ethynol gas

[pintails82]

Hello, Was wondering if anyone else was having problems w ethynol gas sticking needle valves. I talked w/ a marine dealer and he said he is starting to see alot of older motors w/ this problem. he told me the only thing I could do was to run the gas out of the carbs. Is there a better answer or fix. I have a 1985 75 hp johnson

[lameduck]

If you are using a quality oil it already has the additive to protect your engine from any wear that the ethanol may cause. I do not think it is the ethanol that is causing your problems, but mechanics like to blame everything on it. Also ethanol is a solvent, which would not make anything stick.

[Brodie James]

But it does attract water which causes rust which will make things stick.

[duckkllr04]

I always run my boat out of gas unless I'm going to run it again that day. If your running mix it is not detrimental at all and it actually helps my boat start after it has sat for a week or two. It solves a lot of problems, not just ethanol.

[cjg]

Also ethanol is a solvent, which would not make anything stick.

As a solvent it loosens up all the old crap in the whole fuel system from the tank on and all that crap eventually ends up in the carb. It seems to cause more problems on older motors.

[pintails82]

Thanks guys I didn't think it was the gas but, it was all the crap loosing up and running out

[lameduck]

Also ethanol is a solvent, which would not make anything stick.

As a solvent it loosens up all the old crap in the whole fuel system from the tank on and all that crap eventually ends up in the carb. It seems to cause more problems on older motors.

True.

[flyxpl]

Ethanol will eat up some types of seals and plastic.I have a small ohnan genarator,it was leaking fuel.The problem was ethanol or something else that was blended with the fuel litterly melted/deformed the plastic bowl on the bottom of the fuel petcock.I use aviation fuel or racing gas in all my outboards and small engines.

[Dingbatter]

I'm using blue formula Sta Bil ( ethanol formula) to help prevent problems caused by ethanol. Starton also has a E10 ethanol formula too. I hear a lot of guys saying they use Sea Foam or the orginal red formula Sta-Bil but I'm not sure they will prevent problems caused by ethanol. I also check everywhere I buy my fuel for my boat, I have found a few places that advertise 100% gasoline and I try to get it there everytime. I stil use my fuel treatments though.

[940AC]

I'm using blue formula Sta Bil ( ethanol formula) to help prevent problems caused by ethanol. Starton also has a E10 ethanol formula too. I hear a lot of guys saying they use Sea Foam or the orginal red formula Sta-Bil but I'm not sure they will prevent problems caused by ethanol. I also check everywhere I buy my fuel for my boat, I have found a few places that advertise 100% gasoline and I try to get it there everytime. I stil use my fuel treatments though.

The original Red Sta-Bil will work just as good as the Blue Sta-Bil. If you read the back of the Sta-Bil bottle, it says it is designed to help the problems associated with ethanol.

[Dingbatter]

After a little more investigation SeaFoam also states their product will help prevent Ethanol problems. Sea Foam recommends 1 oz / gallon with their product.

[pintails82]

Thanks Guy for all the info, I've talked to a couple marine dealers and they said to use sea foam or sta-bil, but to just run carbs out of fuel is best problem solver.

[Dingbatter]

I'm planning to do both!

[RestlessWoodie]

Definately use Stabil. I was having the same problem with my 1996 outboard, i had to clean out the carbs everytime i let it sit for more than a week because the gas was causing my needle to stick and rust the inside of the carb. Put the stabil in my gas and it fires up first time no matter how long it sits. They also make ethanol treatments for outboards at any boat store or gander/bps.