All,
I recently picked up my 4-stroke
outboard from the shop where it received its annual servicing.
By chance I overheard the
mechanic talking to someone about gasoline and when he finished up I asked if he was making a recommendation to someone.
What he told me was REALLY interesting:
In
British Columbia, the only places where you should get gas for an
outboard is Esso or Petro-Canada. He said that everyone else had either additives or contained ethanol that was not good for these motors. He even went on to say that the pink coloured gas we buy from the
dock pumps (the stuff that is 'supposed' to be cheaper since there is no road tax applied) actually has a small amount of
DIESEL added to give it the colour. While this was fine in the short term, the continued use of
dock gas would also cause build-up and reduce efficiency in your
motor.
A friend has also told me that ethanol-based gas will start to go bad much faster than non-ethanol. Regardless of the
fuel I use, I have always used a stabiliser. The
marine environment is so harsh that it just seemed like a good idea.
Thoughts on these???