Re: Ethanol ???
 

Not True, Every 7-11, Wawa, and many other gas stations have fiberglass tanks.

I have a 500EFI manual that says avoid storing Ethanol fuels in a boat for long periods of time as it extracts moisture out of the air over long periods of time.

E10 has it is referered to in the gas business, is an average of 10% ethanol. 87 might have 8%, 89. 9.5%, 93 12%. All gas coming down the pipe line is 83, then mixed to get the octanes. Mixing with water is the biggest problem. It still will have the same octane ratings as advertised. From what I hear, it may even be slightly higher. You have been running it for two weeks or bettter in your car. Are you having any problems?

The Areas are shown on this map
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/rfg/whereyoulive.htm

Re: Ethanol ???
 

www.ethanol.org its a really cool site tells you just about everything about ethanol.

from reading the site It looks like it would be ok to run E- 85 in boats but you would have change you carb jetting to compensate the air to fuel ratio

I'm just not sure about leaving it in an alum fuel tank though anyone know if this is ok?

Re: Ethanol ???
 

Linnie...that map is exactly what I was looking for!!!!
Here's the list of the central VA localities:
I notice New Kent is not on the list and on my way to our river house! :woohoo:

Charles City County
Chesapeake
Chesterfield County
Colonial Heights
Hampton
Hanover County
Henrico County
Hopewell
James City County Newport News
Norfolk
Poquoson
Portsmouth
Richmond
Suffolk
Virginia Beach
Williamsburg
York County

Re: Ethanol ???
 

Russ,
I plan on hauling out to Manquin or Central Garage in King William for fuel when possible.

I was in NoVA today, and gas was CHEAPER than Hanover County AND King William County. WTF?

Re: Ethanol ???
 

Water obviously can cause major problems too, as well as the rumored breakdown of plastics and fiberglass :eek: :eek: I wouldn't want to roll the dice on $100K(+) of hardware and HP :( :(

Re: Ethanol ???
 

Hey Russ I buy a lot of my fuel from a friend. I ran this fuel all last year and didn't know it. He said he didn't tell me because he knew it wouldn't make any difference. Because he ran it the year before. He sells me 89. His boat has HP 500s and it runs fine with new fuel as well. As for the big horsepower guys, I don't know how it will effect them

Re: Ethanol ???
 

I agree. if you think are rolling the dice at all, I would suggest you call the manufacturer of the product to get a warm fuzzy first hand.

All ethanol is is corn grain liquor. You can drink it if it is distilled pure enough. I think too much is being made of all this.

Re: Ethanol ???
 

I think not enough is being made of this. I guess you have never seen the damage that the ethanol is doing to the fuel tanks first hand.

Re: Ethanol ???
 

After more research I've decided I will avoid ethanol when possible, but not go out of my way to do so.
I've become less concerned about water in my tank than I have about the gum/gunk particles breaking loose inside my 9 year old fuel tank. Apparently ethanol will dislodge old deposits in there and these particles will get picked up by the fuel supply line. I WILL be replacing my normal NAPA fuel/water separating filters with a 10 micron Racor model that will also catch small particles in the fuel. If anyone is interested the model for Mercruiser BBC's I am ordering is:
B32020mam and the replacement filter element is S3220UL.
This may be overkill, but I spent sometime off the water last year due to a blown motor and don't want to chance something on <$100.00 in filters. Besides I probably should have been running this type in the past anyway.

Re: Ethanol ???
 

What kind of tanks are you talking about? Aluminum? Please elaborate on your first hand knowledge to help us along.