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Gas to use?

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cnelson0641 View Drop Down
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    Posted: August-23-2017 at 1:13pm
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I'm wondering if anyone can comment on what gas I should be putting in my '83 SN. The guy I bought it from said to only ever use non-ethanol fuel, but the first time I filled it up I couldn't find any around me so I used 93 (possibly ethanol) fuel.

So two questions:

1) Does it matter?

2) If it does, should I be worried about letting the current possibly ethanol fuel sit in my tank? Should I try and use it up ASAP? Drain it some other way? Should I bother using something like SeaFoam to clean out residue?

Thanks!

--Chris N.
"Two rules, kid - ya gotta want it, and ya gotta give'r."

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cnelson0641 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-23-2017 at 1:58pm
Also - I know mine has a new carburetor; will that affect anything?

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fabcon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-23-2017 at 1:59pm
Use what you can find. I try to run the non-oxy if I can, if I can`t find that I try to run Premium Unleaded.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TRBenj Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-23-2017 at 2:19pm
E10 is all you can get here, so I run it exclusively. Doesn't last great but burn it in a few weeks and you're fine. A stock 240hp PCM 351w may run just fine on 87... 89 is recommended per the manual. Premium is a waste and may not run as well either so I'd avoid that (lose/lose).
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gary S Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-23-2017 at 3:16pm
Might be a nice winter project to change out the rubber fuel lines especially if they are the originals and clean the anti siphon valve, the ethanol likes to eat at the older rubber lines.
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8122pbrainard View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 8122pbrainard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-23-2017 at 4:51pm
I've used ethanol since it came out. Never had a problem even over winter layups but do stabilize it for the extended storage.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Orlando76 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-23-2017 at 4:56pm
I'm on the water 3-5 days a week 13 months a year and use strictly 87-89 ethanol. No problems with carb nor efi. If it sat for 3+ months I'd shy away from ethanol if possible.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jjtaub Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-23-2017 at 5:23pm
I ran 89 E10 in my 78 for years with nary a hitch. The only exception was the last tank of the year I would fill with 93 non-ethanol with stabil after I ran it empty or as near as I could. I would take a few runs with the ethanol free gas before putting up for the winter. I never ran it dry or drained the carb for winter layup and seemed to do well.

The first 15 years it was a stock 351 240hp, the last few I had GT-40p heads which probably added a point to the compression and even then the 89 octane worked well.

I agree with changing out the fuel line, I doubt they put much thought into ethanol in the fuel in 83.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SNobsessed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-23-2017 at 7:42pm
My 89 has a label near gas filler warning not to use gasahol. Like others said above, if you modernize the fuel lines, etc, should not be a problem.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 8122pbrainard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-23-2017 at 8:10pm
Originally posted by SNobsessed SNobsessed wrote:

My 89 has a label near gas filler warning not to use gasahol. Like others said above, if you modernize the fuel lines, etc, should not be a problem.

My 54, 64 and 77 don't have any warning labels and nothing has happened!   


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote KENO Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-23-2017 at 8:21pm
Originally posted by Orlando76 Orlando76 wrote:

I'm on the water 3-5 days a week 13 months a year


Now that right there is impressive
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gary S Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-23-2017 at 8:57pm
Originally posted by 8122pbrainard 8122pbrainard wrote:


My 54, 64 and 77 don't have any warning labels and nothing has happened!   


But you lived in those day's. No one in their wildest imagination would have thought they'd take perfectly good corn squeezing's and make alcohol for your vehicle's tank. Your tank yes,your car nah. Speaking of which,gas here went fron 2.19 to 2.55 overnight. You'd think a holiday is coming up or something. I guess I'm supposed to be more concerned about some statues somewhere.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote fgroce Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-23-2017 at 9:00pm
Fill it up. Go to the lake a lot, ski, ride and enjoy so much that the gas does not have time to go bad. End of season last tankss lots of Marine Sta-Bil and run until it is in the entire system.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Morfoot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-24-2017 at 8:03am

Originally posted by 8122pbrainard 8122pbrainard wrote:

My 54, 64 and 77 don't have any warning labels and nothing has happened!


Last time those boats were run where probably before ethanol hit the market anyway!
"Morfoot; He can ski. He can wakeboard.He can cook chicken.He can create his own self-named beverage, & can also apparently fly. A man of many talents."72 Mustang "Kermit",88 SN Miss Scarlett, 99 SN "Sherman"
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Donald80SN Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-25-2017 at 11:18pm
The first day I had my 1980 SN, I put regular gas in it. It ran like crap after running great for the lake test. For then on, I always put in Mid Grade and sometime premium. It ran so bad on regular I never did that again.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Blamey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-26-2017 at 12:52pm
I have used regular when filling up at the gas station. Didn't realize I was supposed to be using mid grade. I sometimes fill up at the lake, not sure what they use. I have noticed hesitation sometimes when filling up as the gas station.

What are the symptoms of using the wrong gas?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SNobsessed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August-26-2017 at 2:58pm
Your wallet gets thinner!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jonny Quest Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September-22-2017 at 10:26pm
Too low of an octane rating and you will likely experience detonation or "pinging". My experience in the petroleum industry is that many low grade gasoline (with or without ethanol) is just that: Low Grade Gasoline. MTBE and BTEX are common gasoline additives and they don't burn as clean as straight gasoline. Ethanol, MTBE and BTEX are often added to the lower grades of fuel as an octane booster.

Too high of an octane rating is a waste of money and produces more emissions than the correct octane level would normally do. Some people think that their engine will perform better if they use a higher than specified octane rating. Not so. Go with what the engine manufacturer recommends.

For engines with electronic fuel injection, many have "knock sensors" that are designed to detect detonation or pinging. Typically, when the knock sensor detects detonation, the ECM will then adjust the ignition timing to mitigate the detonation.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MrMcD Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September-23-2017 at 6:21am
All true as stated by Jonny Quest but not stated is when the computer senses detonation and pulls timing out of the engine it leaves you with less power and that could be at the same time you really want power.   Knock sensors can save your engine from any detonation damage which is fantastic but with a higher grade of fuel you would enjoy full power and not trigger the knock sensor to pull timing back..   I am not talking of jumping into race fuel and 110 octane. Just a jump from 85 to 87 or 87 to 89. Maybe in the extreme from 87 to 91 octane.   Sometimes one bump up keeps you at full power.   I run plain entry level gas in most of my cars and the boat unless I know I need to upgrade.   If you have to adjust your timing to eliminate pinging and detonation you are detuning the engine and leaving some performance on the table. I try and avoid ethanol blends in all my engines even though I know guys that have tuned for it and race with it.
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