<VV> A partial solution for ethanol

Grant Young gyoungwolf at earthlink.net
Mon Dec 28 19:43:24 EST 2009


Since I started this latest trend, here is a copy below of some tips from a boating website that might help us out. Sounds like a three step method of annual tank draining, Sta-Bil, and a special filter to separate out the water will do it.
Grant

Gas
What you should know: Much of today’s fuel is E10, which is “enhanced” with 10 percent ethanol, or moonshine, as they call it Down South, which is relatively harmless when it’s fresh and burned within a month or so after pumping.
 But since ethanol attracts water and mixes readily, this can cause serious problems if the water/ethanol solution becomes greater than a half percent, which can happen due to condensation within your vented tank. Then a nasty little thing called phase separation occurs, which can create serious problems for your engine. What happens is the water/ethanol mix detaches from the gas and sinks to the bottom of your tank. If you run your tank low enough to burn this mixture, your engine will run extremely hot. Simply adding fresh fuel will do nothing to remedy this situation because once phase separation happens, like true love, it’s forever. 
Maintenance tips: The only thing you can do when phase separation occurs is to drain your tank of the old fuel and refill. But you can prevent fuel from going bad in the first place. Most boaters know to add a fuel stabilizer like STA-BIL when decommissioning their boat for the winter (or in the summer if you are a snowbird). STA-BIL also makes a marine formula for year-round use that will counteract many of the ill effects of ethanol-laced fuel and also fight corrosion and keep intake valves and fuel injectors cleaner for better performance.
 In addition, always use a 10-micron water/fuel separator filter, made by companies such as Racor and Yamaha, which not only separates water from your gas, but also removes tiny particles of debris before they enter the combustion chamber.


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