Lesson Learned

a little will do a little good a lot will do a lot of good. i put in at least a half can of seafoam to each tank and probably 3 oz of the blue stabil. first tank of the season i put in a whole can of seafoam to 6 gal.

I know of 4 blown motors in the past 6 months all attributed directly to ethanol. My buddy Sam and I have talked about it quite a bit. The gas people need to tell you when there is 10% ethanol. We think there is a lot of 9.9 out there that you never hear about. I got pretty concerned about and called Mercury. I run a 2003 Merc EFI. The rep I talked to strongly suggested that if i had never changed out the fuel line that I do so BEFORE I RAN THE MOTOR AGAIN!!!! So I did. When I cut the bulb apart it had started to deterioate. Merc came out with a more ethanol resistant fuel line in the past 18-24 months. I started running marine stabil in every tank 2 years ago. When I talked to Merc they would not comment on stabil or sea foam as they were promoting their additives but off the record the guy said he knew of many who were using that combo successfully..they did say to add to every tank and to not run more fuel in the tank than you will use in 10 days. He also said to run premium only. The motor does not need the 91 octane but tthe 87/88 regular breaks down in about 30 days to 83. That is when the ethanol seperates and takes the water with it to the bottom of your tank so you get a straight shot of junk straight to your injectors. This is bad. The premium takes about 9 months for the breakdown to 83 if you use and additive. I also found out that Stabil forms a film on the top of the gas that is an oxygen barrier. Thats all I know on the subject hope it helps. I run a white Champion with black & yellow striping mostly on Smithville so if you see me wave my down I would like to meet a few more guys and visit some. John (Crappiejt)

John, Welcome and good info. I'm sure I've seen ya up there before so I'll try to say high next time. Platte Clay fuel in Kearney and Platte City both have non-ethanol fuel, premium only. Paradise general store also sells it.

This may show twice as I thought I had sent it but I know even less about computers than I do about fishing. A friend of mine owns 8 convenient stores and he tells me not to trust the "ethanol free" claims. So I won't start my motor without the additives. Please flag me down i would look forward to meeting you. John

Welcome aboard JT .. good info!

Thanks billD hope it saves a motor. JT

SeaFoam does not have any water absorbing properties which is what you need to prevent the damage caused by ethanol.

I found out the hard way with my duckhunting mud motor. The carb got all jacked up in the off season with corrosion from water in the bowl. Been using GREEN STaBil and have not had a problem. SeaFoam may be a good cleaner but it will not absorb water to prevent corrosion.

I use the StaBil in my Optimax also and it has not had any issues......GREEN not RED....fyi. The red has no water absorbing ability just like SeaFoam.

Welcome to the board, JT...from another Kearney resident.

I'm a seafoam dude.
Just a little bit goes a long ways on controlling ethanol. I run half of the recommended amount on the can.

G.

JoeDog, how many more Kearney & Liberty fisherman are on the site? JT