Likely Coming Soon to a Gas Station Near You

Yessir, boys and girls, it's virtually guaranteed you'll be seeing signs like this one around here in the not-so-distant future, thanks to this past Monday's ruling by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That ruling breaks the "blend wall" in 2016, which means more ethanol, largely in the form of E15, will be required across the country's fuel supply.

At the same time, though, E15 is not a mandate--E10 will remain available and is the only ethanol authorized to date for small engines, boats, motorcycles, and vehicles older than 2001. No station is required to carry the new higher-octane fuel; neither is any consumer required to buy it. E15 simply is another choice at the pump and nothing more.

E15 now can be found at more than 120 stations in 16 states, including Arizona, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Many more are planned in the coming months.

Boat owners are urged to be extra vigilant as new states are added to this list. Any mistake made at the pump most likely will translate into a bigger headache and expense than you already may have experienced with E10 before outboard manufacturers started getting a handle on the problems related to this fuel.

Unfortunately, there still are some issues inherent in this product that continue plaguing boat owners. For example, ethanol is hygroscopic, which means it absorbs water from the air. While this is rarely a problem in automobiles that run on dry land and have sealed fuel systems, marine applications are another story. Boats reside in a moisture- and humidity-rich environment, and their fuel systems are vented to the atmosphere. Without venting, an outboard's fuel pump couldn't draw fuel from the tank. Venting allows outside air to enter the tank, along with moisture and humidity, where it contacts the ethanol and can lead to phase separation. The result is a rough-running outboard, or perhaps catastrophic engine damage.

Fuel leaks also can develop due to deteriorated rubber-based fuel-system gaskets and supply lines. And then there's the possibility the ethanol can cause fiberglass-resin separation in fiberglass fuel tanks.

Here are some things you can do to limit or perhaps even eliminate any damage from E10-blended fuels:

     * Use a 10-micron fuel-water separating filter (with proper flow rating for the engine) in the fuel line between the tank and the outboard. Filters should be replaced every 100 hours of operation or checked/replaced more frequently if significant amounts of water are found.

     * Add a high-quality, marine-specific fuel stabilizer and conditioner to every tank of fuel.

     * Add an internal engine cleaner to every tank of fuel. (NOTE: If you use an additive like Gas-Shok each time you put gas in your boat, it's not necessary to use a fuel stabilizer and conditioner or internal engine cleaner.)

     * Buy your gas where they sell a lot of it. Today's ethanol-blended fuels have a notoriously short shelf life and actually begin to degrade in a matter of days and refining and blending. Buying gas at a high-volume retailer helps ensure you're buying the freshest gas.

Finally, when E15 comes on the local scene, stay alert each time you fill up, so you don't accidentally make the wrong selection. Bear in mind, too, that if E15 happens to become the predominately available fuel in the U.S., more than 10 million legacy outboards will be at risk of damage.