E85 fuel question
- Thread starter Larry33kc
- Start date
Bobalouie
Active Member
I am sure that someone is playing with it, but as far as mother merc is concerned any amount of ethanol is bad for the engine. We used to get people calling us all the time asking about that when I was in Merc engineering, and we always told them the same thing, "stay away from fuel with ethanol".
From an octane standpoint you should be OK, since if I remember correctly ethanol is like 115 octane, but since it is an alcholol, it tends to strip lubricants and dry out seals, the former of which is exceptionally bad for a 2 stroke outboard. Not to mention if you leave it in your tank too long it will separate out the water in the fuel, which, again, is very bad for your outboard.
From an octane standpoint you should be OK, since if I remember correctly ethanol is like 115 octane, but since it is an alcholol, it tends to strip lubricants and dry out seals, the former of which is exceptionally bad for a 2 stroke outboard. Not to mention if you leave it in your tank too long it will separate out the water in the fuel, which, again, is very bad for your outboard.
