Ethanol in gasoline

[RPE_LSV]

I was reading my local newspaper and there is an article about how all gas stations are running gasoline mixed with ethanol now (or soon to be) and how this could hurt boats.

I'm curious if anyone has ran into this issue? Below is the article.

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008805240354

[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.

UPDATE I have sent my fuel line back to moomba and they will let me know what they are going to do. They also said that the 2004 and older do not have fuel line that is compatible with ethanol . There is a cut off date and was not available during this phone conversation.
Thanks and good luck. Steve

[Schmitter]

we started getting ethanol in CT in 2004. When I picked up my boat in 2005 it wouldn't pull a skier. It would idle fine, however when I had someone on the end of the rope it died. It ended up being a plugged screen on the fuel pump. The addition of a fuel filter seemed to fix the problem. Now I have a 2006 Outback and have not had any problems with the ethanol in the gas except the price. $4.40+ for 89 octane here.

[hiqualityH2O]

RPE- Greetings from Eugene! The 2007 Indmar manual (pages 5-2 & 5-3) says a 10% ethanol blend is ok.

[Sled491]

Here in Wisconsin, we have been saddled with Ethenol blends for some time. I run it in my boat either hi test or mid grade and have never had a problem.

[bobwells]

Now yall have gotten me concerned... I just noticed today one place I gas up my vehicles has a new little sign on it that says 10 % ethanol. I usually gas my boat up at a station close to lake (BP) havent seen sticker on their pumps.(do they have to post notice?) will be filling up tomorrow, and checking pumps for new stickers. My boats a '98 mobius (carb) will I need to be concerned with fuel lines, etc...if I need to do some preventive maintenance please advise, I hate hassles while having fun so maybe I can prevent if necessary. Engine Nut??? anybody??

[Moomba Dad]

I'm new here so I might not know what I'm talking about. But yesterday, I spoke with a dealer where I just bought my used boat and he now recommends to everyone that they install an in line fuel/water separator. It's like an inline filter with a filter (similar to an oil filter) that takes the water out of the fuel from the ethanol. After a period of time you unscrew the filter and dump out the water and screw it back in. He charges about $150-200 for parts and install.

I know that it is installed on my boat recently by the previous owner.

Any thoughts on this?

Moomba Dad

[zegm]

I had my first experience with the ethanol blends a few weeks ago while towing my boat to get the oil filter changed (still no boat back but thats another story, look under oil filter). I stopped and filled the truck up with the stuff. Well I have never really had problems with detonation in the truck before but while towing the boat in 90F weather the truck ran like crap! It only stopped later after I put some normal 89 octane gas in it and cleared up the problem. I haven't seen the ethanol in PC and the mixed gas I got was in Alabama but maybe that was the start of our nightmare!

[bobwells]

not sure if this has anything to do with ethanol but is a recent issue that has come up, every time I stop and fill up my Suburban it has a problem staying running. It will crank, then sputter and shut-off. After a few tries it cranks again and stutters and wont accelerate, after a few minutes it clears up and will run good till next fill up??? have changed fuel filter, fuel pump, etc... I've been reading how ethanol will blend with water,actually attracts it, vs. seperate as crude oil product does. wondering if water from codensation in tank, which I understand settles to bottom of tank gets stirred up during fill-up thereby mixing with fuel then make it way to engine... I suppose we best learn how to adapt and deal with these new issues ... I'm wide open for suggestions or instructions.

[Sled491]

We up here in the Midwest ahve had ethanol for years and I've never had these problems. But we also don't have your heat and hummidity so try this. Don't fill up during the day, fill up in the evening after dark if at all possible so that the cool fuel coming out of the under ground tanks doesn't mix poorly with the hot fuel in your gas tank. This should help some.

[zegm]

Sled,

Yeah I think heat can be a big issue. On the way home with the boat from Alabama I stopped to get some gas, I was almost out and there would not be another station for miles so I pulled in this place and notice it was all 10% ethanol. Well never tried it so pumped some in (87 Oct). Man the truck hated it but it was over 90F, pulling the boat with the A/C on full blast. I could not get the Tow/Haul mode to work correctly and I think it was arguing with the knock sensors. One was saying don't shift and one was saying you aren't going to rev that high. I put some 89 "normal" fuel in it later and it ran great. Since then I have just kept putting 89 in it, when you see that 87 is 4.00 and 89 is now 4.09 the percentage difference is now mute.