I know many of you do not go to other sections so I thought I would post this.

My boat engine is 23 years old and I have never had a problem with it (knock on wood) because I am a freak bout maintenance. So due to my resltless spirit I am always looking for something to do and this is what I have recently been doing.

Recently I bought a neat little device call an ethanol tester from Briggs and Stratton .com and I recently found a gas station that consistently buys gas from a company that uses 5-7% ethanol.

Also those of you who fish in the sticks, look for pumps that do not use ethanol. For example in my home town of Laredo not all the pumps have ethanol in their mix.

You can also test for ethanol like this.

In a test tube or slender olive bottle, make a permanent line about two inches from the bottom.

Fill with water to this line, then fill the tube to nearly the top with gasoline. If you add additive you only need a tablespoon in the mixture.

Cover the tube, agitate it then let it stand. Ethanol mixes with water and the two will separate out together. An image of the increase of 10% volume of water usually indicate the presence of 10% ethanol.

Now it you want to see if your Sea Foam or additive is working put the desired amount in the above mixture and shake and see if the additive blends with all of the components. Also put in a spoon and burn it. Afterwards see how much soot it leaves and it it leaves any lubrication. In this case Sea Foam failed miserably.

I found this then tried it on my own and got the same results.
http://www.qmimo.com/fuel_demo_gas.htm

Sounds very interesting. Have you tried Stabil?

No but I will test it here in a bit.

Apparently Stabil now makes an additive just for ethanol-blended fuels. Curious to see if this is really that big of an improvement...according to the price they want for it, it would seem so.

Also, do you happen to know if there's still a requirement for gas stations to mark their pumps if they sell ethanol-blended gasoline? I've seen some pumps with a little sticker that says "5% ethanol" (or sometimes "10% ethanol") but I've stopped seeing those stickers around much anymore. Did they drop the requirement for the sticker or are just not that many stations using blended fuel?

I'm wouldn't say the analysis in that website is biased toward their own product, or "bad science" or anything like that.

It's just bad science, and biased.

For example, here's a quote: "we speak of the flash point, which tells you how readily it ignites" - just plain wrong. Flash point is the lowest temperature at which it can vaporize and mix with air, which for gasoline is about -50�F. You can't measure that with a spoon and a torch.

The test conditions are pretty much the polar opposite from the inside of a piston engine. Combustion temps, compression, air/fuel mixture, etc. etc.

When my engine starts burning fuel in an open air container, maybe I'll switch to their product. Meanwhile I'll stick with Seafoam.

I have tested some that do not have the sticker and they still have ethanol.

DITTO!

I understand what you guys are saying but if Seafoam does not mix with the water how do you get rid of the water?

I have always used/use Seafoam but when I mixed it it separated really quick in less than 3 minutes. The Stabil did not it combined and has remained that way for nearly two hours now.

I am not promoting the product I just tried the tests myself.

Also I just competed an 15 week outboard class where we each tore down and rebuilt a compelte 50 and 150 HP engine given by Mercury and they said Seafoam was a no-no.

How about a Water-Fuel separator filter?

Mercury is the key word - they want you to use their additive....

No not exactly.



That is exactly what they recommended. That is what I now use and it works like a charm.

Water in the fuel is not an issue on my boat - a couple 6-gal portable tanks. It takes nearly a cup of water to cause phase separation in six gallons of E-10 - way more than will ever collect from condensation, and there's no way for water to leak into the tanks.

In your test, did you mix equal parts additive and gasoline, like the website says? I'm guessing the ratio in your fuel tank is not nearly 50/50.

I use seafoam to discourage carbon build-up and keep carburetors clean - but I'm not married to it or anything.

It's good to learn about new things - thanks for sharing your experiences.

I didn't think Sea foam claimed to do anything about water. I've only used it for cleaning carbon build up. Stahbil says it help prevent corrosion from moisture. I use it to keep gas from varnishing, getting stail and it will absorb a little water. I agree with using a water separator to help with water and also to trap particles and materials loosened up from ethenol. I wouldn't have a boat without one and running ehtenol in the boat.

I don't usually treat my gas for water. I use seafoam to prevent carbon buildup.
If I am going to not use my boat for a month or more I will treat it with Pri-G for water but thats mostly a preventative rather than a real fear I have for water.

My Merc 150 Optimax has a built in fuel filter/water seperator that does a good job and will tell me when it gets full. I had a problem with a gas tank getting water in it from a bad gasket and the fuel filter worked as it was intended.

You can also use RXP, but it is expensive. Have used it in my cars and yard equipment for years to clean out the carbon.