repower

[Fr. Frank]

nobody except Yami and their fuel systems are having issues.

Everybody is having fuel issues. My local Merc dealer is right next to the Suzi dealer and while we were having coffee the other morning both agreed that 75% OR MORE of their service work nowadays is due to ethanol in the fuel, resulting in all kinds of havoc, both with 2 and 4 stroke motors.

Here's a real kicker: both agree that TCW3 2-stroke oil, when used with gasoline that is 8-10% ethanol, will NOT protect the engine in any oil injection system that does not inject the oil directly into the cylinders. It absolutely does not workk well when pre-mixed with gasahol and stored in a fuel tank.

Mercury is now recommending synthetic oil only for the Optimax motors when used with gasoline containing ethanol, and also strongly recommending using two additives at all times, Quickleen (similar to Powertune and RingFree) and Quicksilver Fuel Conditioner and Stabilizer designed for ethanol-containing fuels. Mercury is also considering adding an exclusion to it's extended warranty for alcohol-caused fuel-system damage.

Remember, ethanol (or any alcohol) is hydrophilic, meaning it attracts and collects water. There was a test done at the Southwest Research Institute that showed a well-vented 100 gallon container containing 50 gallons of unleaded gasoline composed of 10% ethanol, when allowed to sit in 80% - 90% humidity at a temperature ranging from 65*F to 98*F for 180 days, accumulated over 6 GALLONS of water in the bottom of the tank during that period, while losing 4 gallons in overall volume from evaporation.

After 180 days, having started with 50 gallons of gasoline, they ended up with 40 gallons of gas and 6 gallons of water. This is purely from condensation and the hydrophilic properties of ethanol in the gasoline. That's not good for ANY marine engine.

The sad thing is, around here, no one sells ethanol-free gas anymore.