started in summer of 2007. So the boat was run one season with the ethanol in the fuel.

The dealer contacted Moomba and they offered to send out a new piece of fuel line. I pay the labor and wanted the old one back. I asked if this was going to do the same thing and they said they didn't know. This is going to be a safety issue once the line is eaten through. Raw fuel in the bilge of a boat is not a good thing. This is my third Moomba and Moomba has been great in the past. I hope they don't prove me wrong this time. THIS IS A REAL SAFETY ISSUE And I Don't feel that I should foot the bill. The hose is made in Malaysia which is pretty scary. It says ISO Certified Jan 93. I don't believe the were using Ethanol in 1993. Any feedback would be great. I have left message for the factory to call me back as they have made right in the past.
Thanks Steve