Mercury Outboard ??

[85vmax]

Need to know....I have'nt been getting out as much as I would like, so .....should I start the motor up and run it every couple weeks or every month or so?
I have to do that to my 2 motorcycles (carbs) every 2 weeks or they get all gummed up.....even with stabil.
Are the outboards any different.....
it is pre-mix.
'87 Merc 200 BM.

 

[wired]

Wouldnt hurt it. What will help more is if you put it away with non ethanol in the tank. I run 92 octane 10% ethanol all summer and then switch to 91 octane 100 gasoline for the last tank of the season with a splash of stabil. I need the higher octane as my heads have been shaved pretty thin. 10% water ( ethanol after sitting a few months) in your gas will overwhelm your stabil pretty quick. Starting it and running it helps but it doesnt help that the gas you are feeding it has been compromised.

 

[Jimway]

If it's pre mix in the tank, you may be surprised at how long it lasts(Could injection oil and stabil be closely related? heh heh). I like to start mine up monthly in the off season(more often if my neighbor "The test pilot from the broom factory" that hates the sound of the Merc, is home). Boats kept outdoors seem to be more susceptable to moisture and variations in temperature. Alcohol free fuel seems to do much better for storage. With higher compression, advanced ignition,and such, I wont spin mine past 5500 on pump gas with alcohol. If alcohol free gas is available where you reside, you will probably be surprised at how well a tank of it will do in your boat.

 

[wired]

Stabil in gasoline actually works close to the way the preservative BHT works in foodstuffs. It combines with oxygen more readily than the hydrocarbons in gasoline. Think of it working like a like a sacrificial chemical that is oxidized before the base fuel is. Eventually it wears out.

Whatever 11 gallons of fuel I dump in the tank gets greeted by a gallon of toluene.

 

[85vmax]

I run the high test ethonal gas also, but I'm still looking for somewhere that isn't a trek that sells e-free gas...the marina's are pirates
I usually plan to have about 5 gal left in tank after an outing, always with stabil, and I run the carbs dry when i'm on the hose, so the crap is minimized in the carbs.
When this 'ol merc sit for longer than 2 weeks, she is a hard starter though.
I'll try the once a month start...which may suit me better since we can boat all year round down here.


Thanks for the input..........

 

[Enticer1]

Non-E Fuel

The non-ethanol gas at my marina is $ 4.65 a gallon but that seems pretty cheap compared to a rebuild. I normally run 93 octane E10 with the blue marine Stabil but for storage would go with the good stuff for peace of mind.

 

[wired]

The non-ethanol gas at my marina is $ 4.65 a gallon but that seems pretty cheap compared to a rebuild. I normally run 93 octane E10 with the blue marine Stabil but for storage would go with the good stuff for peace of mind.

Up until the local marina refilled their tank about 6 months ago they had 91 octane non ethanol for $1.90 a gallon. Thats what they paid for it. Kind of a coop deal at that marina and they just sell it for what it costs. Kind of tells you how much turnover that tank gets. Their gas is $4.59 now.