Gas?

[beerbohm]

I was told by the boat dealer to not go to places like Costco to buy gas due to they don't put additives in there gas that new engines need, but go to places like texaco conoco ect ect.. He also told me to put in the middle of the line/grade 87 octane. I have a 08 115 merc. Does were and what kind of gas make a difference in your boat. I ride motorcycle and it makes a big difference with them.

Any thoughts on this.

[Anonymous]

Definitely makes a difference. In how it runs and how long. Never skimp on the quality of gas for your boat motor. You can always tell when you use crappy gas.



fishnislife

[danielt]

I use 97 even at $3.79 a gallon

[hewesfisher]

I was told by the boat dealer to not go to places like Costco to buy gas due to they don't put additives in there gas that new engines need, but go to places like texaco conoco ect ect.. He also told me to put in the middle of the line/grade 87 octane. I have a 08 115 merc. Does were and what kind of gas make a difference in your boat. I ride motorcycle and it makes a big difference with them.

Any thoughts on this.

Did you get a 4-stroke, Optimax, or Classic 115? We have the Classic 90 (and a 6hp 4-stroke kicker) on our Hewescraft, and I love them.

If John, the mechanic at Skipper Bill's, gave you that advice I say follow it to a "T" and you won't have any problems. We bought our boat there and John gave me a great shakedown before I towed our boat home. I've done everything he advised me to, and I haven't had a lick of trouble since. I only use big brand name fuel in both my motors and stay away from the bargain stores/chains. I also use the Merc fuel stabilizer and cleaner every time I fill up, as recommended by John. He told me it would alleviate problems and we haven't had any in the two years we've owned our boat.

Hope that helps!

[AdsBot [Google]]

I only use Chevron supreme octane 89? for my 8HP 2007 Yami 2-stroke. It purrs like a cat. I do think fuel quality matters, and go with what the manufacturer/dealer has told you and do read the manual for the motor. Putting in cheap gas is definately not the way to go with an outdboard, or inboard motor.

[kzoo]

I always use premium gas for my outboard, 75hp Merc.

[Gisteppo]

I hope not to offend here, but I use whatever gas is either least expensive or closest, depending on the situation.

Gas is produced in 3 places worldwide. From these pools, each retailer then adds their "special blend" of detergents and additives. Generally there is almost no difference. The only times I have noticed a difference was filling up at the old ASTRO fuel stations. Other than that, 4 stroke or 2 stroke, EFI or carb, I havent seen a difference.

Keep in mind, esp with the EFI engines, the knock sensors mitigate any problems with knock/ping/detonation. Carburetors in marine applications are generally on the rich side, so that prevents the issues as well.

For those with pre-1990 engines, you really should be running the LOWEST octane possible. Today's high octane engines actually create knocking in motors with older ignition systems due to the way the flame spreads. When fuel was leaded, the flame front spread more slowly outward from the plug, and detonation didnt occur. Nowadays you can get friction or heat induced hot spots in the flame front away from the plug, which is what you hear as pinging or knocking. Reduced levels of ethanol in lower octane fuels prevent the ping.

E

[AdsBot [Google]]

I hope not to offend here, but I use whatever gas is either least expensive or closest, depending on the situation.

Gas is produced in 3 places worldwide.

E

I didn't know that Cherry Point was one of the three places worldwide where gas is produced. What about the refinery in Valdez and those in and around Texas, I guess we make all the gas for the world!

[A9]

It's all up to you. I'm not sold one way or another on the good gas/bad gas debate, but since you dropped a lot of money into a brand new motor, might as well take the precautions to make sure that outboard will last for ya...Might as well fill it up with gas thats $.20 cents more...If you wanna keep your gas mileage down, use your kicker motor more and don't cruise with your boat going full throttle. Get it up just past plaining and then hold it about 5 or 6 mph above that and you get SO much better gas mileage...

[gpc]

I only use 2 types of gas for my boat and my truck. I prefer Cheveron and then Shell, I dont think I have put anything else in my truck/boat. As far as the middle priced gas, I used to use it but I didnt really notice any diffrence. Can anybody shed some light on this for me? I did the math and it will only cost me around $3 more to fill up my truck with the middle gas.

[Gisteppo]

BP, Shell and Exxon/Mobil.

Its 3 major networks, not 3 refineries. This is a global market, keep in mind that a company like BP runs 18 refineries worldwide.

E

[AdsBot [Google]]

Here is everything you wanted to know about U.S. Refineries. It appears to me there are more than 3 major networks here in the states.


U.S. Refineries Operable Capacity
Atmospheric Crude Oil Distillation Capacity

Rank Company Name State Site Barrels per Calendar Day
1 Exxonmobil Refining & Supply Co Texas Baytown 562,500
2 Exxonmobil Refining & Supply Co Louisiana Baton Rouge 503,000
3 Citgo Petroleum Corp Louisiana Lake Charles 429,500
4 Bp Products North America Inc Texas Texas City 417,000
5 Bp Products North America Inc Indiana Whiting 410,000
6 Exxonmobil Refining & Supply Co Texas Beaumont 348,500
7 Sunoco Inc (R&M) Pennsylvania Philadelphia 335,000
8 Deer Park Refining Ltd Partnership Texas Deer Park 333,700
9 Chevron Usa Inc Mississippi Pascagoula 330,000
10 Wrb Refining Llc Illinois Wood River 306,000
11 Flint Hills Resources Lp Texas Corpus Christi 288,126
12 Motiva Enterprises Llc Texas Port Arthur 285,000
13 Flint Hills Resources Lp Minnesota Saint Paul 279,300
14 Houston Refining Lp Texas Houston 270,200
15 Bp West Coast Products Llc California Los Angeles 265,000
16 Chevron Usa Inc California El Segundo 260,000
17 Premcor Refining Group Inc Texas Port Arthur 260,000
18 Conocophillips Company Louisiana Belle Chasse 247,000
19 Conocophillips Company Texas Sweeny 247,000
20 Marathon Petroleum Co Llc Louisiana Grayville 245,000
21 Chevron Usa Inc California Richmond 242,901
22 Motiva Enterprises Llc Louisiana Norco 242,200
23 Conocophillips Company Louisiana Westlake 239,400
24 Exxonmobil Refining & Supply Co Illinois Joliet 238,600
25 Conocophillips Company New Jersey Linden 238,000
26 Motiva Enterprises Llc Louisiana Convent 235,000
27 Total Petrochemicals Inc Texas Port Arthur 232,000
28 Bp West Coast Products Llc Washington Ferndale (Cherry P 225,000
29 Marathon Petroleum Co Llc Kentucky Catlettsburg 222,000
30 Valero Refining Co Texas Texas Texas City 218,500
31 Flint Hills Resources Alaska Llc Alaska North Pole 210,000
32 Conocophillips Company Oklahoma Ponca City 194,000
33 Chalmette Refining Llc Louisiana Chalmette 192,760
34 Marathon Petroleum Co Llc Illinois Robinson 192,000
35 Valero Refining New Orleans Llc Louisiana Norco 185,003
36 Conocophillips Company Pennsylvania Trainer 185,000
37 Premcor Refining Group Inc Delaware Delaware City 182,200
38 Premcor Refining Group Inc Tennessee Memphis 180,000
39 Sunoco Inc Pennsylvania Marcus Hook 178,000
40 Valero Energy Corporation Texas Sunray 171,000
41 Pdv Midwest Refining Llc Illinois Lemont (Chicago) 167,000
42 Tesoro Refining & Marketing Co California Martinez 166,000
43 Sunoco Inc Ohio Toledo 160,000
44 Valero Refining Co New Jersey New Jersey Paulsboro 160,000
45 Citgo Refining & Chemical Inc Texas Corpus Christi 156,000
46 Shell Oil Products Us California Martinez 155,600
47 Exxonmobil Refining & Supply Co California Torrance 149,500
48 Premcor Refining Group Inc Ohio Lima 146,120
49 Wrb Refining Llc Texas Borger 146,000
50 Shell Oil Products Us Washington Anacortes 145,000
51 Sunoco Inc New Jersey Westville 145,000
52 Valero Refining Co California California Benicia 144,000
53 Valero Refining Co Texas Texas Corpus Christi 142,000
54 Conocophillips Company California Wilmington 139,000
55 Bp Products North America Inc Ohio Toledo 131,000
56 Western Refining Company Lp Texas El Paso 122,000
57 Murphy Oil Usa Inc Louisiana Meraux 120,000
58 Tesoro West Coast Washington Anacortes 120,000
59 Coffeyville Resources Llc Kansas Coffeyville 112,000
60 Frontier El Dorado Refining Co Kansas El Dorado 107,500
61 Marathon Petroleum Co Llc Michigan Detroit 100,000
62 Pasadena Refining Systems Inc Texas Pasadena 100,000
63 Shell Oil Products Us California Wilmington 97,000
64 Conocophillips Company Washington Ferndale 96,000
65 Tesoro Hawaii Corp Hawaii Kapolei 93,500
66 Valero Energy Corporation Texas Three Rivers 93,000
67 Valero Refining Co Oklahoma Oklahoma Ardmore 87,400
68 Sunoco Inc Oklahoma Tulsa 85,000
69 Navajo Refining Co New Mexico Artesia 84,000
70 Valero Refining Co Texas Texas Houston 83,000
71 Ncra Kansas Mcpherson 81,200
72 Ultramar Inc California Wilmington 80,887
73 Chevron Usa Inc New Jersey Perth Amboy 80,000
74 Shell Chem Lp Alabama Saraland 80,000
75 Valero Refining Co Louisiana Louisiana Krotz Springs 80,000
76 Calcasieu Refining Co Louisiana Lake Charles 78,000
77 Conocophillips Company California Rodeo 76,000
78 Marathon Petroleum Co Llc Ohio Canton 73,000
79 Marathon Petroleum Co Llc Texas Texas City 72,000
80 Tesoro Alaska Petroleum Co Alaska Kenai 72,000
81 Sinclair Oil Corp Oklahoma Tulsa 70,300
82 Lion Oil Co Arkansas El Dorado 70,000
83 Marathon Petroleum Co Llc Minnesota Saint Paul Park 70,000
84 Alon Usa Energy Inc Texas Big Spring 67,000
85 Big West Of California California Bakersfield 66,000
86 Sinclair Oil Corp Wyoming Sinclair 66,000
87 United Refining Co Pennsylvania Warren 65,000
88 Suncor Energy (Usa) Inc Colorado Commerce City 62,000
89 Exxonmobil Refining & Supply Co Montana Billings 60,000
90 Giant Yorktown Refining Virginia Yorktown 59,375
91 Conocophillips Company Montana Billings 58,000
92 Delek Refining Ltd Texas Tyler 58,000
93 Tesoro West Coast North Dakota Mandan 58,000
94 Tesoro West Coast Utah Salt Lake City 58,000
95 Placid Refining Co Louisiana Port Allen 56,000
96 Cenex Harvest States Coop Montana Laurel 55,000
97 Shell Chem Lp Louisiana Saint Rose 55,000
98 Chevron Usa Inc Hawaii Honolulu 54,000
99 Wynnewood Refining Co Oklahoma Wynnewood 54,000
100 Paramount Petroleum Corporation California Paramount 50,000
101 Petro Star Inc Alaska Valdez 48,000
102 Frontier Refining Inc Wyoming Cheyenne 47,000
103 Chevron Usa Inc Utah Salt Lake City 45,000
104 Conocophillips Company California Arroyo Grande 44,200
105 Calumet Shreveport Llc Louisiana Shreveport 42,000
106 Us Oil & Refining Co Washington Tacoma 37,850
107 Hunt Refining Co Alabama Tuscaloosa 34,500
108 Murphy Oil Usa Inc Wisconsin Superior 34,300
109 Edgington Oil Co Inc California Long Beach 33,000
110 Citgo Asphalt Refining Co New Jersey Paulsboro 32,000
111 Suncor Energy (Usa) Inc Colorado Denver 32,000
112 Big West Oil Co Utah North Salt Lake 29,400
113 Citgo Asphalt Refining Co Georgia Savannah 28,000
114 Kern Oil & Refining Co California Bakersfield 26,000
115 Holly Corp Refining & Marketing Utah Woods Cross 24,700
116 Little America Refining Co Wyoming Evansville (Casper) 24,500
117 Countrymark Cooperative Inc Indiana Mount Vernon 23,000
118 Ergon Refining Inc Mississippi Vicksburg 23,000
119 Giant Refining Co New Mexico Gallup 20,800
120 Ergon West Virginia Inc West Virginia Newell (Congo) 20,000
121 Petro Star Inc Alaska North Pole 17,500
122 Giant Industries Inc New Mexico Bloomfield 16,800
123 Gulf Atlantic Operations Llc Alabama Mobile 16,700
124 Conocophillips Alaska Inc Alaska Kuparuk 15,000
125 San Joaquin Refining Co Inc California Bakersfield 15,000
126 Wyoming Refining Co Wyoming Newcastle 14,000
127 Calumet Lubricants Co Lp Louisiana Cotton Valley 13,020
128 Age Refining Inc Texas San Antonio 13,000
129 Bp Exploration Alaska Inc Alaska Prudhoe Bay 12,500
130 Hunt Southland Refining Co Mississippi Sandersville 11,000
131 Silver Eagle Refining Utah Woods Cross 10,250
132 American Refining Group Inc Pennsylvania Bradford 10,000
133 Greka Energy California Santa Maria 9,500
134 Montana Refining Co Montana Great Falls 9,500
135 Lunday Thagard Co California South Gate 8,500
136 Calumet Lubricants Co Lp Louisiana Princeton 8,300
137 Cross Oil Refining & Marketing Inc Arkansas Smackover 7,200
138 Valero Refining Co California California Wilmington 6,300
139 Somerset Refinery Inc Kentucky Somerset 5,500
140 Goodway Refining Llc Alabama Atmore 4,100
141 Silver Eagle Refining Wyoming Evanston 3,000
142 Tenby Inc California Oxnard 2,800
143 Foreland Refining Corp Nevada Eagle Springs 2,000
U.S. Total 17,443,492
</title>

[beerbohm]

Well that somes it up I will be using the good gas. E looks like I can do it here in this forum to. Lol.

[Gisteppo]

Thats the first time Ive ever seen anyone argue FOR the oil companies. Guess Stampie is a big fan.

Do note that in that list, though they may have various names, the very vast majority of the companies are owned subsidiaries of the big 3 oil companies, some of which bear their parent's names.

E

[sgpwayne]

Right On Gisteppo, I tried to explain all that last year on one of the threads. Just so you all know BP is the mfg. of ARCO AM/PM. Places like Costco, Safeway and Fred Meyer just buy their gas from the lowest bidder. Its all in the same Pipelines. You really can't believe that they could economically clean the pipelines from customer to customer. It all comes down to what you feel comfortable with.

[AdsBot [Google]]

Thats the first time Ive ever seen anyone argue FOR the oil companies. Guess Stampie is a big fan.


E

I apologize to the group since I drifted away from the original topic in my previous posts – boat gas. I just take issue with some of the remarks being said.

That being said I would like to comment on the recommendations from the dealer that sold “Beerbohm” his new 115 hp Merc. I assume that Beer’s new motor is a two cycle. If so, I agree with the recommendation is regards to the octane rating of the gas. Anything less that 89% Octane rating will generate to much heat, causing premature wear and shorten the lifespan of the engine.

I recently purchased a 40hp 4 cycle Yamaha. Having the same concerns I called the factory rep in regards to this topic. He said that any gas being locally sold will work great but suggested I not use Shell products. The benefit from the additives doesn’t outweigh the harm to the power head. I have used Honda 4 cycle engines since 87 with countless hours and have never had a problem related to bad gas. I have had some issues with water in the gas but I cannot blame that on the brand of gas. Some of the marine petrol stations in Canada seem to have an excess of water in their tanks. I just carry extra fuel/water separators and change them as required. I believe the Octane rating is much more important than the additives that are added as a marketing tool by the various oil companies.

[Gisteppo]

No ill will here man, glad to have you here on the forum, different opinions are always welcome. Debate is one of the purest forms of understanding, because defending a stance causes you to learn more and, at times, retract what you thought you knew when new information was presented.

I completely agree with the water in gas issue, esp on the Sunshine Coast north of Skookumchuk. Some moderately questionable places to get fuel, and the boat we were in seemed moody afterwards.

E

[AdsBot [Google]]

$3.81 for Supreme at Cheveron. I'm starting to doubt the usefulness of Supreme vs. Standard Unleaded. At $0.30 more per gallon, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The unleaded at Cheveron was $3.51 and at Arco $3.24...down in the southsound today...Really makes ya think twice before going out on the lake and wasting a bunch of fuel -- or driving for that matter. Car pooling is definately the way to go.

[A9]

$3.81 for Supreme at Cheveron. I'm starting to doubt the usefulness of Supreme vs. Standard Unleaded. At $0.30 more per gallon, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The unleaded at Cheveron was $3.51 and at Arco $3.24...down in the southsound today...Really makes ya think twice before going out on the lake and wasting a bunch of fuel -- or driving for that matter. Car pooling is definately the way to go.

That's kinda why I want our family's next boat to be aluminum....a 20 footer glass boat is going to require a lot more HP then an aluminum boat of similar construction. Going to be too hard to fill the big glass boats and harder to justify using it a bunch when gas prices are as high as they are...

[Gisteppo]

I think people will see the return of composite wood boats like the one Im building, and more metal boats. Not only is the fuel less expensive due to the economical weight, but the products used in the building of 'glass boats are getting more expensive by the minute.

I think the over-60 mph boats will be even fewer and further between as well, and you will see an increase in boats that top out in the 30s, using motors less than half the hp of what is common now.

E