RPMs down

[BQUICK]

My 89 200s were running great....then got gas at a marina....same day.....shortly after one motor only pulls 4700 and the other 5000. Both ran 5400 an hour earlier.
I suspect bad load of fuel. I got 36 gallons on top of 25 that were in tank.
Water?
Thinking of shock treating the fuel with Lucas ethanol treatment and changing filters.....
Any advise?

[DennisG01]

Dump the boat-mounted fuel/water separator into a glass jar (spaghetti jar, for example) and let it settle. If there's water in there, it will be evident here. Unless... do you have the type of f/w sep that has a drain valve? If so, drain that and check it out.

What type of additive do you use on a regular basis? Something like Startron?

[99yam40]

adding 35 gal of bad gas to 25 gal of good gas gives you 60 gals of bad gas.
there is no way to make bad gas good again

[BQUICK]

Was only using RingFree since going thru alot recently....

[99yam40]

do you know if the motors have been hurt?
compression or leak down testing may be in order.

hooking up a portable tank with fresh fuel to see if that helps might be another way to check to see if the fuel has a problem

[BQUICK]

Did comp test all 105 to 115. Put new plugs in, changed 10 micron canisters and 5 gallons of 93 loaded with enough Lucas to treat the rest. Went out and hit 5400 on this hot muggy day.
I guess shotgun approach worked but not sure WHAT was the issue now.....

[TownsendsFJR1300]

You didn't drain any fuel for testing purposes??

[DennisG01]

I don't believe that Ring Free + combats the problems that happen from ethanol where the ethanol can attract moisture... or if you get a little water in your tank. But, none-the-less, RF+ is great stuff.

You didn't mention if you drained some fuel? If you didn't, I would do that.

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I don't believe that Ring Free + combats the problems that happen from ethanol where the ethanol can attract moisture... or if you get a little water in your tank. But, none-the-less, RF+ is great stuff.

You didn't mention if you drained some fuel? If you didn't, I would do that.

+1, ^^^, RF isn't a stabilizer nor do anything with moisture.

I use K100 and that works extremely well as a stabilizer (I do use Non E fuel) and keeping any moisture mixed with the fuel to burn off.

[BQUICK]

No I just dumped the filters into a white pail....man lots of debris....mainly looked like rust particles.....my tank is aluminum so not from mine.

I used to use K100.....switched to Lucas....may go back to it but still don't like the idea of adding more alcohol to my 10% ethanol fuel.

[DennisG01]

No I just dumped the filters into a white pail....man lots of debris....mainly looked like rust particles.....my tank is aluminum so not from mine.

I used to use K100.....switched to Lucas....may go back to it but still don't like the idea of adding more alcohol to my 10% ethanol fuel.

I haven't used K100, but have heard good things about it - including reading what Scott has mentioned, in the past. Regardless, where have you seen that Startron or K100 contains alcohol? Even if they do, though, the products work as advertised to prevent moisture problems and/or combat some existing problems. They are not 'cure-alls', by any means (no product is) - but they are definitely good, reliable products.

Rust particles... are you sure they were rust? Gas stations have filters, so stuff like that would not be passed. Did you take a magnet to the particles to verify?

EDIT:
Which Lucas product are you using? I looked at the descriptions online and I saw one product that said "counteracts corrosive effects of ethanol"... but I'm not sure that's the same thing as chemcially countering moisture issues in regards to gasoline and lowering the octane (phase separation). It 'appears' Lucas is more of a 'coating', for lack of a better term. I also didn't see anything about it being a fuel stabilizer?

From my quick calculation, it also looks like Lucas is more expensive - when mixed at the proper ratio and calculated out 'per gallon of gas'?

[BQUICK]

No on the magnet....felt it ...gritty metal like....was in hurry about to rain.
Material data sheet says K100 has alcohol but a different type not ethanol....butanol. I wish that was in our gas...increases fuel economy and doesn't attract water as much as ethanol.

[DennisG01]

[QUOTE=BQUICK;n218487]No on the magnet....felt it ...gritty metal like....was in hurry about to rain.
/QUOTE]

Ah, gotcha. Been there many times! When you get a chance, check the contents of that filter and see what's up.

Ethanol/fuel economy... yeah, that's totally true - it has less power (btu's) than the octane improver that was used/is used in ethanol-free gas.

Just checked the MSDS for Startron... didn't see any mention of any alcohol. But regarding butanol... whatever's is actual compostion (or strain of butanol) is that's being used in K100, I'm sure it's all beneficial.

[whitey50]

91% rubbing alcohol will mix with the water and help it goes through the fuel system and it sounds like if you're getting a bunch of stuff in your fuel separator you need to clean your tank