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With your background you should have plenty of knowledge about octane levels. It is our understanding you have to move on to the next level to reduce more ethanol. BCB
It has been suggested that I move up to the medium grade gas for my 98 200 EFI due to the ethanol additives. Any thoughts?Thanks,GeorgeGeorge
Ive used ethanol fuel my first season with my opti as did the previous owner. No problems so far. Run Quickleen at a minimum. I also use Starbrite fuel treatment to prevent fuel separation and for winter storage the Merc shop used Merc stabilizer. I dont anticipate having a problem in the Spring. I didnt this year. I vary fuel from 87 to 93 Oct and usually get it in Fairhaven usually at Mobil but sometimes Citgo. Ive used Gulf at the end of our road in Orwell and the other store on 22A half way to Fairhaven. Cant recal the name. Im sure you know where all those stations are.There are marinas on Champlain with non-ethanol fuel but mixing the two is a no no unless you run through a tank a fuel every week but I still dont recommend mixing them. Buoy 39, Chipmans Point both have 87 Oct non-ethanol if you dont mind fueling on the water, not one of my favorite things to do. Not sure what next year will bring however. Non-ethanol fuel is getting hard to get. Will let you know come spring if Buoy 39 still has non-ethanol. If they do, Chipmans point does. Same source.
nivek, I use Marine Stabil ( the green one ) For over a year and have had no problems at all. I did alot of research and talked to several motor builders and they ALL said that it should be used with every tank.
I use Quickleen and Marine Stabil in every tank. If I was going to store my boat for the winter, Id add regular Stabil to it, or you can double the dose of Marine Stabil I believe.
I used quickleen and Stabil Marine in my 2004 in every tank and had no issues. Plan on doing the same with my 2011 Puma/Pro XS 250.Ron
87 octane is what Mercury recommends. I also believe you can run a mid range fuel, but not premium.
If you look at the BBC website and ask Don from European Marine he says octane 1st then ethanol-never more than 10%. Premium runs too cool and you will get carbon build-up especially if do not open it up. Look at your manual to see what the recomended octane is.
All are correct. I too would burn non ethanol fuel in mine, but I would have to drive almost 300 miles to get it.
Your 200 Opti should be ran on 87 Octane. The guy your talking to was right about the fuel lines and most before 2008 i would go ahead and replace. 93 octane will have a higher flashpoint (read it takes longer and more heat to burn that gas) then that of 87 and thus your actually wasting unused gas, 93 octane is generally reserved for use in high compression motors like the older 250 xs motors/ and some new four strokes (not pro xs). Your motor was specifically designed to be ran on 87 octane and the timing and iginiton system is designed to fire at those octane ratings, by running the 93, you could be potentially doing more harm to your engine. Simply put your engine is designed for 87 Octane. Do some internet research on octane ratings. I believe your manual says: if 87 is not available then use of 89 or 91 is acceptable, but i sure wouldnt run 93 in the 200 opti.Last edited by JSLAW on October 21st, 2012, 2:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
As of right. now all of the “premium” that I have been putting in this boat has been 91. I have not found any 93………yet. But still, after reading all of the information that is out there about what the 10% mixture Gas is doing to 2 cycles I think I am safe for now with the 91 octane gas. I will continue to run the attitives thru it to keep the carbon down (IE OMC had carbon guard, I think this merc #2 treatment might do the trick). The article from West Marine is pretty informative about the damage that is caused by not running pure gas.
Yeah, but have you changed your fuel lines as well? Even if you are running ethanol free gas, if its the original fuel lines, I would change them. That way, if you ever travel somewhere that there are only ethanol gas stations, youll still have peace of mind.96 Eyra/12 Mercury 175 Pro XS with 2015 single axle trailer2017 Victory Gunner
I have the same motor same year as yours and run 87 ethanol without a problem. I always add Quickleen and always use Starbrite with every gas fill. Only time I add 93 premium is the last fill up of the season because the boat will sit 5-6 months before running again. Its my understanding that gas looses octane when it sits long periods of time so I add the 93 before winter sets in. It has always started in the spring. Note I also have it winterized by CR Marine our local Bass Cat dealer. If I could get non-ethanol 87 or even 89 Id run it but that just isnt a practical option in upstate NY or mid Vermont. And yes, I did replace all gas lines from the tank selector switch to motor. IMHO, the gentleman gave you good advice.Reminder to my northern brethren, remember to not overfill your tanks! Leave a little room for expansion in case it gets warm unexpectedly like it did this past spring. We had some 70 plus degree days in March and I found gas flowing out of the fill cap. BCB says if this happens you can lower the nose of the boat to make sure fuel isnt blocking the air vent but most of us have the nose a little high just in case water somehow got in the boat and so it will flow out.
Good info shodack, except you should empty your tank for the off season
Experts go back and forth on that one. Ive gone with a full tank for winter storage for 20 years with both ethanol and non-ethanol gas without issue. I do have the boat professionally winterized too which includes treating gas. It has worked so far and its hard to argue with success. The head ache and risks involved with emptying/pumping out the tanks just doesnt seem worth it to me.
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