First off I do use gas addatives most of the time,mainly because I did not want any warranty issues. On my yamaha I used their products,ring free etc. But is Mercury,Yamaha or aftermarket any better or is it just “snake Oil” compared to a $8 bottle of Sea Foam,Marine Stabil or Star tron or ? Are they really necessary to maintain the warranty? I know for storage yes, but if you dont store it more than 30 days is it?
89 ethanol free, Yamaha ring free, and sta-bil 360 every time I put on gas. No problems yet, never know when something might happen and can’t use your boat for a while.
If you are cycling a tank once a month I wouldn’t worry about any additives. If you are using ethanol free gas I wouldn’t worry about additives unless it sits over 3 months then some Stabil for a piece of mind. If you are using ethanol blended fuel I wouldn’t let it sit over a month with out using an additive.
“live and let live” … “those that deserve it.”
I run “plus” grade ethanol free and that’s it.
No matter how much it hurts, how dark it gets, or how far you fall…you are never out of the fight.
Maybe I’m just drinking the Kool-Aid, but I use additives religiously. I’ve had multiple marine and small engine mechanics tell me that 90% of engine issues they see are ethanol related. I try to use non-ethanol gas in all of my small engines and my outboard…I use Stabil every time I fill a gas can…or Starbrite IF I have to use ethanol gas. I use Seafoam every time I put gas in the boat. Proven science, I don’t know…but it gives me peace of mind.
2003 Key West 1720 Sportsman
2016 Ocean Kayak BG2
I’m with Seaox. I run premium non ethanol fuel and never had any issues with my boat after four years. If I knew it was going to sit for a while, I’d add additives but I use my boat year round.
Ethanol free, store my boat in the garage so I don’t have to worry about moisture entering the tank. If I didn’t I would always keep it full and run it year round. No additives here. Just a good sea foam de-carb every spring. 16 years old and running like new.
“Wailord”
1979 17’ Montauk
90 Johnson
Wilderness Ride 115
I use the star tron additive in the winter because we might only burn around 40 gallons a month.
During the summer we burn more than 100 gallons a month. No additives.
I always use the cheap pump gas. I don’t have access to ethanol free. We don’t have spark knock and haven’t had any trouble in all these years, excluding normal maintenance items. Keeping tanks full seems to help.
I’ve inspected my vapor separators and fuel tanks when doing maintenance and repair, and I haven’t found anything alarming so far. I think using your boat is key to avoiding fuel problems more than anything else.
*** World Cat 266 SC ***
If you run non-ethanol and use boat regularly, fuel additives are probably over kill. I run sea foam every couple tanks and that is very very good stuff. If the boat is going to sit for a while, definitely use some type of fuel stabilizer because this is normally when you have fuel issues.
If you are running ethanol gas, I’d run star tron in every tank.
what motor, what fuel, and how often do you use boat?
www.teamcharlestonmarine.com
www.bombislandboats.com
IF I RESPOND IN ALL CAPS, ITS NOT ON PURPOSE, AND I AM NOT YELLING
Use it every 2 weeks on average 93 pump gas, modern 4 stroke
I think what a lot don’t realize with Ethanol blended fuels a manufacturer will allow a 10% mix but as fuel sits not only will alcohol absorb moisture it will also separate from fuel and may see 50% or better levels on start up. It’s the straight alcohol and also the moisture that alcohol allows the blended fuels to carry to the injectors that is so bad.
I loathed the days up north when the “WINTER” blended fuels came out. 10-15 % blended ethanol. All one needs to do is keep the fuel tank full to keep out condensation and use “straight” gas. Works great and has worked great for a century.
All that said I put star tron or stabil in my generators and any other equipment that will sit for over 3 months no matter what. At the end of grass season all my lawn mowers/lawn equipment gets a good dose of stabil. Also kind of related, I do put algaecide in all diesel equipment that is not used regular.
additives are relatively cheap and probably not a bad idea for a piece of mind.
“Why Bruce?”
Ring free every fill up,didnt do this for the first 1600 hrs and had really bad carbon build up,not anymore,boat has only had non ethanol fuel for 2500 hrs…twin f150’s that were mounted to low for 1600 hrs also…they run like raped apes now!!
SAFMC you suck!
RUN NON-e GAS, AND YOU DONT NEED ADDITIVES
IF USING E-10, USE STARTRON OR RINGFREE PLUS
www.teamcharlestonmarine.com
www.bombislandboats.com
IF I RESPOND IN ALL CAPS, ITS NOT ON PURPOSE, AND I AM NOT YELLING
Ring Free cuz the manual recommends it.
Non-E 89 Octane
I use:
- non-ethanol gas
- fuel treatment
- ring-free
Because I’ve never read a report that using any of those three are causing issues with motors.
Plenty of reports that not using one or more of them have caused problems.
thanks chris v