I just finished up a 2 day repair on a Bayliner deck boat, that has been running on ethanol fuel. I dewinterize this boat every year, and it always fires right up, except this time. It’s a 454 V-8 with a Weber 4 BBL carb… a very dependable unit. Now this boat does set a lot, to be fair, and the owner buy’s regular ethanol blend 87 octane fuel that he carries down to the boat in 5 gallon jugs. Gas stabilizer is added each fall for storage, along with the usual fogging of the engine. Here is what I found upon opening up the carburetor…. the fuel in the tank had undergone phase seperation, and had to be completely drained out. It looked like ice tea with a layer of water. It had a horrible smell of alcohol to it. I estimate this gas to be about 1 year old. I wished I had taken some pictures of the old gas, but forgot that. The carb was almost ruined, but I was able to save it,
barely. The fuel lines also had to be cleaned and flushed. This is the worst carburetor I’ve ever seen, as it was severely corroded, especially in the fuel bowls, and in the passages. After the labor expenses, it would have been much cheaper to use GOOD gas IMHO.
I know this is not an antique outboard, but it is a carburetor, and is much the same. I don’t really want to continue the fuel debate here, but I thought I would share my findings.
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