ETHANOL

Ethanol & your boat

Ethanol also causes big problems in boats by dissolving rubber
and plastic components (including fiberglass fuel tanks) and
attracting water in to the fuel. That’s never a good thing if you’re
running a boat. Too much water in the fuel will cause the ethanol
to separate out from the gasoline, dragging much of the octane
value with it. It then sinks to the bottom of the tank and gives the
potential for equipment damage like warped valves.

To put it bluntly this stuff sucks soo bad , it's good for business
but I hate to see it doing what it is doing . A four stroke fuel
injected outboard suffers the most from ethanol . After cleaning
and or replacing much of the fuel system it can leave you with
very hefty bill to pay .

The biggest problem is that you NEVER know what your pumping
and 90% of our stations will have ethanol or water contamination
problem and again you will never know till its too late.

In a 10% Ethanol Blend, it takes as little as 18 gallons of water in a
6,000 gallon tanks to cause Phase Separation. In a 2% blend it
takes only 3.6 gallons to cause Phase Separation

What is ?phase separation?, and how do I deal with it?
If significant amounts of water are present in a fuel tank with
gasoline that contains ethanol, the water will be drawn into the
fuel until the saturation point is reached for the three-component
mixture of water + gasoline + ethanol. Beyond this level of water,
phase separation could cause most of the ethanol and water to
separate from the bulk fuel and drop to the bottom of the tank,
leaving gasoline with a significantly reduced level of ethanol in
the upper phase. If the lower phase of water and ethanol is large
enough to reach the fuel inlet, it could be pumped directly to the
engine and cause significant problems. Even if the ethanol water
phase at the bottom of the tank is not drawn into the fuel inlet,
the reduced ethanol level of the fuel reduces the octane rating
by as much as 3 octane numbers, which could result in engine
problems.

The level at which phase separation can occur is determined by a
number of variables, including the amount of ethanol, the
composition of the fuel, the temperature of the environment and
the presence of contaminants. It is very important (A) that the
system is inspected for significant quantities of water in the tank
before using gasoline with ethanol and (B) to limit exposure of
the fuel tank to excess water. If phase separation has occurred, it
is necessary to completely remove all free water from the system
and replace the fuel before continuing operation. Otherwise,
engine problems could occur.

Phase Separation in ethanol-blended gasoline, however, can be
more damaging than in MTBE blends and straight gasoline. When
phase separation occurs in an ethanol blended gasoline, the
water will actually begin to remove the ethanol from the gasoline.
Therefore, the second phase which can occur in ethanol blends
contains both ethanol and water, as opposed to just water in
MTBE blends and conventional gasoline. In the case of two-
stroke engines, this water-ethanol phase will compete with the
blended oil for bonding to the metal engine parts. Therefore, the
engine will not have enough lubrication, and engine damage may
result.

.

TIPS
NEVER GET GAS FROM A STATION
AFTER A FUEL DELIVERY

ALWAYS RUN A FUEL WATER
SEPERATOR

TRY TO KEEP WELL KNOWN BRAND
OF FUEL STABILE

IF YOU SUSPECT A FUEL ISSUE
THEN A SIMPLE WAY TO TEST IS
THIS : IF IT LOOKS CLEAR LIKE
WATER BUT SMELLS LIKE vodka
or rubbing alcohol then it is junk
and must be drained . I have had
this happen to me twice in a row
on MY boat .
The most common symtom is
poor or no idle - wont start or
hard to start - runs ok in mid to
top end once started

If you are running a red plastic every
so often as the sun and other
chemicals can cause the dye to bleach
out of the plastic and mix with the fuel
and once again ... fuel issues .

I would bet to say that 85% of boat
engine problems are related to bad
fuel - fuel contamination - water and or
ethanol