Reformulated Gasoline

Flapper wrote:
Here in Minn. (15,000 lakes) ethanol has been a standard for a VERY long time. And there are still guys that insist on not using it at all for boats, small engines, etc. But we have the highest number of boats per capita of any state, and the HUGE majority have run on ethanol for years. I seriously doubt you could find a motor large or small made in the last 15+ years that is not made to run on "low" (E10) ethanol gas.

That said, it is prone to breaking down/gumming up over time, so is not the choice for something that will be stored with gas in it for long periods (lawn mower over the winter, etc.). Hence the advice you see in some manuals - real is prefered, but E10 will not hurt the engine. Only for that reason do I get "real" for all the small motors. But if you will be burning it up relatively soon (a few months), there will be absolutely no problems. Or dump the leftovers into your car, and refill with "real" when you get home.

I have a couple of boats in MN and the marina I use has premium E0 fuel. In town the EO fuel has a sticker on the pump not for road use, (but you still pay road tax). My boats are in storage from Oct until July so I fill with E0 and Seafoam before storage. You are correct in that sitting is what does the damage with ethanol fuel. At $12,500. for a new outboard I'm not going to take a chance when E0 is just a little bit more money. I do use oxygenated fuel in my vehicles that are used regularly.