Greg Rogers

Have any of you tried this "Rec 90" gas? It is available at a local Citgo station now. I asked the gals at the counter of the station and got no information. The pump has a long enough hose on it so you could back up a car to it and put it in a car. (The gas pumps for leaded race fuel have real short hoses so you can only pump it into gas cans.) Also there is no "for off highway use only" sticker on the Rec 90 pump as there is on the race gas pump. I checked it out on line and it is supposed to be ethanol free. I have been using 92-93 octane unleaded with 10% ethanol in my 70 Vista with a little pinging at times. This Rec 90 is rated at 90 Octane. I wonder if this would work in the Vista. I have had issues w/ethanol in my boat motor. Yesterday it was about fifty cents higher than regular.

MDchanic

If your engine pings on 92-93 octane, why would you try 90 octane?

- Eric

oldcutlass

Apparently this a limited availability ethanol free fuel for marine and small equipment applications. Although the description states it has not been tested in automotive engines, I see no reason that it would not work. As Eric stated, if your having trouble with 93 why drop down to a 90 octane rating?

Fun71

Because people blame ethanol for everything.

MDchanic

I blame Society.

Ethanol, however, since it increases octane ratings, is unlikely to be the cause of detonation.

- Eric

twintracks

I agree that rec 90 will not help with a detonation issue. However, I regularly drive into the next county to buy non oxy premium 93 octane. I've seen first hand what corn fuel does to small engines. Ask anyone who works in the marine industry what they think of ethanol. You can let it sit in a snowmobile for about 6 months, but that's about it. After a year, it will have sucked so much moisture out of the air, that the sled will most likely not even start.

MDchanic

Ethanol does many bad things, generally related to either metal corrosion or rubber degradation, and it contains less energy, so it screws up mixtures in non-closed-loop engines and reduces fuel economy, but it doesn't decrease octane, which is what this thread was asking about.

- Eric

twintracks

Agreed. I'm just venting, because ethanol causes me so many needless headaches with my other collection.

MDchanic

Hey, I'm right with ya. Can't get EtOH-free gas up here at all.

- Eric

Fun71

I can understand the water issues in a wet environment and condensation. I'm in the desert with super low humidity so I don't have to contend with that.

Greg Rogers

Sorry, I guess I got a few things mixed up in my original question. I was talked into a 4 stroke fuel injected Mercury outboard instead of a comparable 2 stroke carbureted motor when I bought my pontoon boat back in 2004. It was about $1600. more for the efi vs the 2 stroke. So I bought the efi and was very happy with it until 2009 when the motor quit and cost $900. to fix it. The dealer blamed it on the ethanol in gas now a days. Also I have noticed on other carbureted quads, generators, etc. that gasoline with ethanol does corrode carbs, etc much worse than older gasoline. I was told by the marina to use seafoam in the gas all the time. I cant really say that I have seen detrimental effects of ethanol on my old cars... Anyway when I saw this at the gas station I wondered if any of you have tried it. My 71 has 8.5 compression and doesn't ping at all. My 70 has 10.25 compression and just pings once in a while. Anyway I was kinda wondering if the 90 octane will ping a bunch more. Well, I guess I will try it. We'll see....

oldcutlass

I don't think your 70 will like it much, but the 71 will. I would not hesitate use it in the Marine and RV applications unless they were built specifically for modern fuel.

Tedd Thompson

Even if a engine is designed for ethanol fuels if left for any length of time,( 6 months is a long time for a small engine) the gas will gel up and plug up the fuel system. Shops make more money off the repairs than they do the sale of the item. You eater run them dry of gas or use Stable or a like product to store or use then often with fresh gas....Tedd