Ethanol

[SunriseH2OSkier]

Not sure what to think about the fuel pump failures - lots of potential causes for that. Could it be ethanol? Maybe. But I said it before, we have been running E10 here in Michigan for a long time, probably approaching 10 years now. And I can't say that I've seen/heard evidence of excessive failure rates on fuel pumps or any other components for that matter. I'd be curious to see the warranty analysis for fuel pumps across the industry - failure counts by supplier, by MOB (month of build), regional breakdowns, hours, etc. Without that specific kind of data, it is nearly impossible to determine a systemic cause.

Just to give you something to think about, one possibile cause would be a supplier quality issue. How many different fuel pump suppliers are there industry wide? Hard to imagine the industry volume being sufficient to support much more than 1 or (maybe) 2 suppliers. And suppliers are driven by profits just like any other business - they are constantly looking for ways to reduce costs in their parts to improve their profit margins. It is entirely plausible that they made a material change of some kind in their part that has turned out to be more prone to failure.

Again, the only way to really know is to look at the warranty data and see where that leads. Anything else amounts to irresponsible speculation.

[WakeGirl]

A while back, I saw an article somewhere mention something about there being no regulation (or a lot less?) here in Oregon with regard to the quality of the gas that we get. Maybe it was regulation of the blends? If that's true, then I wonder if that's what is catching up with us here. I just find it highly coincidental that not just the boating manufacturers are having this problem, it's being seen in autos as well.

[footnlongline]

See, I'm not so sure that it's merely the fact that it's a cleansing agent. There are just way too many failures of fuel pumps on really new boats. That shouldn't be happening. The blends....yeah, I can see that and cleansing in some cases, older boats particularly with carbs. But that doesn't explain these late model & new boats that have fuel pump failures. A local mechanic that we know has seen a huge increase in fuel pump failures over the past year in his business (car & truck repair). I don't think that this is a coincidence.

Ethanol is not a cleaning agent, it is a oxygenate that replaces MTBE ( methyl tertiary butyl ester) Different areas of the country have different fuel formulations based on traffic volume and environmental conditions. In the Chicago metro area, gas has had a 10% blend of ethanol for more than 10 years. While ethanol has the ability to attract and hold moisture, as well as a having shorter shelf life, it wont affect longevity or performance to ward any concern. I have run 93 octane with 10% ethanol in my Merc 350 MPI SunSetter for close to 500 hrs, and it runs as good as the day I bought it. In the 12 years I've owned the boat it ran poorly only once( bad fuel filter) and has never needed any repairs period.

[bound4er]

Ethanol is hygroscopic and starts to pull moisture into fuel in as little as two weeks. It has generally not been a problem in autos since most people use their cars daily and are adding new fuel on a regular basis. Boats are different - many sit for a few weeks or more between uses and have an off season where they are not used for months on end. This makes them much more prone to fuel problems. If given the choice between oxygenated fuel and non-oxgenated, I would take the "non" every time.

Though not technically a "cleaner", ethanol is a polar solvent and therefore does have low level degreasing and cleaning properties in much the same way isopropyl alcohol does.

[Surfin247]

See, I'm not so sure that it's merely the fact that it's a cleansing agent. There are just way too many failures of fuel pumps on really new boats. That shouldn't be happening. The blends....yeah, I can see that and cleansing in some cases, older boats particularly with carbs. But that doesn't explain these late model & new boats that have fuel pump failures. A local mechanic that we know has seen a huge increase in fuel pump failures over the past year in his business (car & truck repair). I don't think that this is a coincidence.

Ethanol is not a cleaning agent, it is a oxygenate that replaces MTBE ( methyl tertiary butyl ester) Different areas of the country have different fuel formulations based on traffic volume and environmental conditions. In the Chicago metro area, gas has had a 10% blend of ethanol for more than 10 years. While ethanol has the ability to attract and hold moisture, as well as a having shorter shelf life, it wont affect longevity or performance to ward any concern. I have run 93 octane with 10% ethanol in my Merc 350 MPI SunSetter for close to 500 hrs, and it runs as good as the day I bought it. In the 12 years I've owned the boat it ran poorly only once( bad fuel filter) and has never needed any repairs period.

Speaking of MBTE, I thought I read that ethanol and MBTE were not to be mixed because it could form a sort of gel like substance. I have wondered about what the gas stations around the country did when they switched away from MBTE to ethanol. Coulld some of this substances be in the bottom of the tanks at gas stations. I am certain that these gas stations did not completely empty and clean the tanks when they switched over. Most of my problems occurred when this switch over occurred here in Florida. Now every gas station that I have gone to in Fl. says 10% etahnol or 10% ethanol or less. Since using a fuel stabilizer every tine I haven't had any more problems. I still think the biggest culprit is the quality of the blend of gas that you are purchasing. I really don't think anyone is readily monitoring the quality(blend) of the gas consumers are purchasing. "You only get out what you put in."