Tired of pulling carbs to clean the jets with gel from ethanol in fuel. Any fuel treatment better than others?

Thanks in advance!

 

i use marine Sta-Bil in all my gas engines. it displaces the water attracting effects of the ethanol, and gas keeps for up to 6 months as compared to non treated going bad in 4-6 weeks.

 

I use Marvel Mystery oil in the house boat..never had an issue

 

I swore off the ethanol and only run straight gas now due to similar issues. All the local marinas have non-ethanol but I usually trailer the boat to the local distributor who lets me fill up for cash without a commercial account.

The main cause of the goop is the water that the ethanol absorbs.

If you have an external tank, keep it full all the time. Air in the tank associated with partial-full allows atmosphere in and out due to day/night heat fluctuations and this leads to more water in the fuel. On my old boat with external tank I covered the vent cap with an old filter canister that I cut off to reduce direct rain contact with the vent when parked. If you run a standard screw on filter you can get a racor with clear bowl that will fit the filter head. This separates better than the solid metal ones and allows easier water ID and draining. The guy at the marine store was talking up some product that supposedly helps, can't remember which one but sta-bil is commonly used.

 

Second everything Travis said. Ethanol free fuel only for mine (sold it last month). Keep the tanks full to prevent condensation, and a better fuel water separator. Should help out quite a bit.

On the big boat (150 merc saltwater) I didn't have that many problems and never ran the fuel out if the engine. On the small boat (10hp 66 Johnson) I would always disconnect the fuel line and run the carb dry every time I used it. No problems with it either.

 

my buddy worked for a place that winterized boats, he told me they put sea-foam in the tank. ran it for a spell and just before they shut it down they would rev it up pretty good and pour rislone down the carb till it choked it out and died. he claimed they done it that way for years and never had a problem the next season firing them back up and running great.

 

Thanks a lot for all the responses! I have a 1998 Carolina Skiff to run on the Suwannee River and out on the Gulf coast with a 90hp Yamaha on it. I have never had the first problem with it until the last couple years with the main jet and idle jet getting gummed up. I pulled the tank out changed out the fuel line and primer bulb and cleaned the carbs back up. I am ready for a change. It sure did run on the river this past weekend good.

Thanks again for the information.

 

Some stations don't have ethanol in their top octane fuels. We have gas stations here that don't have ethanol in any grade of fuel.

 

but there are also a lot of states where you can not buy pure gas at all.

 

I also use Sea Foam on my boat, and all of my stuff that uses gasoline.

 

I use star-tron with every tank, its just an ethanol treatment similar to marine sta-bil im sure. Biggest key for me is to drain the carbs before storage. I have an 87 Yamaha 150 and it gave problems every year since ethanol. The most reliable fix has been to run the engine without the gas hose until it dies, then drain the carbs and the fuel strainer before the fuel pump. Im in New England and our storage period is rather long. Ive noticed with premix 2strokes, the premix acts as a stabilizer. The injected 2 and 4 strokes are the ones that have problems. I would suggest any stabilizer product since IME all my gas equiptment and toys have stay-bil(red) at all times, not just for storage, and have been very reliable. Just my $.02

 

I have heard of that before, that sucks, I would move!

 

I agree with the non corn fuel . Most small stations around our lakes in my area have it just because of the boaters .I also agree with the Sea Foam . I use it a lot , and am pleased with the results . I try to buy straight gas , but sometimes have to buy corn squeezins . I see as many problems in small engines as boats , so recomend Sea Foam to our customers for them also .

 

seafoam and red sta-bil do not work with ethanol fuels. you have to use the marine sta-bil. it is the only one formulated for use with ethanol blend fuels.

 

Yeah, sea foam is more to help clean carbs and injectors, not so much solving the ethanol problem. I think the marine stabil is blue instead if red?