[verity]

It seems to me that one does not use ethanol blends in older engines that are not designed to use ethanol blends.

[bigfootbob]

Lot of this has to do with a glut of old boats that are not worthy of restoration and the owners looking for a chump to bail them out of a financial jam.

[kinoxi]

Mr. Kaprielian's 1969 boat

It needs a new motor and he's blaming the gas?

[BallyBill]

I followed some of the forums about this. Most people think the E10 Blend is safe, but higher than that you should check with the manufacturer or a certified mechanic.

If my boat motor cost $25,000, I'd know for darn sure what I was putting in it. Mine is much cheaper and I still checked with Mercury Marine.

[Jeff Chandler]

This is a good example of what's wrong with trying to force exotic fuels into the existing infrastructure.

Exotic fuels can be a good idea under controlled circumstances. Local fleets are one example, where the specialized fuel, parts, and maintenance are centralized. Large farms would be another, where the farm's equipment and utilities could be run on cellulosic ethanol derived from crop waste.

[ryan71]

Boat engines are not typically operated as often as car engines. Perhaps the left over ethanol fuel in the boat engine sits for extended periods of time and hardens like cholesterol in your arteries?

Over time the build up becomes greater and greater until it restricts fuel flow, injectors, and coolant flow.

[ASOC]

When E fuel hit Ak, we got the horror stores of ruined engines, etc.

Alcohol is a solvent. Alcohol is an oxidizer - which is why they put it in the fuel. In older vehicles, adding alcohol will dissolve all the 'crud' built up in the tank and send it down the fuel line with predictable results. I don't know what effect it may have on the carb bits.

Once the sheet metal tank is nice and clean, the oxidizer part starts to have fun with the old tank.

Solution? An in-line filter changed very often.
As for the rusted out tank, alcohol is also anhydrous so can cause problems that way as well. I believe in Brazil, car are equipped with Stainless Steel tanks.

[JOE6PAK]

My Uncle Thomas had a Mahogany boat in NJ back in the 50s. It used some kind of special fuel. He would tell me it was "the perfect mix". I have no idea what it was.

Ahhhh. Back in the day.

[timer]

There is another solution to gunk in engines : diluent lithium oil. It undergoes honest-to-god FUSION in the firing chamber. The upper tail of the Boltzman curve gives the H1 proton just enough energy to overcome the coulomb repulsive force of the Li7 nucleus and fuse into a Be8 nucleus which immediately decays into 2 He4 nuclei(alpha particles). The energy thus released, by E=mc^2, gives a million degree temperature regime within the 1500 degree regime of CxHx burning. That in turn cleans out the gunk in cylinders and only He4 is added to the exhaust. In cars/trucks it results in 10%-15% greater mileage. It was first used in boiler jets and an alpha detector always gets alpha particles right after you burn this lithium diluent oil, proof positive that FUSION is really happening.

[btcusn]

25000 for an engine!!!!!
Is he NUTS??
Jack

[jim_trent]

Ethanol blend gas (15% alcohol, 85% gasoline) has been cheaper in my state than straight gas for over 15 years (it has to do with tax breaks the legislature enacted to encourage it). I have used it almost exclusively during that time. I have never had any unusual problems with any of my vehicles that had any possible tie to ethanol. My father refused to use it because of stories he heard.

Maybe when they change it on 85% ethanol, it will be different, but I will wait and see.

[ChildOfThe60s]

Enough already!

[Bernard]

It seems to me that if you want to have an expensive hobby, you should be able to pay for it. Just like building a house below sea-level in New Orleans, or building a house on a mud-slide waiting to happen in California, or...<P<

The list goes on and on.