Ethanol question... Please chime in???

[Hull's Racing]

I can only find 89 octane that is Ethanol free. Im running a 2004 Mercury 2.5 280. What would you guys reccomend as an additive to boost the octane? If anyone has any info on this please feel free to fill me in. Thanks, Charles

[motorheadbishop]

Only additive that proves itself time after time
is Aces... You can buy it from hydromotive...
Works great, Good luck!

[chardt]

I would mix it with 110 octane race gas

[mr fun]

Mercury said they could not recomend any additive. I've burn't 2 hot motors. and just damn over it. trying again, but now this whole ethanole situation has me upset. www.puregas.org is a place to start. in my town there's nothing in the 93 catagory. I'm stalled, other than av gas I have no answers. I got some 89 for my mowers and 3.5 gals was 17.5 $. sail boats are looking pretty damn cool right about now. :o fun out

[Tom Foley]

I have been lucky I guess . Over 350 hours on ethanol 93 octane with 32 : 1 oil mix on 260's with 34 CC heads . I just took apart my STV's engine after 115 hours on Pennzoil Synthetic and all the bearings ,crank suraces etc look great but the rings are ready for replacement after this time . All parts were new Merc with a freshly plated block as well . Switching oils .

[mach351]

+1 for Aces. I add it to our 90 octane non ethanol we have 'round here for my 280.

[Dutch]

unless you want to splash with race gas, i'm +1 for 93 and good oil, keep the comp. down and run the ballls out of it

[HStream1]

ACES :thumbsup:. I've been using it for three years now in my hot motors and never had any issues. You can also buy it direct. Contact Brian Schubert @ 440-821-9040. He was offering free shipping to Scream and fly members. Guess he still is last I spoke with him.

ACES with 89 oct will yield an equivilant of 97.9 oct.

You can also e-mail him @ [email protected]

Their web site is http://www.bndautomotive.com

Note: there may be some that might jump on here and dissagree about ACES as they have in the past.

[That's Right]

I have been lucky I guess . Over 350 hours on ethanol 93 octane with 32 : 1 oil mix on 260's with 34 CC heads . I just took apart my STV's engine after 115 hours on Pennzoil Synthetic and all the bearings ,crank suraces etc look great but the rings are ready for replacement after this time . All parts were new Merc with a freshly plated block as well . Switching oils .

Tom, I hope you were getting up at 3:24AM and not just going to bed. Unless you had Beefy over visiting LMAO:D

[Euroski]

Have you tested it to be ethanol free... not that you shouldn't TRUST the oil companies! That said I would only go with premium(93 around my house). I think octane is more important than ethanol especially on a hi-performance engine.

[FAST RALLY SPORT]

+1 for Aces. I add it to our 90 octane non ethanol we have 'round here for my 280.

Rumor has it that they sale 93 ethanol free at River Ranch just saying.

[mach351]

Rumor has it that they sale 93 ethanol free at River Ranch just saying.

Unfortunately not on Thursday's they don't....... Thanks for the reminder Bobby.....

[Action Dave]

The 90 octane "rec fuel" that they sell at marinas is essentially the 93 octane fuel at the gas pumps before ethanol is added to boost octane. Besides race fuel, I have not seen any non ethanol fuel available with an octane rating of over 90. Adding ethanol to fuel boosts it's octane rating so technically the 87 E-10 you get at gas pumps was only around 83-84 octane before the ethanol was mixed in. I have a customer who works the fuel docks in Port Everglades and personally oversees the testing of incoming loads of fuel. He told me recently they recieved a batch of what should have been 87 (once ethanol is added to it) but it tested at 90 octane. So they sold it as premium.

[JIM WEST]

Tom, What brand oil are you switching to.

[harrells]

DO a search on Toluene. you can get it at sherwin williams paint stores.

[Tom Foley]

unfortunately not on thursday's they don't....... Thanks for the reminder bobby.....

ouch !!

[Tom Foley]

Tom, What brand oil are you switching to.

Mercury Premium Plus and then to Amsoil Sabre TCW - 3 . This is my choice based on results from several engines I have seen apart recently . Just my choice ..

[mach351]

The 90 octane "rec fuel" that they sell at marinas is essentially the 93 octane fuel at the gas pumps before ethanol is added to boost octane. Besides race fuel, I have not seen any non ethanol fuel available with an octane rating of over 90. Adding ethanol to fuel boosts it's octane rating so technically the 87 E-10 you get at gas pumps was only around 83-84 octane before the ethanol was mixed in. I have a customer who works the fuel docks in Port Everglades and personally oversees the testing of incoming loads of fuel. He told me recently they recieved a batch of what should have been 87 (once ethanol is added to it) but it tested at 90 octane. So they sold it as premium.
The 93 non ethanol is coming out of port of Tampa. That's why orlando/kissimmee is about as far east as you can find it.

[Dutch]

i only ever worried about ethanol when i let stuff still long periods of time. cant ever remember when the same ten gallons was in my boat for more than a few days.

[max200]

Been running ACES IV 2S formula for over 2 years now with 170 psi heads and haven't had one issue with detonation or ethanol, also makes my honda blackbird haul ass as well.

[arrowwaves]

93 octane with ethanol(E10) is being blamed for locking up 3 sets of fuel pumps in my optimax. The claim is it is a saturated solution that is corrosive so when the boat started sitting more than a week at a time at the end of last season the pumps corrode closed and the motor won't start again. Pumped the fuel out last week .we will see what happens with new fuel. I am not convinced!Aces seems to work on the octane issue, but definitely research adding toluene.
)

[JR IN JAX]

I managed to find some leftover MTBE which is the greatest Octane booster/Oxygenator there is. I just have to use it sparingly as the EPA pulled it off the market [spills polluted the groundwater]. I can really tell the difference in my boat/PWCs when I am using it. Avgas is great too, no ethanol and will stay stable over the winter.

[Tom Foley]

That is a bunch of **** !! Sitting more than a week ?? Either the pumps or the lines are junk and i know you changed the lines !!!

[Fastboatr1]

I continue to use Acetone. 1 quart per 100 gallons. It burns hot. Its cheap. And readily available at any auto parts store.

[MODVP22]

I continue to use Acetone. 1 quart per 100 gallons. It burns hot. Its cheap. And readily available at any auto parts store.

so you just take regular acetone and mix it with gasoline to boost the octane or offset the Ethonol?

[JR IN JAX]

Acetone is an aromatic and is just an octane booster. From memory a 1:400 ration would only be a very small octane boost. I though it was like a 1:10 ratio to get several points of boost. You can also use toulene, napthene or xylene too.

This is a good explanation:
Octane boosters can be broken into three types based on their active ingredients. Methyl cyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) and ferosene are used in limited amounts in off-the-shelf boosters. The majority of commercial boosters use MMT. Another type of booster uses alcohols or aromatics as the active ingredient. Many tuners use toluene as a home-style octane booster. Toluene, an aromatic circular hydrocarbon chain, is a regular component of pump gas and is available in various grades at chemical supply stores. Premium street gasoline carries roughly 3- to 5% toluene, which partially helps octane characteristics. Unocal's 100-octane race gas has almost 25% toluene.

The drawback to any of these additive ingredients is the diminishing effect they have on higher-octane fuels. Adding the same booster to 87-octane pump gas will yield a lot more octane gain than adding a bottle to 91-octane premium gas. Excessive concentrations of these additives also damage emissions-control hardware, such as spark plugs, injectors, oxygen sensors and catalytic converters. This is why most off-the-shelf boosters have an emissions-legal street formulation and an off-road formulation that exceeds the government-regulated concentration of MMT or ferosene.For the power-hungry, there really is no point in testing 87-octane gas and street-legal octane boosters. That's why we performed our tests with a base sample of 91-octane premium gasoline taken from a local SoCal station. By law this gasoline must have an octane rating of at least 91 octane. Octane boosters were obtained at local auto parts stores while 99%-pure gasoline-grade toluene was sourced from the laboratory of Rockett Brand Racing Fuel. TOLUENE...But beCareful.
Source(s):

http://www.europeancarweb.com/tech/0503e… (http://www.europeancarweb.com/tech/0503ec_octane_boosters_tested/index.html)

[Fastboatr1]

Yes. I use acetone as an octane booster. As JR IN JAX so eloquently put it, Toluene is the best octane booster. Its more expensive and less easy to find.

I have never had any problems with ethanol. Bio-diesel is a different story. But, ethanol, no. As long as the ethanol fuel doesn't sit for long periods of time, its OK. Its just alcohol.