Greg facer Loc: Spokane wa

I have a 2000 mercury 40 horse I bought new with the 16’ StarCraft star fire ,
After about 8 years I started having issues with slow troll speed which those motors are known to be great for.
It would die after about five minutes.
Now all I use is non ethanol gas and it stopped the problem after about 10 gallons.
A bit more expensive and a little harder to find but it stopped all problems with the motor.

Roger Lahti

In SE Washington I always use ethanol free premium in boat motors and all small engines. 2 or 4 cycle. Simplely because regular ethanol gas can and usually gums them up over a short time period and it’s a pain to keep having the carbs cleaned. They also run better. Ethanol gas for your car is fine form big engines.

NickP Loc: Delaware, MD, Philadelphia

Unfortunately, in DE and PA, it’s tough to find straight gas. DE there is none. PA is spread out far. MD has many around marinas and some stations. I will only put straight gas in my motor.

hogleg Loc: Bakersfield Calif.

what is ethanol? I was in the tanker business when fuel went from leaded to unleaded then to mtbe then to ethanol what I can tell you is we loaded alcohol from cheese factories wineries or plant alcohol was the start and then we would pump 5 gallons in the load so you could not drink the pure alcohol which some truckers would do after the gas was loaded to the alcohol it became ethanol. Calif. has been putting alcohol in the gas for along time in the winter to up the octane of the gas

Barnacles Loc: Northern California

If you have an older engine, gas containing ethanol will harm it. It hardens and deteriorates seals, hoses and such. If you have a newer engine that is designed to handle 10% ethanol, you're still not out of the woods. As mentioned by others, the ethanol is hygroscopic, meaning that it's doing its best to gather moisture from the air or anywhere else it can find it. It's probably not a huge issue if you use the gas promptly, before it can find moisture. If you operate your boat less often, the fuel has more time to gather water. Boats tend to be operated in a high humidity environment, so we're more vulnerable to the problem than the family sedan. The ethanol mixes readily with gasoline until it contains a certain amount of water, then it begins to separate. If you have a steel gas can or tank, you're likely to get rusty inside. When it travels up the hose to your engine, either water or rust is going to cause you trouble.

If I haven't been gloomy enough, there's more. Many states are considering going from 10% ethanol to 15% or more. That'll make our problem even worse. Do you think that the politicians will listen to our concerns? Well, do you - Pollyanna?

Kerry Hansen Loc: Bremerton, WA

Methanol is wood alcohol and if you drink it, it will probably blind you. Ethanol is drinking alcohol and when used in industry usually has a denaturing additive put in it to deter drinking. i used to work in a place many years ago that used ethanol to help extract drugs from things like exotic roots from South America that they made Laxative from. Boy did the government want those 55 gal drums controlled because of taxes. Ethanol by volume does not have as many BTU's as Petroleum does. Ran Premium in my boat, tiller and lawn mower.

RuffplayOR57 Loc: Klamath Falls, OR

After having a 26hp riding lawnmower blowup the top end here a few years ago, and a mechanic friend enlightened me as to the ethanol issues it tends to cause, I don’t use it on any of my small engines.

Billy Bob Loc: Terre Haute,IN

I have a 1999 200HP Evinrude, was told when I bought it new to run 87 octane gas, no ethanol. Very hard to fine ethanol free gas here in Indiana, so started using an additive. I use Star Tron additive and no issues.

smitty Loc: maine

WHY DO WE HAVE ETHANOL!!!!!????? whose idea was it what is sopposed to do?
bought a kia rio 2002. following winter when not using ac got 41/42 mpg. 2003 we got the eth disease in tx. never got more than 34 mpg again. thats bout 20%. compact car. translate that 20% to a truck or suy. ouch.

btw: this time last year reg gas $1.87/gal
thanx joe
.

ChefJim Loc: Fairfield, Ct

Ethanol free gas is not sold at any pumps in Connecticut. I looked up a gas station in my area that claimed they had ethanol free gas. When I went to the station, they had racing fuel in 1 gallon cans for $10. My boat has a 2001 150 hp Mercury with a 60 gallon fuel tank. I run ethanol gas from the marina and add marine stabil to it. I’ve had the boat for a couple of years and have never run ethanol free gas in it, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it doesn’t seem to be an issue. Buying 1 gallon cans at $10 a pop is just not a realistic option for me, so I’ll continue to use the ethanol/stabil mix. Btw, it’s a 2-stroke motor, not sure if that makes any difference.

Danjeffself Loc: Louisiana

Yeah I think mine might just be spoiled from running non eth it’s whole life pretty much. We have to realize when these things came out there was nothing but eth free and that’s what they are made to run on. 3 years ago it was no problem buying non eth because it was 2.50 a gallon now we have to give our first born just to go fishing. Thanks JB

Barnacles Loc: Northern California

To help find ethanol-free gas, there's a website:
https://www.pure-gas.org/
At the bottom of the page, click on your state.

Another website is
https://www.buyrealgas.com

If you have an Apple device, look in your app store for Autolean. You can download an app that can help you find real gas.

ChefJim Loc: Fairfield, Ct

Just checked the app for ethanol free gas in my area. I posted earlier that it was $10 a gallon. I see it’s up to $15/gallon now so yeah….don’t think I’ll be filling my tank for $900.

Fredfish Loc: Prospect CT.

I use Star Tron Marine with 87octane regular on my 1990 25hp Merc. No problems, even with gas that sat in the tank all winter. Like Chef Jim said, no one sells ethanol free gas at the pump, in Connecticut, unless it's 110 octane racing fuel. The higher the octane number, the harder it is to ignite the fuel. Higher octane allows race engines to run much higher compression, and more advanced timing than any marine engine, as it prevents detonation. Unless your engine requires premium, you are wasting your money. My Harley does, so I use it, everything else gets regular, as recommended by the manufacturer.

RuffplayOR57 Loc: Klamath Falls, OR

It sounds like I’m pretty lucky around here Fred. I have 4 local fuel stations that sell ethanol free fuel, and it’s not Racing fuel. It’s still $5 gallon, but available. I’ve seen that Star Tron Marine mentioned a couple time’s and sounds like it could be an engine saver, and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen it here. Thanks for letting all on here know about it again, as it might save some here an engine problem. Tight lines All and have a great day