thinking about repowering before crossing to bahamas

[bahama bound]

From what I can tell 300 hour service is plugs,fuel filter,impeller and gear oil ,around 475-500 bucks .i also believe alot of breakdowns occur from neglect of these basic items .

[Highlander]

My Merc 75 HP 4stroke EFI 2008 has 13,000hrs on it & still ticking
I had issues with it the last 2 yrs with bad ethonol gas , Merc Mechanics now told me to use ethonol gas treatment all season long now instead of just at the end of the season , the ethonol gas was breaking down the internal eng. fuel lines making them brittle & breaking down , Merc is now making the internal fuel lines from a diff material because of this issue

Here,s the fuel line in question
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 769c0b.jpg

As u can see it became so brittle it just split apart
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 5524c3.jpg

J

[mastreb]

Yes, never use Ethanol gasoline in an engine with rubber components. Boat engines were not updated to run Ethanol gas until the mid 90's, so do not use it on those engines. Ethanol will extract H2O from rubber, leaving it brittle until it breaks. Modern engines are built with hoses and gaskets based on silicon rather than natural rubber and don't have this problem.

Interestingly, even brand new diesels still use rubber hoses though. They're much easier to install and work with.

[Gazmn]

Those were some interesting points Mastreb. I've never heard E10 talked about positively.

Hey Bahama, I know your motor was restless when originally purchased, but have you been using it much? How much of it's 125 hrs is yours?

I'm the last to discourage repowering. But I'm wondering what your angle is:

The 90 Pontoon is: a V3, [basically same torque 1296CCs] with a 2.36:1 gearcase. You'll get only slightly better gearing [Eh] & same charging You currently have of 25 Amps [No improvement]. If you're that worried about needing a pull start, invest in a 1 or 2 Kw Honda generator [ur gonna need it anyway] and a backup battery starter

Potentially less vibration due to softer motor mounts - but does your motor vibrate All That much? Or do you have sporadic rough idle with knocking?

For your consideration: The V4 115 Pontoon: Same softer, potentially quieter motor mounts on an even smother engine. V4's are reported smother than "rougher" V3's. [Hmmm]. 50 Amps House Charging! [100% increase]. & 30- 40% potential increase in Balls [torque] with V4 [1726CCs] + 2.44:1 gearing, for the price of an additional 60lbs. & $1.5K.[IDK if that $8k price is all that special]. & still great gas efficiency.

The current program is: Free Controls + 7 yr Warantee which honestly is just 2 "routine / 300hr" svcing - & they aint free - they're ~ $900 soup to nuts /. But I like that they imply they'll "hold your hand" for 7 years [ I can't even get my wife to do that ]

P.S. If your motor ain't breaking down currently & you've put a good season (s) in where it's proved it's reliability , then you're having a very expensive mu$e...

I'd stock for my trip, instead
Rent or buy an Epirb & an offshore raft - u got Kidz...

[jleblanc31]

Ethanol or no Ethanol the higher octane gives better gas mileage . The non ethanol is even better on mileage. now you might not see the difference in the city with stop and go traffic. but if you are taking a trip and will be driving on the interstate. fill up with a low octane fuel zero your odometer and drive till the low fuel light comes on or the needle just touches the empty line. record the mileage . than zero the odometer and fill up with premium run it till the low fuel light comes on or the needle touches the empty line record the mileage and compare the two. in my 99 Chevy Silverado I get 35 miles more per fill up on premium with ethanol and 50 miles per fill up with premium non ethanol. your vehicle may do better than mine I carry tons of tools in my truck

[Highlander]

Yes, never use Ethanol gasoline in an engine with rubber components. Boat engines were not updated to run Ethanol gas until the mid 90's, so do not use it on those engines. Ethanol will extract H2O from rubber, leaving it brittle until it breaks. Modern engines are built with hoses and gaskets based on silicon rather than natural rubber and don't have this problem.

Interestingly, even brand new diesels still use rubber hoses though. They're much easier to install and work with.

Hi wake up this is a 2008 eng, these r not rubber fuel lines these r synthetic fuel lines & have since been up-date by Merc again !!! think again ??? Problem is with all the crooked sharks out there u really just do not know what kinda crap u r buying when u filler up !

J

[kadet]

Ethanol or no Ethanol the higher octane gives better gas mileage

Eeeerrrr NO! Pure Ethanol has an octane rating of 113 and is why it was use to fuel F1s before it was banned after some nasty accidents killed people.

Ethanol has a lower energy density compared to petrol i.e. you need more to equal the same energy. If you burn one litre of ethanol you get 23.5 million joules of energy. If you burn one litre of petrol you get 33.5 million joules. So to get the same energy from ethanol as petrol you need to burn about 33% more of it. This is why you get less mileage with an ethanol blend and why it is normally blended with lower grade petrol as it increases it's octane rating.

Diesel has an octane rating of about 20 and arguably gives the best gas mileage of any of the liquid engine fuels.

Octane on the other hand is the performance rating of the fuel i.e. how much compression it can take before being ignited which is how high performance engines get their extra house power. That's why I always laugh at the nobs putting in premium fuel in their old family mini vans if it is not design to run on high octane it makes no difference all they are doing is burning $$$$.

[kadet]

Hi wake up this is a 2008 eng, these r not rubber fuel lines these r synthetic fuel lines & have since been up-date by Merc again !!! think again ??? Problem is with all the crooked sharks out there u really just do not know what kinda crap u r buying when u filler up !

J

Yes they are rubber and they are most probably some form of Nitrile rubber a synthetic rubber that is used widely in the auto and aviation industry just because it doesn't come from a rubber tree doesn't mean it's not rubber. These synthetic elastomers are more resistant to fuel than natural rubber but can still be affected by ethanol. Newer fuel lines designed for ethanol have a coating of another synthetic rubber called fluoroelastomer to protect them.

[March]

Thank you, kadet for the elaborate explanation--I kind of intuitively felt along the same lines, by using snippets of personal experience. the non-ethanol gas seems to be "more stable" when stored. It certainly gets me a slightly better mileage on the little Honda I drive around when not sailing. I didn't feel the need to go higher octane, if the manual doesn't require higher octane.

Now whether the gas in the tank would have been just as stable if it had contained ethanol and also a stabilizer, or whether the engine would have never gummed up even if I had used only ethanolled gas, that is unquestionably possible... what I can swear by is, the engine has been quite happy with non-ethanol gas, it has always started in the spring at the first touch of the key, and it has never, ever gummed up. The mileage is what it is and squeezing a few extra percentages out of the gas tank can be achieved just as easily by lowering the RPM and making the trip slightly longer. If the engine is happy, I am happy too

I would personally take this safer side. Let others who enjoy risking use ethanol gas in their tanks to their hearts' content. To each his own.

[kadet]

Biggest reasons to not use ethanol in boats as you have found March is that it breaks down and separates quickly and needs to be used fresh as it does not store well. Second reason is it has an affinity for water and will absorb it out of the atmosphere which in a marine environment is not a good thing. Fortunately we can still get ethanol free fuel here. I always go out with fresh fuel in the boat tanks even though it is ethanol free, any fuel left over from a trip is siphoned out into jerry cans and used in the tow beast for my daily compute to work

[bahama bound]

Yeah, I have 12 and 10 year old girls ,avid boaters and divers .i am 48 my wife is 44 .kinda retired early .we have always home schooled so we were free to travel .and a Caribbean loop has always been on our bucket list .we looked at some cats and some bigger keel boats and may at some point move up but at least for the next year we plan taking as many trips as possible with the mac. I have been storing up gear that I have bought from zodiac -epirb .the only thing I would buy that I have not bought is a full enclosure.i have a Honda 1k that powers the boat when needed and I have a 1200 inverter .so pull starting is not really a issue.

[Gazmn]

i really like the pontoon motor .i don't really know if it is true but it says twice the fuel economy of a 4 stroke at low rpm ? If you google fuel.consumption of any given outboard motor brand that cool tach with fuel flow meter and it looks like Suzuki has the best fuel consumption .pontoon motor has that lower gear and 25 amps of charging and can pull start ! When I run the 115 on the fuel consumption the 115 seems alot harder on fuel .but most troubles I have had with boats (which has not been many ) is not from using them but from letting them sit .

I'm a little confused. Do you have an Etec 90 or 115 hp?

Re:

"twice the fuel economy of a 4 stroke at low rpm". Look at comparative boat "Engine Reports" on Evinrude site / motor config, weight, propping.

115s here

90s here

"that cool tach with fuel flow meter" - you already have that ability in your '08 Etec , whether it's the 90 or 115.- The I-command meters just have to be connected. That may be worth a dealer install to guarantee it's done correctly - but I'd try it first on my own.

No matter which engine you have, You've Already Scored, Bro & at the best price in our Mac community.

"Pontoon", "HO" & the like add but so much to the basic premise of an already good engine. Our challenge is the weight of our boats, caused mainly by the "stuff" we add & mod on/in.

The regular 50/60, 75 - 115hp Etecs can already handle this issue.

[RobertB]

To get fuel readout, you do not even need the iCommand gauge (a very costly upgrade) - if you have a NMEA2000 compatible chart plotter, you can output to that (e.g., the Garmin GPS Map 546s). All you need is the Evinrude/Lowrance cable.

[RobertB]

the higher octane gives better gas mileage .

Oh, this completely depends on what the engine is tuned for. If your engine is tuned for high octane and you run lower octane, the engine will detune itself to protect it from knocking. My wife's VW Beetle with a turbo does get better mileage on high octane. My Volvo wagon on the other hand has better power on high octane but better mileage on lower octane because the engine controller reduces the available power to protect the engine from knocking when running low octane fuel. Both cars are tuned for high octane fuel. In general, less power = better mileage.

At a chemistry level, the longer carbon chains in higher octane fuel (Octane means equivalent properties to burning pure 8 carbon chain hydrocarbon molecules - but today, the makeup is a mixture of a bunch of different things, ethanol really makes the equation complex) means more specific energy but in the end, it all comes down to what your engine is tuned for. Our ETECs are tuned for 87 octane.

Also consider the mileage increase, if you can realize it, may not be justified by the increased price of the fuel.

Regarding using non-ethanol fuel, wish I could but it is not available anywhere near the Washington DC/Baltimore metropolitan area - with the possible exception of aviation fuel. It is not available at the marinas.

[Gazmn]

Here's another tool for your Trick Bag, since your kids already dive

I wanna mod a 12V,2 line system into my boat, for easier hull cleaning & play. No rush though since the water here ain't so clear

& don't forget boat friendly & packable Inflatable Standup Paddle Boards. I'd recommend 6" thick & btw 10' -12'6" length. You can float 2 people on em this way. Tower Paddle boards are reasonably priced but I'd wait for the new ~11' Isup they'll be coming out with soon. I use them & I also bought 2 12'6 Needlenose isups from these for me local guys. They really cut through the water