sta-bil ethanol treatment

[chrispcon40]

does anyone have advice on whether or not to use sta-bil ethanol treatment?? i have a 2003 yamaha 200hp hpdi outboard.

thanks. chris

 

[joe009]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

i use it all the time.the stuff works.i put the correct amount in each time i get gas.it is cheap enough and the ethanol can do all kinds of tbl.

 

[robert graham]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

I use it all the time, maybe a bit more if the motor is not going to be run for several weeks or months. I run the Yamaha Ringfree all the time also. These 2 items plus a water/fuel separator type filter and you've eliminated most fuel related problems.

 

[j_k_bisson]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

Just buy high test gas and it has no ethanol in it.

 

[robert graham]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

Just buy high test gas and it has no ethanol in it.

Are you sure about that???

 

[jeffersondodson561]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

Their is no treatment available from anyone that counteracts/treats the effect of ethanol is modern gasoline. That is from Mercury, BRP, and Yamaha. Look ethanol is used to control detonation, it is used in place MTBE (ether) which is a by-product of the gas companies that was seeping in to Calafornia well waters causing 11 toe/finger babies. That is why E85's octane is about 105. Ethanol is here to stay and will become more widely used in the years to come. Alcohol burns cleaner and cooler that is why it is a prime choice for race motors, it is way less efficient than gas and extremely less efficient than diesel. In marine applications it is ok up to 10% if you don't want to waste your money on ethano free gas and so called treatments go by your local Briggs and Stratton dealership and ask for part number 100023 (gasahol test kit;uses phase seperation to determine alcohol content) to this day I have rarely found it in excess of 10%.

 

[kirt123]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

Just buy high test gas and it has no ethanol in it.

Yeh, I am no expert but I do know the higher the ethanol content the higher the octane rating will be without them adding additives, so I would think they would put the max ethanol possible in premium. Premium is mislabeled, it should be labeled higher octane, there is nothing premium about it, not some magical formula, just has a higher octane rating by adding additives.

 

[SparkieBoat]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

it is hard to find ethanol free gas. MTBE actually has not been proven to have caused any health issues. They did find minute traces in a small number of wells that were near large fuel spills/leaks. Studies are still being done to see what health issues can arise from long term exposer to high levels of MTBE. The truth is there are many other far more dangerous chemicals in gasoline than MTBE, but certain people wanted ethanol to replace MTBE so they demonized it. regrettably ethanol is going to be around for a while. I have heard good things about sta-bil ethanol treatment, but I am not aware of the science behind it, I know I have used SEA FOAM as an additive for years and it really keeps carbs from gunking up. I try to not let my gas sit up for over a month. Ethanol can begin phased separation as soon as 3 weeks after mixing depending on humidity and temp. this can really hurt performance and leave a white dusty residue in your fuel system. many EFI/DI motors are having major issues with clogged injectors/fuel pumps and filters because of this.

 

[j_k_bisson]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

I called shell oil the other day about this issue. They stated to me verbally that the regular has 10%, Mid 5% and premium has 0% ethenal. I did not call any other oil comanies......

 

[SparkieBoat]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

here is a list of ethanol free gas stations for each city..cool site.
http://pure-gas.org/

 

[blindmullet]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

I have one by me--think it's 25-30cents more per gallon. With all the snake oil some of you guys are using just buy the ethanol free stuff.

 

[JoLin]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

I use Marine Sta-bil at layup. I don't use it during the season. Used to use the 'red' Sta-bil until I figured out that the 'marine' version is cheaper to use (less required).

 

[colbyt]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

There are no ethanol free gas pumps where I live (confirmed with above link). I have used the regular Stabil in all small engines for at least 8 years and never had a problem with any of them. I add it to every can of gas. I haven't even changed the spark plug on the 15 year riding mower.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

Whether your premium fuel has ethanol or not is regional, so saying “I use this or that and it has no ethanol” is not accurate, you probably use it sometimes and never know it.

Most of the death and destruction info about E10 is hype from the additive companies that market these miracle in a bottle potions that may help in a few minor ways, but can do nothing to help the real more serious, much discussed, but not really that common, phase separation.

From a 20 plus year user of E-10, worry less about E-10 and get more sleep, it rarely comes up in conversation in my part of the country because we all use it every day in every gas powered toy we have, and have for decades. People love to blame E-10 for every problem under the sun whether it had anything to do with the problem or not, shops love to do this too. I don’t think the stuff is great, don’t like it, and would rather not use it, but I don’t lose sleep over it. I’ve had 2 bottles of Stabil on the shop bench for about 10 years, I may get around to using them some day.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

Ethanol comes up in conversation in the boating industry because a good many of the so called "techs" have learned that if they cannot quickly diagnose a problem it must be ethanol related. I too have used E10 for decades and current use E-85 when the price differential is 30 - 35 cents in my favor. That's enough to offset the difference in fuel economy and it is keeping the fuel system cleaner in the process. I dug out my ice auger today that hasn't been run in several years. Started right up. Chain saw hadn't been run in two years. Started right up. E-10 is all these machines have ever seen and that's all my boats see including being stored for nearly six months of the year. Collector cars get stored for about the same period and even the older cars don't have issues.

 

[JB]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

I would prefer the Marine StaBil over the "regular" if I ever used any additives. I haven't and haven't had problems, but I take care not to allow my engines to become vulnerable to E-blamed troubles.

 

[99yam40]

Re: sta-bil ethanol treatment

From what I have read the regular red Stabil contains ethanol, it was made for non ethanol fuel. adding more ethanol to ethanol fuel can not be good.
the new blue Stabil does not contain ethanol and is formulated for the newer ethanol fuel.

Letting ethanol fuel sit in an high moisture environment will let it absorb the moisture and phase separate.

I truly believe that most problems come from there being water in the tank already, or in the fuel being pumped into the boat tank to start out with.

The pumps around here in Texas say the fuel may contain up to 10% ethanol, but you never know for sure what it really has in it.

I never let the toys sit very long before running them and if I do I drain the tank before starting and put fresh in.
I do add Startron to fuel in generators and other gas devices I do not use very often , but I will drain then too if it has been a a year or more
I have seen it phase separate before, so I do not take the chance