Coop marked gas with ethanol.

Max123 said:
I'm against the ethanol requirement, but for totally different reasons. I think its just bad science. Ethanol is generally produced from crops like corn. Corn, which requires nitrogen fertilizer which is generally produced from massive quantities of natural gas and electricity. Ethanol crops displace food crops and every added acre of land needed for ethanol crops comes from somewhere - leading to either deforestation or the loss of prairie grasslands. In addition, fertilizer runoff is one of the main sources of environmental degradation in river estuaries (massive algae blooms leading to ocean dead zones).

In short, even if the math pencils out slightly in favor of ethanol in terms of net carbon into the atmosphere - it comes with other environmental externalities that really make me question the overall benefit. I don't know if ethanol is just a massive farm subsidy in disguise - but its certainly not good climate policy. The fact that ethanol is no good for my outboard is only a minor thing - and frankly, if that were the only reason, I'd suck it up.
Click to expand...
Agreed. An accurate analysis of other, significant issues.
 
Question. If you know you will be burning up a tank of gas in a couple days, is ethanol an issue? I know if the boat is sitting it will attract water.
 
A couple years ago as all this BS started I was told by a guy that was cleaning out our jet A tanks that ethanol was going to wreak havoc on tanks and vehicles as it accumulates water in the tanks. Our Toyota hybrid spits water out the exhaust and running a tank of premium through it used to clean this up pretty quickly however lately it hasn't been helping so maybe something has changed. I just put 60 liters in the boat yesterday at a Coop in Nanaimo and it still says no ethanol in marked, I really hope that's the case.
 
Skins88 said:
Question. If you know you will be burning up a tank of gas in a couple days, is ethanol an issue? I know if the boat is sitting it will attract water.
Click to expand...
Ethanol is more of a problem in older engines and especially for any with carburetors. Ethanol can create gum and sludge over time. It's a solvent and so can lead to other issues in fuel delivery systems. Watch aluminum tanks for perforation. Use fresh fuel and use 10 micron fuel filters, then change them like diapers. Or use E0 if you can.

www.boatus.com

Ethanol and Older Engines

What is it about older boats that make them more susceptible to ethanol's well-known problems?
www.boatus.com www.boatus.com
 
Skins88 said:
Question. If you know you will be burning up a tank of gas in a couple days, is ethanol an issue? I know if the boat is sitting it will attract water.
Click to expand...
In a passenger vehicle, water vapor is a byproduct of the reaction inside your catalytic converter. You sometimes see water coming out of the tailpipe on the car in front of you in traffic - that's likely on a cold engine when the exhaust gases from the last time the engine was on. The water vapour/steam condensed and turned into water after it cooled off and is sitting inside the exhaust pipe/muffler until the vehicle is restarted. Once restarted, this pooled/condensed water is forced out the tailpipe by exhaust pressure (the exhaust isn't hot enough to turn it into steam yet).

That said, if your hydrid is only running through a tank of gas every month or two, I'd think about adding stabilizer.

edit: oops, meant to reply to @seachicken
 
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Skins88 said:
Question. If you know you will be burning up a tank of gas in a couple days, is ethanol an issue? I know if the boat is sitting it will attract water.
Click to expand...
Its not (provided you have a fuel injected engine) - You should be thinking about this before your last fill-up of the season. Before your last fill-up, run the tank down as much as you can to use up as much old gas as possible - add fresh/premium gas (even if it has ethanol), and add your preferred fuel stabilizer/treatment. Be sure to run the engine a bit so that the stabilizer goes into the fuel lines. Change the fuel filter.

On startup, carry a backup fuel filter with you. If the ethanol has gelled it will get caught in the filter and the engine will struggle as its starved for fuel. Just change out the filter again. Way better than sucking the gel into the engine.

On an old carb engine - different story - I would install a fuel shutoff and run the engine dry after every use.

Always install an external fuel filter.
 
Salmon Seeker said:
The water vapor is actually a product of combustion 2 C8H18 (l) + 25 O2 (g) → 16 CO2 (g) + 18 H2O
Click to expand...
Agreed and thanks for the correction, water is also part of the catalytic converter's reaction for unburnt hydrocarbons. I have no idea which one accounts for the greater volume of water visible at the tailgate:

CxH4x+2xO2→xCO2+2xH2O
 
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Salmon Seeker said:
The water vapor is actually a product of combustion 2 C8H18 (l) + 25 O2 (g) → 16 CO2 (g) + 18 H2O
Click to expand...
Max123 said:
Agreed and thanks for the correction, water is also part of the catalytic converter's reaction for unburnt hydrocarbons. I have no idea which one accounts for the greater volume of water visible at the tailgate:

CxH4x+2xO2→xCO2+2xH2O
Click to expand...
Yes I understand that and it is normal to see some water but I feel it's getting to excessive amounts and the premium used to clean it up more. I just feel like something has maybe changed slightly and there's more water coming out. I also don't think the hybrid is helping with the engine shutting off and the exhaust not staying at a high temperature consistently.
 
Max123 said:
Its not (provided you have a fuel injected engine) - You should be thinking about this before your last fill-up of the season. Before your last fill-up, run the tank down as much as you can to use up as much old gas as possible - add fresh/premium gas (even if it has ethanol), and add your preferred fuel stabilizer/treatment. Be sure to run the engine a bit so that the stabilizer goes into the fuel lines. Change the fuel filter.

On startup, carry a backup fuel filter with you. If the ethanol has gelled it will get caught in the filter and the engine will struggle as its starved for fuel. Just change out the filter again. Way better than sucking the gel into the engine.

On an old carb engine - different story - I would install a fuel shutoff and run the engine dry after every use.

Always install an external fuel filter.
Click to expand...
Got it. My boats moored and used most of the year. I'm really just thinking about my annual trip to Bamfield. Nice to drive through a gas station and take advantage of the cheaper fuel than at the fuel dock. Gas gets burned up on the 5 day trip.
 
I have been following this same topic on our BC Classic Motorcycle Forum, as most members have older bikes with carbs so it been a hot topic.

Pacific Pride in Lynden WA., (1922 Front Street) sells ethanol free gas, I make a run down there a couple of times a year with 6 or so 20L containers as needed for the bikes and the lawn equipment, if I can't get E0 fuel at a marina here I'll tow the boat down and fill up there.

Being located in Langley helps, as it's only about 30 minutes to Lynden from where I live.

David.
 
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