maybe some of you younger technology advanced men can post the you tube video of the moter oil geek , do premium fuels reduce engine wear.
his videos are science not speculative.
good stuff.
i tried to post , just couldn’t make it happen.
“Premium” fuels aren’t really “premium”. I always found it funny how the different octane levels get assigned names like “premium”, “super”, etc… If an engine is designed with a compression ratio that calls for 87octane, 93 octane isn’t gonna do you any favors. I do believe in certain “additives” such as Yamaha’s ring free that help reduce/prevent carbon build up though.
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thats essentially what i was saying. market no name fuel just meets a octane rating.
your name brand premium has wear additives that lubricant the ring/cylinder wall.
the oil geek , lake speed jr has designed moter oil for most major nascar teams
very informative
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Here is the vid. I like his stuff. There are a few top tier fuel stations around me but they tend to be some of the slower volume stations IMHO. Therefore I tend to fuel up at stations that turn over their gas supply frequently.
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thanks , that was my point . top teir is not the same as 93 octane.
OK, so technically ethanol will raise octane.. when we fuel boats we fill them up with 90 octane. sometimes the owners ask to have their sports cars filled as well. Not a great idea, 90 octane in a GT3 RS is not ideal, even though it is req fuel, which is better the sports car still needs the higher octane which has ethanol.
I would recommend you stick with non-ethanol fuel and use quality fuel additives. I believe another video from the YouTube oil geek guy states that he does not like oil additives, but he does like fuel additives, I put a post on maintenance section with comments on additives.
i like him cause he says what i want to believe. lol but im still basically talking about chevron, shell etc.
market gas like at kangaroo or wherever may be 93 but isnt premium fuel , as im told at least.
as im told chevron etc , even has the good additives in 87 . as where the kangaroo type gas is put out for bids of who will fill their tanks the cheapest. as it was explained by lake speed jr. premium gas is like having ring free in every tank.
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So I had a friends dad tell me to always use non ethanol gas in my boat. Good idea or bad idea? I don’t add additives. Should I start? Just reread @brandon-beers comment. Gunna go look at his comments on additives.
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you can’t go wrong with non ethanol.
yamaha ring free helps with deposits on pistons.
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@Alex770 Older engines may or may not have fuel lines that are not affected by ethanol fuel. I would think modern 4 strokes would all have the ethanol resistant lines. If you use your boat regularly, regular gas should be fine. But if you want the added security of no e, no harm done.
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The issue with ethanol fuel in a boat is that the ethanol is HYGROSCOPIC. Which means it absorbs water. The water addition to fuel with ethanol can promote PHASE SEPARATION. ( look it up) This is bad as the separation of the chemicals within the fuel can create corrosion within your tank and engine.
If you use your boat a lot, you probably wont have an issue as you replace the fuel regularly. But if you use a 1/4 or 1/2 tank of gas, and the boat sits for a couple of weeks ( the magic amount of time will vary )your gas tank will condensate inside the tank, adding water to the fuel. This condensation happens naturally with the change in temperatures from day to night, every day. Condensation never sleeps. Your fuel/water separator will handle the water, but the various compounds from the phase separation may/may not be filtered, or may clog the filter ( the best scenario of the two). If they make it through, the corrosive nature of them will cause damage. Usually this damage is most exhibited in the rubber components, fuel lines, and gaskets. Anything plastic in contact can be impacted also. I have seen aluminum float bowls heavily pitted from the corrosion of phase separation. If your lucky, you just deteriorate the fuel lines, and that sludge and particles are spread through the fuel system, intake and combustion chamber. This usually can be fixed by replacing injectors, and all the lines, and anything else affected.
Non ethanol fuel does not suffer from phase separation. Hence why our Govt. “Allowed” non ethanol fuel continued to be made. There was a law suit where boaters sued the Govt over the phasing out of non ethanol fuel. Thats what saved us all. Seems the Govt Bureaucrats didnt understand the science they claimed they knew.
Seems like a reoccurring theme.
Just search ethanol phase separation, there are lots of articles out there.
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I have never seen chevron, shell, or any of the name brand fuels have non eth my way. Its always a private owned no name or a southern states. Doubt that any of the non eth up here has any of the premium detergents/additives in it.
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I tend to agree, I just use some chevron techron or ring free a couple tanks before oil change.
it seems to dirty up the oil as it cleans deposits. so I dont use it with fresh oil.
its what my brain believes at least.
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You absolutely correct that the key to using regular 87 octane is that you have to use the fuel up on a regular basis. I live in Florida and the humidity is very high for most of the year and I run 87 all the time but I use my boat a lot (just under 500 hours in 3.5 years). My experience has been that if fuel sits more than a couple months you start to run the risk of having Phase Separation issues.
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My 1995 MA17 has a new fuel tank - less than 5 years old that I personally installed…heavy duty aluminum made by Outlaw at AIM Welding…I saw the entire process. I had it coated then placed in between the stringers.
It should last 15 years min.
For fuel, I have a Merc 115 Pro XS - recommendation is 87 Octane from the OEM.
I use Mercury Fuel cleaner and treatments - Yep, I believe using what the OEM says to use - ok, costs me a few $ more…but, for me, why not use what the OEM recommends - they built the engine.
For fuel - Either WAWA or high volume Chevron by the house on the way to the boat ramp. I try and fuel every trip, even if it’s only 10-15 gallons. I keep between 20 -30 gallons in my tank that has a max of 38 and for every trip I burn 15 or so.
Oil and lower unit every 75 hours or so. On the Merc, it takes less than 30 minutes.
DC
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Just to add to the already provided information…when you use regular fuel for an extended time, varnish builds up in the tank. Introduction of ethanol, which is a fantastic solvent, dissolved this material and send it down the fuel systems. Some of that can get to your engine. Older, carb’d engines are the most susceptible because this stuff can form gels and such that sit in the carb bowls and cause fuel delivery problems. This is the reason we used to say not to switch back and forth between eth and non-eth.
I switch back n forth partially for that reason. ethanol cause its cheap about 75 percent of time when I fish 5 days a week.
but 2 or 3 tanks of non ethanol before I store it for a few weeks to go on vacation.
chevron techron right before oil change .