Bad Gas

[Gilly]

I'm new to this, about 40 hours on my '08 LSV and we've already had a clogged fuel filter then moisture in the line. With ethanol hard to avoid, does everyone get around fuel-line issues with STA-BIL, or do some prefer Sea foam, or what solutions work best for you?

[newty]

Sorry I thought you were talking about something else.
I haven't had any issued with our 08 LSV. That said I had lots of gas problems with another boat I had. I added a fuel water seperator and that seemed to stop the problem. You just need to replace the filter once a year. The filter is quite a bit bigger than the factory one. It almost lokks like an oil filter. I would also put some fuel stabilizer in the boat and top off the tank before you put the boat away for the season. Given the problems you've had up till now that should help keep any problems from progressing while it sits.
You may also want to use super unleaded when you top it off.
Good luck.

[_sT_]

That raises a good question - what grade fuel are you using? I always put in at least 91 octane in my old Moomba. In fact I've done that with all the boats I've owned so far.

[newty]

I typically run 89 in mine with an occasional supreme tank.

[sandm]

only run what the manual states. believe it's 89. . any more and you are pouring $$ down the tank.
higher octane fuels are not good in engines that are not force fed or high compression. they don't burn right.

otherwise some good suggestions from newty....
replace the fuel filter regularly
water separator is not a bad idea
stabil or something similar in a FULL tank of gas when stored(eliminates room for condensation) actually a good idea to find a local station that sells non-ethanol blended fuel for the winter fill, but that can be tough to find in today's market
you're also best not to fill up if you see the fill truck at the station. have heard that when they pump in the gas, it stirs up sediment. don't know if there's truth to that, but sounds logical.

[_sT_]

My manual states "Use gasoline with a minimum octane rating of 89."

Also, my old IO stated something similar (I'm sure the words it used were "at least 89 octane"), right on the throttle body cover when you open the dog house.

But hey, I guess I could save some money going down to 89. Your right - running 91 won't result in any more power in the boat - maybe I got sucked in by marketing saying that it just might be cleaner burning or something.

[sandm]

save the coin. over the course of the year, might make one more day on the lake free ;)

it's amazing how many people are conned into putting premium into their cars, especially older folks thinking it will make it run better or equate higher hp with higher octane..
I remember reading a story on a yammy yzf600 when I had it that showed excessive engine wear in a test motor that was run on premium. engine showed it due to the higher combustion..

don't ever go the other way though. detonation does bad things to rings and pistons :)

[_sT_]

Yeah - I guess the silliest thing is that had 94 or something been available, I probably would have bought it. I'm glad you broken this habit now, or I might have been shopping for a new Moomba in a few years....

Actually - that may not be a bad thing... :p

Anyway, sorry for the thread hijack.

[Sled491]

We've been stuck running Ethanol fuel here since forever. I have never had one fuel related problem, not one. And I run 3 outboards and my DD all summer. However on this topic Star Brite has this new enzym fuel treatment that is supposed to eliminate the Ethanol problem. It says you can't over medicate so give it a try. About 13 bucks for a 5 or 6 oz bottle though.

[_sT_]

Yeah supposedly ethanol blended fuel loses octane over time. I don't think it's enough to cause any problems for moderate use (a tank ever few weeks), but still something to be aware of.

[sandm]

don't know about losing octane, but ethanol has a higher octane rating that gas. e85, 85% ethanol is around 100octane. lots of the 4banger turbo'ed import guys are switching over to e85. cheaper than racegas. just have to replace injectors, some lines are run a much more aggressive fuel map.
it separates more easily than regular gas hence additive is a must over the winter. has a much lower boiling point than non ethanol gas meaning vaporlock is more likely(lots of issues all over the interwebs with boats/vaporlock/ethanol), e85 will grab all the crap in your fuel system and gum up your filter in a matter of days(for you flexfuel car guys).

I really don't see the need for the additive on a day to day basis unless storing the boat for over 6 weeks, but if the gov't gets us up to 15% like they are pushing, then additives will probably be a big market in the boating industry and we'll all be buying them.

[Gilly]

I have been using 91 octane, but will drop down to 89 as manual recommends as the minimum. I'm not as concerned about the breakdown of the gas as I should use it fast enough, but I had heard ethanol attracts moisture and corrodes the inner tank, etc. That's what I'm trying to avoid, but sounds like I might have just had some bad luck early on and don't really need a regular additive. Thanks for the ideas.

[sandm]

ethanol does attract moisture, but in a plastic gas tank, it's a non issue. there really isn't any issue running ethanol blended gas in vehicles with the exception of the vapor lock issue for now, but as the gov't increases the % of the blend, there will be issues down the road.
cars and boats are primarily computer driven and will have a hard time compensating for the higher levels of ethanol as it requires more fuel with each spray of the injector. the simple fix is a new fuel map in the ecu, but it's not that simple when you look at the sheer volume of maps needing adjusted.

and on the major downside, fuel mileage deteriorates with ethanol blended fuel.