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Post by mudbug on Aug 19, 2020 22:21:48 GMT -5
My motor is in great shape and previous owner had it serviced every spring by a reputable Yamaha dealership. I want to keep it in tip-top shape and am finding all sorts of opinions online. So, I figured I'd look for advice from the experts here. Several websites say that 87 octane is what outboards are designed for. I've always run the highest octane fuel available in my outboard motors. Some say ethanol free is the best way to go. Others say that's all hype. Several websites say additives and conditioners should be used regularly, but I've never been a fan of "miracle in a bottle" crap. So, I'm looking for your secrets and opinions. Thanks in advance for the advice.
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Post by lainiej on Aug 20, 2020 7:47:45 GMT -5
I assume you have a 2 stroke since its a 99? I have F115's four strokes with 1,000 hours and use 87 with ethanol. I add ring free that's about all and use the boat several times a week from May through December. I had F225's on my last boat, did the same and never had fuel issues. I always change my filters once a year.
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Post by hookedup on Aug 20, 2020 7:48:34 GMT -5
During a prolonged maintenance on an Albemarle I had the fuel lose octane due in part to ethanol and I ended up having to replace one of the two engines. I had the fuel drained and replaced, but during maintenance the mechanic fired up the engines several times. Couldn't prove it was his fault, so a faulty drive, inept mechanic and ethanol cost me an engine. After that I became a dedicated Sta Bil user and I still add it to the fuel for my mower and pressure sprayer. However, my marina switched to ValvTect gasoline and I only plan to add Sta Bil when I won't be using the boat for an extended period - which in my case doesn't occur very often. If I could access ethanol free gas, I would. However, the only place selling it anywhere near me is an hour away by boat and not in a direction I'd normally go.
So, IMO you have 3 choices with a 'normal' octane for your engine: Add Sta Bil or similar ethanol treatment regularly. Use Valvtect fuel. Use ethanol free fuel.
There are other additives such as ring-free, etc. that you may be interested in using, but at a minimum do one of the 3 above. Oh..higher than recommended octane doesn't provide any improvement that I'm aware of, but it shouldn't cause any problem beyond your wallet.
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Post by mudbug on Aug 20, 2020 8:20:29 GMT -5
Thanks guys! I do appreciate the input I get here. I also have always used Sta-Bil in my small engines like lawn mower and chainsaw, so I'll start using that in my boat too. I only get the boat out on the weekends, but plan to continue that through the fall months. I've always tried to end up the fall months with as little gas in the tank as possible, and with
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Post by mudbug on Aug 20, 2020 8:39:38 GMT -5
sorry. With smaller boats with the 6 gallon tanks, I've usually just poured it out or used it in my chainsaw or string trimmer. This is my first bigger boat with a built in tank, so I can't look at what's in the tank or smell it to see if it's going bad. I will change the filter on my water separator, since I don't know when it was last changed. Also, I bought the boat with about 30 gallons of marine fuel in the tank and I don't know how old the gas is, but there's no bad smell or any indication that it's not fresh gas. Is there something I should add to that? My goal has been to just spend as much time as possible in the water and use it up so I can fill it up with good gas. I hope to run it pretty low this weekend so I can fill it up and marine gas is pretty readily available here on Wilmington Island in Savannah, so I might consider using that. It's what's always been used in the boat, so I guess I'll give the girl what she's used to! Thanks again guys. The boats that I've owned in the past have mostly been klunkers that someone else has abused and left sitting for a while and I've bought them cheap and brought them back to life. That was fun and a bit profitable at times, but I'm getting a little older and tearing down a motor and putting it back together just doesn't hold the appeal that it once did! In my younger days, I almost looked forward to my boat havin a little "hick-up" or needing a repair, but now I just enjoy bumping the key and having it fire up and run like it's supposed to and the two Yamaha outboards that I've owned have done just that. My last Yamaha was an 80's model 115, and it had the dreaded crack in the foot that they all seemed to develop. But it ran great until Hurricane Matthew laid an 80' oak tree on top of it! I've been saving my pennies since then to get back on the water again, and I want this boat and motor to last a long long time! I'll continue to give you guys opportunities to help me make that happen. Thanks again guys! Taking the grandchildren over to "Shark Tooth Island" this weekend to fill up their beach pails with shark teeth and have a little pic nic! Really looking forward to that. Yeah, my sons and their wives will be there with their boats too, but the grandkids will be riding in "Pop's big boat"! Pops doesn't have a lot of rules in his boat and sugary snacks and sugary drinks are plentiful and all 3 of them get to take turns sitting in Pop's lap and drive the boat! If you don't have grandchildren, I highly recommend that you get some! They're the greatest things in the world!!
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Post by cmw225 on Aug 20, 2020 20:13:25 GMT -5
I have a 2001 Yamaha 130 on my older boat. Pretty much the same motor as yours if yours is a two stroke. It’s cold natured, smokey, and drinks a lot of fuel. But it’s been pretty much unstoppable for over 18 years and lots of hard hours. I still use the old boat for inshore fishing A lot of the places I fish Im not comfortable taking the sailfish due to draft and I don’t want to scratch up the new boat just yet. There is very little maintenance on the older two strokes compared to the 4 strokes. Just foot oil , grease the fittings ,change the fuel filters every year and a water pump every 3 years or so. It’s been abused ran through mud, sand and oyster beds. I’ve even bent a prop on tree stump in reverse 12 years ago it didn’t damage the lower end. The only issues I had with the motor is running ethanol gas. I use to run the cheapest gas I could get. Around 2006 I started having trouble with the carburetors. The motor would run great on muffs in the yard put a load on it and it would bog down due to no fuel. Taking the carbs apart and soaking them and clearing the jets always fixed the problem. I swapped over to non ethanol fuel in 2008 haven had to clean the carbs since. The old two strokes don’t like ethanol fuel nor does anything with a carburetor and vented fuel tank. The only additive I’ve ever used in it is sta-bil. The ethanol seems to pull varnish off aluminum in the carbs and fuel tank and clogs the jets. It attracts water out of the air and will also ruin older fuel lines. The newer fuel injected motors without vented fuel tanks will do better with ethanol fuel but I still don’t run it in my newer boat unless I’m running it a lot at one time, I also use ring free every other tank with the four stroke motor. Non ethanol fuel and sta-bil has worked well for me for almost 19 years on this motor and it still runs as good as it did brand new.
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Post by mudbug on Aug 23, 2020 19:38:08 GMT -5
Fantastic info! Thanks! I had to gas up this weekend to go island hopping with the kids and grandkids. What a blast! 3 boatloads of family all headed to Wassaw Island near Savannah, GA. Slightly overcast skies, 2 foot seas crossing the sound, all the ladies loaded up some great food and snacks, us guys brought a variety of beers to please everyone. It was a truly awesome day! All 3 boats made it there and back without a hitch. Anyway, I did need to fuel up, but since I was still debating on fuel and additives to use, I only put about 20 gallons in the tank, so I'll have all this good advice in mind when I fill up next time. Is it bad to mix ethanol gas with non-ethanol gas? Seems to me it would just change 10% ethanol fuel to 5% ethanol fuel if you mix it half and half. Maybe it's more complicated than that. Again, this motor is pretty amazing. Looks, cranks up, and runs like brand new and I want to do all I can to keep it that way. Thanks again for your feedback. I appreciate all the help I receive here.
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Post by cmw225 on Aug 24, 2020 14:55:19 GMT -5
Glad you had a good time on the island. Watch out for Jelly fish they are out already. We went to St Catherines island last week and both my little ones got stung. They were not thick just a few and small the water was clear enough you could see them and avoid them.
It shouldn’t be an issue mixing e10 fuel with non ethanol fuel. Your motor will run e10 fine. It’s when it sits in your fuel tank and carburetors that it becomes a problem.
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