Okay, I am setting myself up for verbal abuse, this question has been asked a bunch but…I have a Yamaha F115 on a 19ft Tidewater. It’s a 2008 with 70 hrs on the motor! I can’t tell you the last time I have put gas in it, truth is I am having a time burning the gas out, (good thing) the gage reads between a quater and a half tank. Replaced the water fuel sep. Friday and ran the boat yesterday with no problems. When is it safe to fill with non ethanol? I do use a stab. and seafoam. Chris V. has armed me with the stuff to do my 100 hr. service and I posed this question to him, but he got hooked up with another customer. Thx
I run the same setup (December 2008), but guess I have probably 200 hours now. I run exclusively ethanol free gas. Not exactly sure what your question is. I usually add 5-15 gallons before any long weekend and have probably never ran it below a 1/4 tank, averaging 1/2 full at the end of the weekend. I don’t use stab or seafoam, instead running the boat year round (like a car). The full windshield on the DC keeps us from freezing.
Tidewater 196DC
Yamaha F115
Pungo 120Sorry for the delay but thanks JI. Maybe my question did’nt make sense if you are fishing a tidey whitey, you know that we have a large gas tank! I have concluded that I am filling up, and adding startron and start using the bote more!!! My wife knows that come Aug.15 I will be huntin…again thanks for the reply, and you have a nice boat. Also thanks to Chris V. for getting me hooked up, with tune up equipment!!
dan
burn as much fuel out of the boat as you can befoe switching to non ethanol fuel
then fill it up with nonE gas and go for another boat ride
also, if you need to get rid of the fuel, my teenage son can get rid it of it faster than you can imagine
he can burn more fuel pulling his buddies on a wake board than i can keep up with
It is always better to keep a tank full if you are using e gas. It will allow less moisture to form. Also, if you use your boat regularly, the issues with e gas are greatly minimized.
keep the tank empty as possible when being stored. Always add fresh gas before using your boat. you’re far better with a majority of fresh gas diluting the old gas than treated old gas in a tank. If there is any ethanol in the gas, it will absorb moisture from the air while being stored, the more gas, the more ethanol, the more moisture being absorbed by the fuel. The myth about condensation in your fuel tank is total BS. The only times I’ve seen any measurable condensation in a fuel tank was in extremely large tanks(over 150 gal), even then it was a very little amount. I’ve done my own experiments with this myth, and it doesn’t pan out. Most fuel tanks nowadays are plastic, they won’t condensate any at all. You’ll get more water in your tank from leaking gas caps, poorly mounted or designed vents, or from the pump you just filled up with than from condensation in your tank
Dan, I have a 115 (2002) on a Key West 196BR, and I have a hard time getting my fuel turned over to keep fresh fuel in the boat. I use non-e fuel with Startron, and I don’t remember the last time I’ve gassed it up. This boat just doesn’t use fuel. I’m inland though, and don’t have any two hour runs to go fishing. The gas I have in it now was from a 3/4 fill up on a 54 gal tank, after which we tubed for at least 6 hrs, and I’ve probably been fishing 12-15 times. I still have a 1/4 of a tank.
Based on my past usage, I plan to add 5 gals at a time from now on. Sometimes I wish I had a 150, but it’s sure nice riding by the gas dock.
I am not the most experienced with a gas outboard (I’ve only had the ones my father had when I was a teenager). So somebody tell me if this is a good idea----
I have a friend in the Coast Guard that has a shutoff valve on his line between the tank and the motor, and he just shuts the valve off, disconnects it, and lets the motor burn out the residual gas. He swears that this is the best thing to do, and I was wondering what y’all thought.
My own personal motor is a paddle made out of hickory, but in the not-too-distant future I do hope to get something with a 40-60hp motor.
Thanks guys, filled up today. Put in at the NC Fishing club ran down the Cooper and way up the Wando. Ran like a Cadllac! The GW checked us and as soon as they left, rod bent and my 5 year old caught a nice trout then another. Good times!