Aspen fuel

[phil richards]

Hi, do not know if this fuel has been mentioned before? Can you or would you use over the winter ie I run the mariner once or twice a month rather than winterisation ....?your thoughts please. Cheers

[willk]

Aspen is supposed to be the real deal. If I needed to leave fuel in a saw or auxiliary then it's what I'd use. If you intend to use the motor once a month then you don't need Aspen. Obviously, winterisation is about more than fuel, so I'd view the Aspen as your first line of defence. Keeping things nice and slippy in the cylinders is just as (more) important so if there's a chance that the motor won't be fired over the winter, then fogging is the way to go.

[mick]

Yes it has some use it , it might pop up in a search

[Xk59D]

i know people that use it, but not in a boat. i wouldn't bother with it.

i never winterise engines anymore, i just run them every few weeks for 20 mins or so.

if it is a carb engine, run it dry and call it good. if you know you won't get to it for a while then some fogging oil down the plug holes worth doing.

if it is EFI then i just run fuel stabiliser in the mix and don't run it dry. fog it if going to be left more than a couple of weeks. i.e when temps consistently low which risks cracking with freezing, unlikely with an outboard but i don't risk it either way.

i have lost an engine over winter that was winterised properly, i don't know exactly what happened but it cracked a cylinder (85hp zuke) and was a write off. since that day i have never winterised a motor.

running them is the way to go IMO, keeps engine ticking over and fresh fuel going through it. stats get a chance to open and impeller doesn't dry out/crack quite as often, plugs last longer and if any moisture gets in then it SHOULDN'T be too bad as it won't have long to form before next run up.

oh...i always leave the engine tilted down. after running it tilt it up/down a few times to move anything in there.

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by Xk59D

if it is EFI then i just run fuel stabiliser in the mix and don't run it dry. fog it if going to be left more than a couple of weeks. i.e when temps consistently low which risks cracking with freezing, unlikely with an outboard but i don't risk it either way.

Not arguing with you here, just clarifying:

Fuel shouldn't cause an issue with cracking. Fuel loses volatile components (goes bad) which is why you use a stabilizer.

Other issues are water freezing within the head or LU (which will cause cracking) and moisture induced corrosion (which is why you oil fog.)

i have lost an engine over winter that was winterised properly, i don't know exactly what happened but it cracked a cylinder (85hp zuke) and was a write off. since that day i have never winterised a motor.

You never figured out what caused it?

oh...i always leave the engine tilted down. after running it tilt it up/down a few times to move anything in there.

I'd add to that: keep the bow high enough to allow water to drain out of the boat through whatever scuppers you have, and to remove the drain plug so the bilge can drain. I've heard of people collapsing trailers due to accumulated rainwater/snowmelt.

Personally I'd think that simply tilting the motor down would allow water to drain from the LU, but to each his own. I've heard of people who do the last run with anti-freeze laden water to make sure that any remaining water in the system is at least less likely to cause problems.

I don't live in an area where a hard freeze is likely (well, historically hasn't been, anyway.) For me the main issue is to keep fuel in a usable state (though to be honest, I don't go to great pains to do anything there, either.)

jky

[phoenixpete]

Does any one here put a small amount of 2 stroke oil in with their petrol on a 4 stroke to help with upper cylinder lubrication ? It used to be common with petrol engines years ago. I thought it may be a good idea as the 2 stroke oil would also help the whole fuel system with a bit of lubrication. Not sure if it is compatible with fuel injectors or not though.
Maybe it could help keep the cylinders lightly coated to prevent corrosion?

Pete.

[Xk59D]

i don't, wouldn't think the viscosity would help the injectors (if you have them!)

i have never even fogged my 4 strokes as i just start them every few weeks. i have read warnings that fogging with EFI may not be wise so rather than risk it i haven't bothered, seems to be conflicting info on that one so ymmv.

another thing i would advocate is the use of a good fuel for storage if not used normally anyway, i.e not from a supermarket.

this season i got a tank of duff fuel from tesco, i normally never use supermarket fuels in my car/boat but i had no option during summer and it caught me out. after warming up and idle out the harbour it wouldn't rev over 3k. it wasn't in limp mode, it just wouldn't go any further. turned out fuel had clogged up my filters, ofcourse looking at it when i took a sample it looked fine. tesco weren't interested as no cars reported the issue so i lost basically 200 quid in fuel. the reason it clogged the filters was outboards have better filters in essence, probably saved my injectors that day thankfully.

[Xk59D]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Not arguing with you here, just clarifying:

Fuel shouldn't cause an issue with cracking. Fuel loses volatile components (goes bad) which is why you use a stabilizer.

Other issues are water freezing within the head or LU (which will cause cracking) and moisture induced corrosion (which is why you oil fog.)




You never figured out what caused it?






I'd add to that: keep the bow high enough to allow water to drain out of the boat through whatever scuppers you have, and to remove the drain plug so the bilge can drain. I've heard of people collapsing trailers due to accumulated rainwater/snowmelt.

Personally I'd think that simply tilting the motor down would allow water to drain from the LU, but to each his own. I've heard of people who do the last run with anti-freeze laden water to make sure that any remaining water in the system is at least less likely to cause problems.

I don't live in an area where a hard freeze is likely (well, historically hasn't been, anyway.) For me the main issue is to keep fuel in a usable state (though to be honest, I don't go to great pains to do anything there, either.)

jky

i have no idea why the block cracked. i winterised the engine as per normal instructions, engine tilted down, drop of oil down plug holes and ran engine dry of fuel with a general wd40/grease on the normal things. it may have been about to happen anyway, impossible to say conclusively. all i know is i put to bed a healthy engine and it woke up knackered.

was a sore one though as i only had it 3 seasons (it was 8 years old when i got it) so still a few quid to write off. was well under 500 hours too

[jeffstevens763@g]

As I understand the bores of the engine are machined with very small x's to hold oil I don't winterise never have just a run now and then my engine is kept on dry land same as my car don't winterise that either if left for long periods fuel I do stabilise end of season when I had petrol car it went in the tank so no probs been told supermarket fuel not as good as main brands may not last as long possibly?

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

As I understand the bores of the engine are machined with very small x's to hold oil

Don't think that's intentional; it's just tool marks left from honing the bore. Part of the break-in is wearing off the high spots of those marks without overheating the rings or cylinder wall.

jky

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Don't think that's intentional; it's just tool marks left from honing the bore. Part of the break-in is wearing off the high spots of those marks without overheating the rings or cylinder wall.

jky

Look on YouTube how's it made outboard motors I think but not sure Mercury engines.

Cheers

[jeffstevens763@g]

It's evinrude