E 85 for my 260?

[Stitch King]

I like to get on here every couple months and read incorrect E85 statements from the uninformed.

E85 is going to take 28 - 30% more fuel volume than gas. Your fuel pump needs to be up to pumping that much more fuel and the ECU needs to be retuned for E85's A/F ratio. Stoich is 9.7:1 and max power is at 6.9:1 . If that's over your head then don't try it.

I never flushed anything in the fuel system EVER and have run E85 for over 5 years. I leave the fuel in the tanks over the winter and run the same fuel the next spring.

Never had any water contamination problems ever but I don't leave the gas caps open when it's raining either.

E85 will make more power than any gas and will run great at the highest compression you can put to any naturally aspirated engine.
I've put 30# turbo boost to it with no intercooler.
It's cheap and easily available here in Mi.
A no brainer.

Funny but from all the E85 negatives I've read here from the outboard crowd, I never read anything from anyone who ACTUALLY ran the fuel in their engine. It was just all rumors.

Always love to read your posts on this topic Mark. You have hit the nail on the head in your last statement.

I ran E85 a few seasons ago on the old Liberator and found no ill effects when I ran it premixed (oil) at the same ratio that I normally mixed gasoline.

Edit: Note that my fuel system was set up like a 260 with a single high pressure pump feeding the rail directly and that the fuel requirement was roughly 29% higher than it was on unleaded 93. The main issue I found was injector duty cycles at the top end were a problem with the stock injectors. Had I kept the boat I would have switched out the injectors for some bigger ones and continued to use the E85.

[JR IN JAX]

In Kart racing with Methanol, we used a Klotz Bean Oil [Castor] because most of the other lubes would not stay suspended in Alk.

[Ron V]

Have any of your guys seen what happens in a Skater or a yellow fin with the fiberglass fuel tanks?

Skater was not up on their current events for a lot of years. The presence of alcohol in gas was discussed in the owner's manual for my 1985 Johnson.

[Capt.Insane-o]

In Kart racing with Methanol, we used a Klotz Bean Oil [Castor] because most of the other lubes would not stay suspended in Alk.

R50 worked well for me with e85, it was the milage issue with only being able to fit a 12 gallon fuel cell in the boat, zero availiability on the water, every 3-4 times of use there was 6-8 ounces of water in my racor. My boat sat covered at my parent house outside for when I went down to run the Saginaw River usually every other weekend. I brought it back up north to re ring it after it sat 3 1/2 - 4 weeks maybe , O.o when I pulled the intake off and O.O when I pulled the heads off. And it's pretty tough on stock Merc crank seals.

I work on boats everyday for a living, ethanol sucks. There is definatly some special care needed for running it in an outboard.

[Stitch King]

There is definatly some special care needed for running it in an outboard.

This sums it up perfectly. Very well put.

[JR IN JAX]

Fuel hose out of an 08 38 Fountain. I get to replace all of it. The bad part is he thought he was getting non ethanol fuel from the marinas.
Probably the biggest problem here is the fact that the EPA forces us to use fuel line that has the plastic liner in it, to prevent fuel vapors from permeating through the hose. Have any of your guys seen what happens in a Skater or a yellow fin with the fiberglass fuel tanks?

Attachment 270689

Charlie and Ed have a whole pile of Ethanol-ready hose that they have removed from customer's boats that looks just like that. The liner inside it is an EPA requirement to reduce fuel permeating through the hose....

As of 2012 no car manufacturer will warranty your E15 damage, let alone E85..
http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/20008...est=latestnews

[Markus]

The presence of alcohol in gas was discussed in the owner's manual for my 1985 Johnson.

In 1985, only banana republics and the occasional communist country mixed alcohol in their gas.

Makes you wonder what has happened to the US after President Reagan left the White House, doesn't it?

[Ron V]

In 1985, only banana republics and the occasional communist country mixed alcohol in their gas.

That is not true. It was well on its way here by then in some areas.

[rgsauger]

Remember gasahol?

[Ron V]

Remember gasahol?

Yep. From Page 10 of the owner's manual for my 1985 Johnson 2 hp:

Automotive gasolines lead-free, leaded regular, leaded premium, or "gasohol" meeting this minimum octane specification (67 minimum octane for the 2 hp) may be used; however, best results will be obtained by using lead-free gasoline.

The use of "gasohol" may require carburetor adjustment to richen the mixture. Some gasolines being sold that contain alcohol without identifying the fuel as "gasohol" or even stating that it contains alcohol. "Gasohol" is unleaded gasoline with 10% ethyl alcohol.

If gasoline contains up to 10% ethanol the recommendation for "gasohol" will apply.

Some gasolines contain METHANOL. OMC DOES NOT RECOMMEND THE USE OF GASOLINES THAT CONTAIN METHANOL.


I clearly remember buying Amoco fuel exclusively for the outboards throughout the late 1980s and early 90s because they were the only brand that didn't use ethanol here in the Chicago area. Eventually they started using it in their Regular and Silver, but Ultimate held out to the bitter end. In 1994 we discovered that the Ultimate had it as well and we have been buying whatever is on sale ever since.

If you do some quick Googling, you'll find that the incentives and legislation that started the ball rolling for ethanol in the U.S. go back to 1978 and it was in use in various capacities before that.

Alcohol in the gas was one of the things that caused the failures of the first generation of VRO pumps in 1984-85.

So, like I said, Skater and anyone else who was still building boats with non-ethanol compatible tanks just a few short years ago had their heads in the sand.

[powerabout]

Omc used it in CC engines racing one season i think
Lasse Strom was their at the time he said too much trouble so back to race gas.
The carbs needed alcohol resistant floats, not sure what other things changed

[Krazymaan]

If you have a stand alone self learning fuel management system and an o2 sensor, it would work, but that ain't happening anytime soon.

[PanRonnie]

That would be the easy part getting a E85 certified oil not so much
And to take full advantage of the ethanol you would have to bump compression and increase ignition advance

[powerabout]

good point
when is E15 then onto E85 ethanol like methanol so it needs bean oil?

[PanRonnie]

Well maybe 🤔
Now all you need is a fle fuel sensor