Question: Is there a problem using the newer regular (87 Octane) Gas with 10% Ethanol in 2 stroke outboards? I have a 3.0 HP Johnson (vintage 1990) that ran fine last year. It was winterized using OMC Fogging Oil in Choke port, ran til somoked, shut off, tank drained, Fogging oil squirted into sparkplug ports, old plugs put back in, and stored for winter. Old fuel stored in plastic jerry can with stabilizer added. In this spring mounted in a barrel at home, added the stored fuel, put in new sparkplugs, and started up. It seemed to run OK. Put it on dinghy about 4 weeks later and it would stall out soon after starting. Last week I drained out all of the 'old' fuel. Got a new plastic jerry can and a new gallon of regular (87 Octane) with 10% Ethanol fuel and added the usual outboard oil and OMC Conditioner and put that into the outboard fuel tank. It still ran rough and would stall out. Today sprayed some Gumout Carb & Choke Cleaner intp butterfly choke and ran it again. It would run only at about half throttle an about halh choke. More or less of either would cause it to stall out. Then it would not even start anymore. Someone at marina said that the new fuel with 10% Ethanol is causing problems for many people with outboards and power boats. Anyone have any insight or comments on all of this? Sorry to be so long 'winded'. Dick
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You probably have a carb problem
We have been using the 10% ethanol for the past 6 years in our 1973 Chrysler 10 hp with no problems whatsoever.
We have been using the 10% ethanol for the past 6 years in our 1973 Chrysler 10 hp with no problems whatsoever.
BoatUS
BoatUS just did an article on this subject. Several boaters including myself have had carb problems. Rinse out of the tank and carb fixed the problem. Also spoke with my mechanic and he stated lots of carb problems this year unsure if it is the ethanol or coincidence
BoatUS just did an article on this subject. Several boaters including myself have had carb problems. Rinse out of the tank and carb fixed the problem. Also spoke with my mechanic and he stated lots of carb problems this year unsure if it is the ethanol or coincidence
Thanks for Outboard replys
Thanks for the replys folks. I took the outboard home and mounted on the side of an old landscape trailer hanging into a barrel of fresh water. About 6 hours after I had squirted it with Gumout Choke & Carb Cleaner, I started it and it ran (rough but ran). It ha a lot of white/grey smoke for about 20-30 seconds then cleared. It ran for 10 minutes and then stalled at low idle setting. Restarted a few minutes later and ran for 12 minutes at medium/high and the low idle without stopping. I ran it again this morning for about 10 minutes at various speeds and it held. I guess that the Gumout took some time to clean out som 'varnish' in the carb then burned off the Gumout residue. It seems to work OK now, so I'll bring it down to the marina tomorrow and mount it on the dinghy and try again.
Thanks for the replys folks. I took the outboard home and mounted on the side of an old landscape trailer hanging into a barrel of fresh water. About 6 hours after I had squirted it with Gumout Choke & Carb Cleaner, I started it and it ran (rough but ran). It ha a lot of white/grey smoke for about 20-30 seconds then cleared. It ran for 10 minutes and then stalled at low idle setting. Restarted a few minutes later and ran for 12 minutes at medium/high and the low idle without stopping. I ran it again this morning for about 10 minutes at various speeds and it held. I guess that the Gumout took some time to clean out som 'varnish' in the carb then burned off the Gumout residue. It seems to work OK now, so I'll bring it down to the marina tomorrow and mount it on the dinghy and try again.
You might want to change the plug
Those little single cylinders run on anything from what I have experienced. If it dying out it may be fouled. How is your mix? Smoking a lot? What have you got to loose. New plug, set the gap and it's as good as new. If it has points, it may be time to check them as well.
Those little single cylinders run on anything from what I have experienced. If it dying out it may be fouled. How is your mix? Smoking a lot? What have you got to loose. New plug, set the gap and it's as good as new. If it has points, it may be time to check them as well.
10% ethanol fuel does not store well
10% ethanol fuels in my opinion and based on what I have read and seen,,,just will not store long at all,,,I have had problems in motorcycles and ect with it,,,even with fuel stablizers added,,,
10% ethanol fuels in my opinion and based on what I have read and seen,,,just will not store long at all,,,I have had problems in motorcycles and ect with it,,,even with fuel stablizers added,,,
Just a Thought
Some of these gasoline additives contain alcohol. By adding the additive on top of alcohol already in the gas you might pass some solubility threshold. Many times I have boosted the octane of gas that was causing my engine to knock by adding some alcohol which is a great octane booster. Also adding alcohol will "dry out" gasoline that has some water. The alcohol pulls the water into the gasoline so that it will pass through filters etc and be burned. But gasoline will only hold so much alcohol before you get a phase separation where the excess alcohol sinks to the bottom of the tank. The same thing is true with water. Too much water will settle out and pull much of the alcohol out of the gas which can lower the octane rateing. Even more fun is the fact that much of this is temperature dependent. Also the three common alcohols methyl, ethyl and propyl behave differently in gasoline.
Some of these gasoline additives contain alcohol. By adding the additive on top of alcohol already in the gas you might pass some solubility threshold. Many times I have boosted the octane of gas that was causing my engine to knock by adding some alcohol which is a great octane booster. Also adding alcohol will "dry out" gasoline that has some water. The alcohol pulls the water into the gasoline so that it will pass through filters etc and be burned. But gasoline will only hold so much alcohol before you get a phase separation where the excess alcohol sinks to the bottom of the tank. The same thing is true with water. Too much water will settle out and pull much of the alcohol out of the gas which can lower the octane rateing. Even more fun is the fact that much of this is temperature dependent. Also the three common alcohols methyl, ethyl and propyl behave differently in gasoline.
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