quote Dougs Outboards:
You said you had E-10 fuel in your area? I would not run any Eth fuel, only regular non-eth. Very bad for your motor. Just my opinion.
Well its not just an opinion, it is a debated subject. I did a lot of research and there are a few reasons to not run E10 in older motors, a few reasons to not run it in a marine motor and a few reasons why it does not matter.
Firstly, older motors use parts that can be sensitive to ethanol including:
- metal parts that can be corroded
- rubber parts that can become brittle and crack
- plastic parts that were not designed to be in the presence of ethanol
Marine motors in general are, by nature, around water. ethanol absorbs water and can cause problems with separation in an outboard tank.
This pretty much covers the main reasons why not to run E10.
I have inspected the rubber parts and feel confident that everything on this machine has been replaced after 1990 which would mean that the parts (specifically gaskets and other rubber parts) are ethanol safe. I also use a tote tank that can easily be emptied completely so there is no issue with a watery gas tank. I will be using a fuel stabilizer which is designed to protect metal parts (specifically the old carb) from ethanol. I do not think it will be much of an issue but if I have the opportunity to get ethanol free gas, I certainly will prefer that over E10. I believe there are a few stations in town that sell it based on info found here https://www.pure-gas.org/extensions/map.html and I will seek it out more actively for the next fill up. I do not think that the 3 gallons i purchased for testing will hurt anything.
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