I've never had a problem with Speedy Stop fuel and never heard of any others. Thomas Petroleum owns Speedy Stop Stores and they are one of the largest Exxon distributors in the southwest US. I'm sure they could get non-ethanol gasoline if they wanted. Why they do not sell it is a good question, though. Might have something to do with the cost of needing to install additional holding tanks versus the profit that can be derived from selling it. I'm only guessing at that. One thing I do know though, even where it is available, it is not very popular given the premium price they have to charge for it. Seems last time I fueled up at a Bucc-ee's pump that offered non-ethanol the price was something like $1.00/gallon higher.

 

It's interesting to me that up here in Central Texas, we have Murphy stores that sell unleaded with no ethanol, for the same price as ethanol unleaded. I noticed one here the other day, specifically because a good friend was asking about ethanol free.

 

I use whatever 87 octane there is at any bigger name fuel stop.....cuz i cant find anything cheaper....

700 hours on one boat.
800 hours on second boat.

Dont see a need....
My chainsaw which sees the least use is 22 years old. No issues fires up normal when needed. I have never used any fuel additive ever.

 

Same here,I've got a 79' Johnson with 1000s of hours and it gets whatever gas I happen to be close to and it sits in a 12 gallon plastic tank outside for months at a time and I've never had a fuel problem,the last 2 etecs I've owned were a 250ho and a 115 and they got the same gas as did the 2 2000 Yamaha 200s on my Cape Horn.My weed eater gas can last almost a year before I have to take it to the gas station to fill up and it never has a problem,maybe I'm just lucky as far as fuel goes.

 

The guys with more efficient outboards like the smaller, new 4-stroke engines likely don't mind the price increase of non-ethanol gas, while those with the bigger, thirsty motors do.

 

My outboards have never seen a gallon of ethanol free fuel ( since it became a thing) Ive never had a fuel issue ( in the boat ) I use blue Stabil religiously . Ive bought hundreds of gallons of speedy stop fuel in POC and never had an issue

 

Whenever I'm thinking about it I'll take my 5 gal can and fill it up for boat gas. We don't run that far and have a smaller tank so I try to use it when I can but I'm not going to drive 45 min out of my way to fill up.

 

I have used regular old ethanol fuel in my last two boats (four strokes)because no one in San Antonio carries ethanol free. Knock on wood, no problems yet.

 

There's three stations in SA that sell E0. Murphy's in Schertz, Murphy's in Universal City, and Murphy's at Loop 410 and Military Road. I fill up the boat and truck when headed to the coast.

 

Buccee’s I pass on 290 gas ethanol free , but only 87 octane.

Supposed to run 91 octane in my Verado. They say I can run 89 with no issues other than a slight decrease in performance but don’t want to go all the way to 87.

 

Been using an ethanol fuel conditioner since we were forced into buying ethanol treated fuel.



No issues in any of my gasoline engines whatsoever.


TH

 

Like Trouthunter and others have said: I've enjoyed great success running ethanol 87-octane without issues in my boats but every tank gets a slug of Starbrite's Star-Tron ethanol treatment when filling up. For my small engines, where I typically use only small amounts of fuel, I add Star-Tron to the gas can when filling and then add a date tag to avoid using fuel that might have age issues from sitting in the garage too long. This may be overkill but I hate fuel problems!


Mechanics have told me it is best to store your boat with a full tank as this helps reduce the amount of condensation that accumulates in fuel tanks. Water is the real problem they say, as it reacts with ethanol to speed the process by which ethanol-gas degrades.

 

was by bucees at lake Jackson yesterday 3.63 for non ethonal....I only have a 30 gal tank for my 115 but I cant see people filling up 250s for that price. crazy

 

Guys who use their boats weekly probably aren’t going to have an issue. The problem is for guys who only make half a dozen trips through the year and their boat may sit in storage for months at a time during winter.

 

As long as they dont sit for over a year run it.....i have had a boat set up 14 months with half tank of fuel....fired right up. Months is a no brainer run it. 6 months....get in and turn the key. 12 months...well top off as best you can with fresh the morning of your trip and let er rip.....longer than 12 months and you may want to do some planning for better fuel management.

 

Gas

If your fuel system is designed to run ethanol fuel there should not be an issue.

 

I trailer my boat from San Antonio to Corpus. I have been stopping at Rudy’s bbq to fill up with non-ethanol fuel for about $2.95 (I believe). I am running a 96 Johnson 115. I have been told these older carbureted motors were not designed to run ethanol fuel. I figure it’s worth the extra money to help avoid any fuel related problems. Also, I run my boat regularly at least once a month but usually every 2 weeks or so.

 

Only issue I ever had with corn fuel was an old 2001 mercury, and it wasn't engine issues it simply melted the fuel lines so crud accumulated in the filter and clogged it up. Replaced the fuel lines and primer bulb and was back in business. I used all my current boats constantly year round so never had an issue otherwise. I think people are a little oversensitive with the whole thing. If you use your boat once a year you're probably better off not owning a boat and just charter what you need when you need it.



Which Rudy's? 151?

 

I run ethanol free exclusively. Don’t really care one way or the other but my wife buys it at Bucees so I put it in....

 

I run mine every week, or at least every other, so I just run the cheap stuff. I have a '98 30hp Rude on my flatbottom that sits from April til Feb, I just drain it after my last trip of the Spring, and she'll be ready next Feb. I do believe the Etecs are less fuel finicky than some of the newer 4 strokes. A 4 stroke Yammy is the only motor I ever had issues with after sitting a few months, my last 2 Etecs can sit awhile without issues.

 

I've never had a problem running ethanol fuel in my boat. With that being said I use it all the time and burn through it. Don't leave it in the tank long.

Once a quarter (March, June, Sept and December) I drain old gas, pour in new gas and fire up chainsaws, lawnmowers, weed eaters etc…

Never had a problem.

 

Rudy's

I winter in Port Aransas Texas. On the main drag in Corpus there is a BBQ and gas station called Rudy's. They sell non-ethonal gas, I always carry and extra 5 gal jug and when I drive by I fill it up. Corn juice ate up a diaphragm on one of my fuel pumps.

 

I'm not on the coast but we are lucky enough to have a gas station with non-ethanol gas for all three grades. It is competitively priced with the other stations in the area, frequently lower.

 

I’ve been running it in my new E-tec for three months now with no issues. Ran regular E-10 in my old boat with 2003 Yamaha 115hp 2-strk and had numerous carburetor issues.

 

I found the Ethanol free stations here:
http://www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=TX

 

For you POC guys who insist on it, Charlie's Bait Camp is on this list of ethanol free providers.

 

I run cornfuel in my '09 Opti 150. It starts every time I turn the key even after I let it sit 6 months. I will continue to run it without worry...

With that said I think ethanol did in my old Yamaha 130. But that was several years ago right when blended gas came out.

 

Mechanics in POC seem to think corn juice in outboard motors keeps them plenty busy with repairs. I'll see if I can get one to write a summary.

 

I try to use ethanol free when I can. If I leave my boat on the water, I fill up at Redfish cove, but at $4.00 gallon, makes it a tough pill to swallow. If its on the trailer, use the regular ethanol blend but religiously use Mercury Fuel stabilizer.

Old boat did the same but used ringfree and never saw a fuel or filter issue.

Pretty sure the new inline carbon filters keep alot of water from penetrating fuel cells. Use my boat every other week till hunting season.