Which Fuel ?

[fryboy]

Hi all,

I've searched the site for a post about fuel, no luck!

I bet some raiders have an opinion on what type of fuel to pour into their trusty outboards? I'd certainly like to know. I have a Yamaha F115 (4 Stroke) and have been putting in standard E10 fuel. Does the ethanol hurt my pride and joy?

Whenever I do fill up, I wonder if I should be lashing out on the 95 or 98 RON stuff. Would it make a difference?

Great to hear others thoughts

Fryboy

[steven6411]

You do not want to use Ethanol in your outboard as their not made to take it.

Regular unleaded is fine though. The motor should be fine as long as you havent been useing it for to long.

they are working on motors to take Ethanol based fuel so it wont be long until there available.

regards

Steven

[Geoff]

fryboy As Steven has advised , do not use Ethonal in your motor unless Yamaha (not a dealer) say it is OK which is unlikly for your motor.

Ethonal can effect the the rubbers & seals in the fuel system which will need to be replaced

Ethonal also attracts water so a good quality fuel filter with a seperator should be used.

Ordinary unleaded is fine but if not available then use premium

Geoff

[fryboy]

Oh dear! thanks for the responses guys. Problem is that where I usually get fuel, there is no more 'standard' unleaded. I can only get premium 95 or 98 RON. I'll start shelling out the bucks to do that now, or look for some standard 91 RON.

Hope I havent hurt the motor. I've only had the boat a few months, so I assume that a few tanks of E10 wont have hurt it!

Jeff

[sienna2500]

Hi all,

I've searched the site for a post about fuel, no luck!

I bet some raiders have an opinion on what type of fuel to pour into their trusty outboards? I'd certainly like to know. I have a Yamaha F115 (4 Stroke) and have been putting in standard E10 fuel. Does the ethanol hurt my pride and joy?

Whenever I do fill up, I wonder if I should be lashing out on the 95 or 98 RON stuff. Would it make a difference?

Great to hear others thoughts

Fryboy

In high school we had to a knowledgeable chemistry teacher. He gave an example about cars, i dont know if it applies with your yamaha.

octane rating is a rating that people made up. where n-heptane has 0 octane rating while iso octane has 100 octane rating. It is basically a linear combination between the two.

the purpose of having these stuff in petrol is to stop knocking. we use to use Lead petrol and it was great to stop knocking but now we have to use this molecule to help the fuel to combust at the right time. knocking occurs when the fuel is too volatile and it combust before it suppose to and breaks the piston.

In america, there are octane rating that are less than 80 i think. those are cheap fuel that destories your engine. So therefore 95 and 98 octane rating make little difference, its only the marketing department that makes you pay more. If you like you can get fuel with octane rating that is over 100 or less than 0.

As with 10% ethanol, its a government scheme to try to make fuel eco friendly. it is usable for engine and wont do damage to your engine.

in short using 10% ethanol will not hurt your engine if its a relative new model engine. (new model is like 1995 or something).

Octane rating 95 and 98 makes little to no difference in performance. its not worth it economically.

Edited November 8, 2010 by blackfishfishing

[sienna2500]

Oh dear! thanks for the responses guys. Problem is that where I usually get fuel, there is no more 'standard' unleaded. I can only get premium 95 or 98 RON. I'll start shelling out the bucks to do that now, or look for some standard 91 RON.

Hope I havent hurt the motor. I've only had the boat a few months, so I assume that a few tanks of E10 wont have hurt it!

Jeff

they are still the standard unlead petrol in other places like BP.

[dunc333]

hi mate if i was you ,if you like your pride and joy i would drain fuel tank completely ,change your fuel filters and go with the 95 oct its cleaner burning and you get more fuel econemy from it than stanndard unleaded and never go near any ethonal fuel as your pride enjoy will have a short life and die a painful death and leave you stranded somewhere you dont want to be cheers dunc333. ps the standed unleaded at bp has up to 10% ethonal in it to so stay away from that crap as well. Edited November 8, 2010 by dunc333

[zook2001]

E10 shouldn't do any harm as long as your water separators installed, their actually looking to move to E15 in the US,I'm sure we follow soon enough. My preference is standard unleaded, 95, E10 then 98 as a last resort as 98 is also sometimes formuated with alcohol. I'm told the small independents will still be able to sell unleaded.

[TheAlby]

i would stay well away from E10..... car and marine engines are not the same

[Lucky]

Best to get hold of a manual for your engine, that will tell you if E10 is okay. For instance, my Suzuki 4 stroke, 2001 model is ok on E10. For the easy answer ring your local Yammie dealer. For the record, Ethanol fuel has a higher octane rating, lower calorific content and is more corrosive than normal unleaded. This means that an engine tuned to run on 100% ethanol would be more powerful but deliver slightly less fuel economy than an unleaded engine. Essentially the deal breaker for engines not designed for ethanol blends is the corrosion of the fuel system. Not a problem if your engine has been built to cope.

[a boat]

Hi, only since 2008 models and newer have Yamaha claimed their engines are suitable for E10-earlier than that and you may have issues. The main brands today can cope with E10 but in the marine application, where the boat does not get used reguarly and the fuel sits for weeks at a time in a hostile environment, that heats up during the day and cools at night, you will get phase seperation. Ethanol is a water attractant (there is a sceintific name for it too), but simply, it is the last thing you need in a boat and especially older boats and their fuel system. We are seeing more and more problems with dodgy fuel so make sure your engine is late model, the boats fuel system it upto spec and you have a good water seperating fuel filter.

There is alot of info on the net if you want to learn more, but long story short, do not use it.

Cheers,

Huey.

[fryboy]

arrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhhhhh.

thanks for all your responses fishraiders.

Just for info - the owners manual only states to use fuel with minimum 90 RON. Nothing about ethanol, but I guess it wasnt on most peoples agenda in 2003.

So the bright side of this story...... I'm going to have to take the day off to go fishing tomorrow, all day, to burn whats left of the E10 in the tank, then fill up with standard or 95.

regards

Fryboy

[andrew399]

I would just empty whats left into your car or use it in your lawnmower rather than run your outboard on it more then you have to.

[roosterman]

this is what i would do..

firstly drain your tank completely flush and drain with a little fresh fuel so as to remove any sludge and water from ethanol use..

change yr fuel filters as well.. ethanol is a good cleaner that strips deposits in tanks etc which in turn block filters and carby jets .. as well as destroy lines and delaminate fibreglass tanks...

then use normal unleaded from good busy servo and try using same servo to limit issues..

if normal 91 unleaded cannot be found,it is being fased out and wont be available at all soon then use 95 pulp..

do not use the 98 or high special fuels as there is additives that have nasties as well..

google and research fuel problems and if ya can handle the jargon there is some scientific reports out there..

it goes without saying that a good water sep filter is a must and carry spare canister...

no servo guy can tell you whats in there tanks so its like russion rulette so using same source hopefully minimises problems....

hope this helps..

cheers....steve......

[sienna2500]

Hi, only since 2008 models and newer have Yamaha claimed their engines are suitable for E10-earlier than that and you may have issues. The main brands today can cope with E10 but in the marine application, where the boat does not get used reguarly and the fuel sits for weeks at a time in a hostile environment, that heats up during the day and cools at night, you will get phase seperation. Ethanol is a water attractant (there is a sceintific name for it too), but simply, it is the last thing you need in a boat and especially older boats and their fuel system. We are seeing more and more problems with dodgy fuel so make sure your engine is late model, the boats fuel system it upto spec and you have a good water seperating fuel filter.

There is alot of info on the net if you want to learn more, but long story short, do not use it.

Cheers,

Huey.

Ethanol is a water attractant (there is a sceintific name for it too)

hydrophilic because they are both non polar molecules and like attracts like

[tuffy]

Short answer, 95 octane only and NO E10.

Cheers, Tuffy

(Honda owner)

[fishmaniac]

Ethanol is a water attractant (there is a sceintific name for it too)

hydrophilic because they are both non polar molecules and like attracts like

Yes it is hydrophilic but it is becuase it is polar (as opposed to non polar). The polar bonds are created by the O-H part of the ethanol molecule. Water is H2O (as we all know) and the O-H part of each molecule align with one another and form a polar bond.

I also would disagree with regard to fuel ratings simply being a marketing tool. Perhaps 98 octane is not 14cents or so a litre more valuable than standard 91, but it certainly makes a difference to my fuel consumption and acceleration in my car!!!

I run 95 or 98 octane in my yammie 4 stroke and it runs great!

Edited November 12, 2010 by fishmaniac

[fryboy]

Just wanted to update you guys. Thanks again for all your responses.

I took the boat out last week and burned up all the E10. I couldnt face the hassle of draining it all etc. and it hadnt been in there that long, so I took my chances. Didnt have any problems.

I then filled it up with 95 and took it out again yesterday. I've got to say that I definitely noticed a difference too. Motor sounded much smoother. I cant say there were any changes to the performance (still got the same revs and speeds), but it just 'felt' better. Sounds a bit like Dennis the lawyer in 'the castle' - 'its the vibe'

thanks again.

Fryboy

[defyet]

I always use 95, if its not available ill use 98.

Put it this way at the cheaper end of the week for fuel your E10 is costing you say $1.16/L - 40L totals $46.40, and Premium 95 is $1.26/L so 40L totals $50.40. Your only saving $4 by using the E10 and it will no doubt probably burn quicker then premium anyway.

[fryboy]

I always use 95, if its not available ill use 98.

Put it this way at the cheaper end of the week for fuel your E10 is costing you say $1.16/L - 40L totals $46.40, and Premium 95 is $1.26/L so 40L totals $50.40. Your only saving $4 by using the E10 and it will no doubt probably burn quicker then premium anyway.

good points. thanks.

[mr475]

Just a side note. Most BP servos have a sign at their bowsers saying that E10 should NOT be used for marine applications.IE don't use it in your boat.