Seasonal maintaining of an outboard.

[yankee]

Okay, here it is.  I get out on the lake about once a month, sometimes more often, sometimes less.  Went out last week and my engine would only run about 3,000 rpm's without stalling.  I tooled around a bit and could feel it wanting to break loose, but she never did.  Went back to my driveway and hooked up the ear muffs and run some Sea Foam for about 10 minutes.  Back to the lake the next day and a spit and a sputter then boom, she took off running as good as ever.  So during my off the lake time I like to start up and run on the muffs about every 2 weeks, again not consistent with that but a good attempt.  My question is what can I do to avoid this fuel problem.  Someone said to pull the gas line off the motor and run the carbs empty, but some on this site say this is a bad idea.  I use Sta-Bil but that apparently isn't working either.  Now I've heard that the ethanol fuel attracts water and here in Texas there is a fair amount of humidity?? I don't know if this attributes to the problem or not.  Any ideas or solutions out there would be appreciated. 

[Juan]

What you've heard about ethanol is true! It's terrible and even worse if it sits up for any length of time. It attracts moisture and causes fuel separation, fuel goes bad quicker, it lowers the octane rating and hurts performance, it causes metal components in the fuel system to rust quicker and decays the inside of older fuel lines... all of that stuff ends up stopping up fuel filters and injectors.. Ethanol is EVIL! If you can't get ethanol free fuel, I'd add ethanol / fuel stabilizer treatment every time I added fuel to the tank.

[freezerfiller]

Yes, and I run those carbs dry. If you leave the bowls full of fuel, that fuel evaporates and leaves varnish behind. Then you are back in sea foam territory.

[Juan]

I believe we've had this debate before and ended up agreeing to disagree. Some people do it, some don't. IMO, running the fuel out of a 4 stroke engine is fine but not healthy for a 2 stroke engine because oil in the fuel mixture is needed to lubricate the pistons and cylinder walls and if run dry, oil won't get to the cylinder walls until the bowls fill and the engine starts so it's running dry at start up and that ain't a good thing! I had a 200 hp I used to run dry after every use. It threw a rod and I still think running it dry caused it. That said, as freezer said, some gas can evaporate if left unused for extended periods so if it's not started at least every couple of months, I'd drain the bowls or add a fuel conditioner to the fuel.

[yankee]

I found this fairly close to home.

Smiley's Racing Products - SUNOCO
700 W Kennedale Pkwy, Kennedale TX
817-572-7467
Ethanol-free octane ratings: 100
GPS coordinates: N 32.65629 W 97.23097 (entered by David Hunn)
Updated by Pops, March 13, 2021 8:48 CST
102 octane for 8.74 per gal and 110 octane for 9.75 per gal.
Updated by Chris Haley, January 23, 2020 8:31 CST
Leaded 100 octane available when I called on Jan 23, 2020. About $8.50 / gal.
Posted by David Hunn, November 14, 2019 10:10 CST


Not sure if those prices per gallon are worth it. Looks like sta-bil for ethanol gas and learning how to drain my carb bowls.

[Juan]

Wow. I wonder why ethanol free is so high in Texas. It's 40 or 50 cents a gal. higher than ethanol fuel around here. As for draining your carb bowls..I've seen some that have drain screws on the bottom side and some that don't so you
can't drain at all.

[gnrphil]

you'd be wasting your money putting that fuel in your outboard, it's not designed to run it and you won't see much benefit really. Those higher octane fuels are for higher compression racing engines.

[yankee]

I agree 100% Phil. Going the ethanol stabilizing route. I did not realize that there is a specific sta-bil for ethanol gas, blue I believe??

[freezerfiller]

Mar 18, 2021 16:31:55 GMT -6 Juan said:

I believe we've had this debate before and ended up agreeing to disagree. Some people do it, some don't. IMO, running the fuel out of a 4 stroke engine is fine but not healthy for a 2 stroke engine because oil in the fuel mixture is needed to lubricate the pistons and cylinder walls and if run dry, oil won't get to the cylinder walls until the bowls fill and the engine starts so it's running dry at start up and that ain't a good thing! I had a 200 hp I used to run dry after every use. It threw a rod and I still think running it dry caused it. That said, as freezer said, some gas can evaporate if left unused for extended periods so if it's not started at least every couple of months, I'd drain the bowls or add a fuel conditioner to the fuel.

Yes we have. I was always freaking out about my Johnson with one carb per cylinder when one carb quit delivering fuel/oil mix because of a stuck needle. Amazing how it ran for hours that way. Anyway, my argument is a 2 stroke doesn't run out of oil, until it runs out of fuel. I'll stick with it as I have weedeaters, chainsaws, and yes Evinrudes that seem to keep on chugging without much maintenance when I do it that way. Not to mention the small 4 stroke engines. It is my opinion and what I do with my stuff. I'm not telling anyone what to do with their stuff.

[Juan]

That's why they make chocolate and vanilla. 😁
I'm not arguing the point either way.

[yankee]

I agree with what you are saying about running the carb dry and not having any lubricant for the next cranking of the engine. That makes a lot of sense. But what happens when I squeeze my primer bulb before starting? How far does the primer bulb push the fuel into the carbs?

[gnrphil]

Mar 20, 2021 7:52:20 GMT -6 yankee said:

I agree with what you are saying about running the carb dry and not having any lubricant for the next cranking of the engine. That makes a lot of sense. But what happens when I squeeze my primer bulb before starting? How far does the primer bulb push the fuel into the carbs?

It fills the carb bowls with fuel and oil mixture (assuming you pre mix), therefore you do in fact have lubricant on the first start up. Just my opinion of course 


Edit to add,
If the outboard was winterized and fogged properly you shouldn't need to worry about any lubricant on the engine internals.

[Juan]

The way I understand it is you'll have fuel mixture and lube to the carbs after priming but the cylinder walls and pistons are dry until it starts and considering 2 strokes are famous for being cold natured, they cold run dry for a lot of revolutions before the engine fired up and lube made it to the cylinders.
I'm no mechanic but I have owned just about every brand of outboard built and I can't remember any of the owner's manuals suggesting to run the bowls dry so it might be okay to do it, but not me.

[gnrphil]

Not disagreeing with you, you make a valid point hence my my edit about fogging oil. The fogging oil ought to be sufficient to lubricate the engine before it fires.

[Juan]

Mar 20, 2021 11:42:55 GMT -6 gnrphil said:

Not disagreeing with you, you make a valid point hence my my edit about fogging oil. The fogging oil ought to be sufficient to lubricate the engine before it fires.

I agree but who's going to do that every time they run their bowls dry?
It's okay to disagree... that's how we learn new stuff and I could be way off base but if I am, I'm not alone on this one.

[yankee]

I did some more online research and read that running the carb dry on a single carb engine can work. Supposedly enough oil splash inside the crank housing to have a good film of oil over everything. But running dry on a multiple carb engine could be bad due to the possibility of one carb emptying prior to the other/others, causing the cylinder wall to heat up. I think the most sensible route is the stabilizer during boating season and fogging oil at winterizing time. Very common and proven procedure.