Which octane for older 2 strokes

[MSBruno]

This will be my 3rd season with my '94 Johnson and I've always put 91 octane and have no issues. With my increased frequency of fishing and fuel prices as high as they are, am I wasting my money?

[ecmilley]

depends, lot of the the bigger omc engines listed premium as the prefeered fuel and 87 octane acceptable, i find i get better mileage on the 91 so it pretty much even's it out for me.

[DRIFTER_016]

Been running 87 octane Shell in my 1991 Merc 90 since I brought it home from the dealer in '91.

[barrystrs]

I would go with the cheap stuff, unless the boat sits a while. If it has been 3 weeks since your last outing top up with premium. Gas goes stale much faster now than it used to. If your boat is premix, the gas looses 2 octane points as soon as you mix the oil so it is a little more important to have fresh gas or use premium.

[Ainsley]

I run 87octane in my 78 merc SS1000 and don't have any problem.

[fishhunter]

Stay with the high test!!!! No ethanol in high test. Old fuel lines don't do well with ethanol over time. I could show you piles of rotten fuel lines and carb gaskets from using reg fuel. That's why most marinas are going to high test at the pump. Pay now or pay later. Stay with the good stuff

[DRIFTER_016]

Stay with the high test!!!! No ethanol in high test. Old fuel lines don't do well with ethanol over time. I could show you piles of rotten fuel lines and carb gaskets from using reg fuel. That's why most marinas are going to high test at the pump. Pay now or pay later. Stay with the good stuff

 

 

Or move to Yellowknife where none of our fuel has ethanol in it.

Our vehicles would be freezing up all ovet the place otherwise.

[jedimaster]

Stay with the high test!!!! No ethanol in high test. Old fuel lines don't do well with ethanol over time. I could show you piles of rotten fuel lines and carb gaskets from using reg fuel. That's why most marinas are going to high test at the pump. Pay now or pay later. Stay with the good stuff

 

 

Not true, even Shell Vpower has ethanol ever since they started adding Nitgrogen. Some shell stations do sell thanol free Vpower, but certainly NOT all premiums.

[jedimaster]

Use this map, also ask the gas guy ifit has any. If it doesn't they will know. If it does he will likley say, "whats ethanol?"

 

http://pure-gas.org/extensions/map.html

[tomO]

I run high test in my 94 25 hp mercury and stabill in every tank.

[Dutch]

Yes, you are wasting your money.

 

If you are using the boat more, all the better - ethanol in fuel isn't that bad, it creates issues when it sits for long periods of time.

 

If you are worried about separation, I found a recipe for a mercury fuel cocktail - it includes seafoam, marine stabil and mercury quicklean. Look it up.

 

Another thing you could do is install a fuel/water separator.

[Billy Bob]

Or move to Yellowknife where none of our fuel has ethanol in it.

Our vehicles would be freezing up all ovet the place otherwise.

 

Don't they change over in the summer months up there........

 

I know here we change over to a winter blend and you can see your gas mileage drop on your truck/cars.....

 

Getting back to the OP question.....I have a 1985 50hp VRO Johnson outboard....and I have to say I have used both...87 octane and 91/93 octane.....the higher end octane does burn much cleaner and the engine does idle better with it, especially if your trolling a lot....when I fished a LOT of walleye tournaments on Lake Erie we were trolling all day long.....so back then I only used high test gasoline....but now I try not to do any trolling at all if I can avoid it.....so I use mostly 87 octane....but if I do notice sputters or rough idling I'll run a tank or two of high test.....check the plugs and clean or change them out for new ones.

 

These outboards are much better then the old days when they would give you trouble if you looked crossed eyed at them....just reasonable care and they seem to last forever.....mines 27 years old and has been out 5 times so far this year and she's running like the day I picked her up from the dealer.....here's hoping the rest of the fishing season goes the same way.

 

BTW......running high test is must cheaper in the long run then adding all those gasoline additives that most manufactures frown on.

 

Bob

[GYPSY400]

This is a very debatable topic as many have done what they do for many years.. Personally, since buying a new 30hp mercury 2-stroke last year the dealer was very specific about running ethanol free gas ( super).. Since it affects my warranty, all it will get is super.. And from now on, all my toys get super as its just plain better, and hopefully will save me a headache down the road.

[Fish Farmer]

Rez gas, Reg in my boat, alot cheaper and runs like a kitten. Put then I'm always filling day after day. Rez gas is always fresh because they have line-ups, not in there tanks long enough.

[Billy Bob]

Rez gas, Reg in my boat, alot cheaper and runs like a kitten. Put then I'm always filling day after day. Rez gas is always fresh because they have line-ups, not in there tanks long enough.

 

And AGAIN another great Farm Report.......

 

I do the same here.....I launch right next to the Seneca Res and fill up on the way home.....my boat is ALWAYS filled after fishing...that way I ready to when the bite is on.....we save anywhere from 20 - 50 cents per gallon at the res.....the higher gas goes the lower the savings....3 years ago in the fall of the year I was saving 80 cents per gallon....hasn't come close to that since.....now it's ranges right around the 20 cents per gallon savings...better then nothing though.

[jedimaster]

This is a very debatable topic as many have done what they do for many years.. Personally, since buying a new 30hp mercury 2-stroke last year the dealer was very specific about running ethanol free gas ( super).. Since it affects my warranty, all it will get is super.. And from now on, all my toys get super as its just plain better, and hopefully will save me a headache down the road.

 

Seriously guys, Super has had ethanol in it for a long time here in ontario. There are only about 4 or 5 gas stations in the GTA that sell ethanol free. And some of that is NOT super.

[ecmilley]

Seriously guys, Super has had ethanol in it for a long time here in ontario. There are only about 4 or 5 gas stations in the GTA that sell ethanol free. And some of that is NOT super.

every shell station i have been at has a sticker on the pumps that indicates 0% ethanol in the v-power

[jedimaster]

If it is nitrgoen enriched it has ethanol. There is much confusion over this, Petro Canada 91, may or may not have ethanol. If it used to be a sunoco and it sells 94 octane, then it for sure has ethanol. If its an old school petro canada, and doesn't sell 94, than the 91 may not have ethanol. If its a shell that sells 91 octane with notrogen it also has ethanol. At least this is what I was told from a friend that work for Shell Canada. Some of the no name places still buy and sell ethanol free gas, but they are hard to come by. I'll email the guys at shell and see for sure though.

Edited April 16, 2012 by jedimaster

[DRIFTER_016]

In the US there is a sticker on the pumps that say whether or not the fuel contains ethanol.

Do they have these stickers in Canada?

I know there aren't any on the pumps here in town.

[jedimaster]

Some do and some don't. The last I heard was that in 2011, paart of the env regulations came into affect stating that all top tier fuels sold retail south of the 60th parralel must contain at least 5% renewable. This renewable is ethanol. From my understanding Shell patented some ethanol blend with nitrogen, and they call it some fancy thing, but in the ends its just ethanol. I emailed the guy I know at shell, I'll try and get the details. I could be wrong bbut thats how I understand it anyway.

[Raf]

ethanol acts as an octane booster, it allows them to refine a poorer quality product and boost it with ethanol to meet requirements -- in fact the percentage of ethanol may be higher in premium fuels. the exception being shell v-power as it doesn't use ethanol (yet). esso, sunoco/petro canada all use ethanol in ALL grades of their gas.

[Billy Bob]

ALL grades of our gas contain ethanol....as least all our pumps as Drifter has pointed out bear the ethanol stickers.....well at least here in NYS...mid west states had ethanol way before we did.

[DRIFTER_016]

ALL grades of our gas contain ethanol....as least all our pumps as Drifter has pointed out bear the ethanol stickers.....well at least here in NYS...mid west states had ethanol way before we did.

 

 

All the pumps I was at in Florida also had the stickers.

The pumps at the marinas stated they were ethanol free.

[Sinker]

I'm kinda lucky. My local gas station in town is all ethanol free.

 

The shell V-power, which I try to run all the time in everything, has NO ethanol. I get the best mileage out of that fuel by a long shot.(200+km/tank more!!) Its worth the extra couple bucks per tank just for the mileage. Try a tank and see how it works for you.

 

Regular gas is fine in your older 2 stroke, but if you want to avoid ethonal, I'd suggest running the shell V-power. It really does make a difference.

 

S.

[jedimaster]

Ahh ok so I got some info about shell gas... so What Shell has done since the latest thing is scammed out the regulations. The 5% renewable mandate is based on the total amount refined. so what they have done is increase the amount of ethanol in the bronze gas, and this leaves them with enough headroom to manufacture 91 octane without any ethanol... Petro Can fuels at 94 octane all have ethanol...

 

Here is the quote fromt he Email.... so if you want ethanol free go for the V-Power... or cheack around with the smaller places...

 

 

All Shell V-Power gasoline in Canada is free of ethanol. The 5% yearly renewable fuels applies to the whole volume of gasoline refined in a year and not to each single grade. Shell meets the 5% yearly renewable regulation by blending up to 10% ethanol with Shell Bronze fuel and up to 5% with Shell Silver gasoline.

Edited April 16, 2012 by jedimaster