New to it all. Read where Ethanol in Gasoline is harmful to outboards. Why? What to do? 2007 Honda 4 stroke 20 hp taken to BC Canada & believe they have ethanol in most gas sold. Is PHASEGUARD4 needed? Boat Dealer said he has a filter for that & wonder what the filter can do? I'd like help guys.

The owners manual should tell you all you need to know about ethanol. My Merc manual says up to 10% ethanol is ok but, no more than that. I understand the ethanol can corrode different materials in the motor, not sure which ones but it's not good whatever they are!
Okie Bob

According to the factory ran training sessions I have attended I have been told that Ethanol will shorthen the life of gaskets, fuel lines, fuel seats, many other engine parts and retards the complete mixture of oil with gasoline (resulting in scaring of the pistons). It is also said to decrease the life of spark plugs. This is what the manufactors of the power equipment we distribute tell us. They recommend that we tell our customers to use only 89 or above octane.

We also test the fuel in our area with a kit they provided us and it shows us much higher than 10% on the "straight" unleaded 87 Octane fuel we have tested. We have not had that problem with 89 or above. Personally, from what I have seen and been told at the training session put on for our mechanics, I will not use anything but 89 octane or above. I'm sure others have different ideas, and that's fine, but I don't want to take the chance of the it being alright to use.

I also understand that some of the newer models of engines have been built to accomodate bio-fuels, but my poor old 1995 150 Johnson does not understand ethanol so I simply pay a few more cents per gallon for the security. This is Jus my opinion.

I feel it is a good idea to always run some marine formula Stabil with every tank of fuel. It has additives to help prevent the corrosion & carbon build up caused by the ethanol.

Thanks all for this great advice about ethanol fuel. Something else that seems TERRIBLE to me, but first, what about that additive called Phaseguard 4, will it work? Now the HORRIBLE part I read, & you can see it on iboats.com. I actually saw it somewhere else, but when searching again this time, it was there. They say ethanol fuel will "break down resins & fillers in fiber glass fuel tanks making them leak." How much worse can this be when your boat is in flames. Home insurance companies stopped covering the black mold now & it's in most, if not all, home owner polices. So will they do the same with your boat insurance because ethanol is eating, & eating you fuel tank out from the inside first? Tanks going soft??

I want to add, these fiberglass tanks being DESTROYED by ethanol is in my opinion very dangerous & people need to be made aware. I read some boat owners are replacing the fiberglass tanks with metal ones but in most cases, that very expensive. What about the big fuel companies? If my daugher burned to death on a boat because of this, I dare say, & that's not the HORRIBLE part, no BIG oil company is accountable. Is this not a problem that will only get worse over time. And then the trade in value of such boats may become worthless & worse a libility. It all sounds fishy & dangerous.

The HORRIBLE PART IS TO LOOSE A LOVED ONE I ment to say, but like Toyato, you may never get the attention of responsible parties unless it cost them big money. But then again, maybe no one is responsible but the boats owner-----if he knows this hazard. It sounds like a dam time bomb to me.