Biofuels Debate Rages On

Coming to market soon is a 15 percent blend of ethanol fuel mix. The new blend has outboard marine engine producers up in arms. An engineer from Mercury Marine Corp. was scheduled to testify before a congressional committee last week regarding the damage the new biofuel blend has on outboard engines.

In one of the Department of Energy approved tests, a 200-horsepower outboard engine’s bearings on a piston disintegrated after 300 hours of operation. Meanwhile, the outboard engine using mercury engine oil and fuel mixture did not experience any damage. Supporters of the new blend counter that the tests are statistically irrelevant because so few engines were used. Supporters also claim that the engines tested were not calibrated properly for the new 15 percent ethanol blend.

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Cleaning Mercury Marine Carburetor, Part III

In continuing from yesterday… Now that the carburetor is completely clean it’s time to reinstall all the parts that were removed. Start with the jets, then the fuel bowls and carburetor, and then tighten the screws. Check to make sure everything is secure and that none of the parts got dinged during cleaning.

Your carburetor should now function perfectly. Hopefully, while working on the carburetor you took a few minutes to check out other parts of your boat. Checking the level of Mercury 2 stroke premium outboard motor oil, for instance, is an important part of boat upkeep.

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Mixing Fuel for a Mercury Outboard Motor

Older two-stroke Mercury outboard motors require hand mixing of oil and gas. Newer models like the OptiMax motors have an oil injection system that keeps the ratio of gas to oil correct. If you are using an older model two-stroke outboard motor, here is some advice for mixing fuel:

As a general rule of thumb, add three ounces of Mercury 2 stroke premium outboard motor oil for each gallon of gas. Pour the gas and oil into a singular container. Close the gas container tightly and then shake the container vigorously to ensure that the oil and gasoline mix thoroughly. Once you are confident that the solution is properly mix, add it to your boat’s fuel tank.

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