What fuel should I be running?

[mgs917]

I just bought my 2000 SAN 210 last September. We had it out twice last year and then had it winterized. They did put stabilizer in the fuel tank. I just took it out for the first time this season and ran it on the trailer to get it up to temp. We then launched it and idled to the edge of the no wake zone. When we went to hit the throttle, it sputtered and shut down. It would try to turn over but would not start. We were towed back to the dock. There were some dock crew guys at the marina that worked on it for about half an hour. They just kept cranking the throttle in nuetral. They also put a product sea foam in the gas tank. After that, We ran all day without a problem.
I have never owned a boat, but I have friends with I/O's and my father in law has a outboard bass boat. They put regular gas from the gas station into the boat. Me not thinking, put regular 89 octane into my SAN. Please dont roast me to hard if this was idiotic, I just didnt know. The guys at the marina said to run non ethanol fuel. I downloaded the manual off of correctcraftfan.com and did not see which type of gas to run in the boat.

I have three questions?

1. Do you think the boat shutting down was due to bad gas sitting over the winter?

2. What type of fuel should I be running?

3. Do you think I need to have the fuel system/engine looked at by a mechanic, or shouls it be fine since we ran all day without problems?

Thank you all in advance.

[ES]

Congrats on your purchase.
You will get more info from some of the more experienced members of this forum, but here are my 2 cents to contribute:

1. When you bought the boat, did you have it checked out, plus maintenance done? (filters, change oil, etc.). If the fuel was stabilized, that probably wasn't the issue. I wonder how long the gas was sitting there BEFORE it was stabilized. You may have had a build up of water or sludge (ethanol gas breaks down more easily).

2. I have a 2010 210 SANTE (343HP Excalibur) and I generally run 89 or 91, depending on where I get it. I can only find ethanol free on the water and not everywhere, so I generally just fill out 5 gallon ethanol gas tanks from the gas station and carry to the boat. Non-ethanol is fine, but it does degrade after 1 or 2 weeks, so you should always treat it (unless you plan to go through your entire tank in that period). Stabil Marine works great.

3. I think it depends on how much risk you want to take to be stranded again. If you have easy access to buddies that can tow you back, worse case scenario, I would say yes. I personally wouldn't take on that risk with my kids and wife on the boat...I would get in real trouble :-)

Hope this helps you.

[jrivera1262]

I run 93 octane in my 97 sport with the GT40 motor. These boats have big high performance engines. They need good, high performance fuel. The additional cost of 20-30 cents a gallon is worth not having the headache and the worry of being stranded in the middle of the lake. Just my opinion. Glad to hear she's running good now. As far as having a mechanic look at, Id say hold off and continue to use high octane fuel. Good luck!

[mgs917]

Thanks for the replies. ES I did not have it checked out prior to buying. Big risk, but I lake tested and bought on faith. I did have full maintenance done with the winterization. I had the impeller and oil changed. I also had a cooling hose replaced and a belt tightened. They said everything else looked great. They were very impresses with how nice the boat was.

[surroundsound64]

I run 93 octane in my 97 sport with the GT40 motor. These boats have big high performance engines. They need good, high performance fuel. The additional cost of 20-30 cents a gallon is worth not having the headache and the worry of being stranded in the middle of the lake. Just my opinion. Glad to hear she's running good now. As far as having a mechanic look at, Id say hold off and continue to use high octane fuel. Good luck!

Yuuuup.

If you really want some stout stuff, go to an airport and buy 100LL. Stay away from ethanol.

[DanielC]

The GT-40 engine is designed to run on 89 octane gasoline. It also has a knock sensor, and if you cannot get 89 octane, it will retard the ignition timing, if it senses any engine knock, if you have to run 87 octane, long before you are aware of this happening.
The GT-40 will not advance the timing if is using 91, or AV gas, or some other higher than 89 octane blend of fuel. If you do this, you are wasting your money, but it is your boat you can do that if you want.

Octane rating is a measure of how fast the fuel air mixture burns, AFTER ignition by the spark plug. Higher octane burns slower. Running a higher octane gasoline, than the engine was designed for has the same effect as slightly retarding the ignition timing. Since the ignition timing on a GT-40 is controlled by the engine computer, and is not adjustable, there is no advantage in running higher than 89 octane.

[jsta281]

lots of bad information already in this thread. Listen to DanielC. Running more octane then your motor is designed for is a waste of money. Alcohol free gas is the best because you will get better mpg and possibly a minimal performance benefit. It is also easier on fuel systems. However I personally would not spend more then a few cents a gallon more for alcohol free gas if the option presented itself.

as for the other questions I would not try and fix a non issue, and right now that is what you have if if it ran great the rest of the day.

I find it unlikely that the starting issues were bad gas but regardless if it ran great afterward run it empty and start over with fresh 89 and enjoy your boat, and next winter winterize with a full tank and proper stabilizer

There are lots of octane related discussions on here if you search

[s_kelley2000]

sorry for the threadjack but does anybody know the recommended octane for a 502 Python? I haven't been able to get my hands on the engine manual yet. I have been using 92-93 but would drop down to 89 if that is what the computer is looking for and the engine was designed for.

[Quinner]

ran it on the trailer to get it up to temp.

Are you aware the boat needs water running through the cooling system whenever you run the engine? Hopefully you where backed in the water or hooked up to a hose when running on the trailer.

Good luck with the new boat!

[surroundsound64]

The GT-40 engine is designed to run on 89 octane gasoline. It also has a knock sensor, and if you cannot get 89 octane, it will retard the ignition timing, if it senses any engine knock, if you have to run 87 octane, long before you are aware of this happening.
The GT-40 will not advance the timing if is using 91, or AV gas, or some other higher than 89 octane blend of fuel. If you do this, you are wasting your money, but it is your boat you can do that if you want.

Octane rating is a measure of how fast the fuel air mixture burns, AFTER ignition by the spark plug. Higher octane burns slower. Running a higher octane gasoline, than the engine was designed for has the same effect as slightly retarding the ignition timing. Since the ignition timing on a GT-40 is controlled by the engine computer, and is not adjustable, there is no advantage in running higher than 89 octane.

FYI, the avgas is good for your last outting of the year as it won't go bad sitting in the tank over the winter like auto gas will as it doesn't have the additives that auto gas has. The octane is definitely overkill but you don't have to worry about ethanol or spoilage.

[mgs917]

Are you aware the boat needs water running through the cooling system whenever you run the engine? Hopefully you where backed in the water or hooked up to a hose when running on the trailer.

Good luck with the new boat!

I did have it in the water on the trailer. Maybe I should have been more specific. Thanks for all the advice everyone.

[4th ski-doo]

You are on,y going to ind alcohol free at Marinas and its getting harder and harder to find.

I fill cans in town, 89 usually and treat with Lucas Ethanol Treatment.

This ethanol is a disaster if it sits two weeks or better, and its very destructive to the fuel delivery system.

[mgs917]

Here is an update from my summer.

We took the boat out two more weekends after the original problem day. It worked fine without one issue. The we had a week long trip to Lake Norman. I filled the tank with 89 octane and went to the lake. We ran for about an hour and then it went dead and would not start. We had to be towed in. I went to walmart and bought the sea foam. We added that and it ran the rest of the week without shutting down once. We took it out two more times running multiple sets and stopping to swim for hours at a time. Each time I filled the tank with 89 octane and added the seafoam.

We also took it to Canada and ran it for a week. I filled with 89 Octane and added sea foam. It ran fine all week. When we returned home from Canada it sat for two weeks. We took it out, filled with 89 and sea foam and ran fine all day, multiple sets and stopping/starting to swim.

The next two times we took it out we ran for about an hour and then it would shut down. We were towed back twice. It wants to start but as soon as it starts to idle it shuts off.

I have the manual and I am trying to troubleshoot. I think there may be dirt/debris/sludge in the FCC. Does that sound reasonable?

What are the three red buttons/fuses? on the gt-40 engine? There are numbers on each 60, 15,12.5 . Each time the engine shuts off I have to push the middle one back in (15). It feels like a breaker of some sort.

My buddy unscrewed one of the fuel lines the one time we cranked it and it was spitting gas. This leads me to believe the fuel pump works correctly.

Thanks for any/all replies I am trying to become an informed boa owner, but I feel clueless.

[AirTool]

I'm not going to help on this much because it is gt40. I could...but it would be fundamental generalizations and you need specific details.

But I'd like to suggest to stop using the seafoam. All that is is a light oil/heavy fuel gimmick that has mostly negative effects like coking, fouling your plugs, etc.

Using seafoam is not causing your problems....but I'm 99.9% sure its not helping you either and the spending the money is a waste.

Finally, don't spray fuel inside your boat. That's a big no no for many reasons and it does NOT test your pump. You do need to test it, though...and not like that. Maybe DC can post the link(s) to his gt40 testing pages.

[Lewy2001]

The middle circuit breaker is for the fuel pumps on the GT40. One of your pumps is failing.

The high pressure pump is inside the FCC . The low pressure is just below the FCC with a braided line that runs to FCC. You can jumper the STO (EEC Test connector next to breakers) to make them run continuously to help isolate which pump is tripping the breaker.