>:(Fellow Anglers and friends. There are still many boat owners who know nothing of the potential dangers of using gas containing ethanol blend fuel in thier outboards. Please help to warn everyone.

More on the ethanol issue 5/7/2009

Yamaha recently released an update on the ethanol issue. Remember that Growth Energy and 54 ethanol manufacturers recently requested a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to raise the ethanol-blend ceiling in gasolines from 10% to 15%. That's important for boaters because even 10% ethanol blends can seriously damage engines through water buildup. But 15% could spell outboard disaster.

In April, the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) outlined its opposition to increased ethanol at a hearing on Capitol Hill.

More recently, Yamaha VP of operations and planning Ben Speciale said in a letter to outboard owners: "Building outboards compatible with fuel containing 15% or more ethanol is technically possible. The real problem is that there are a lot of older outboards currently in service that cannot run on fuel that contains more than 10% ethanol. If the EPA rules in favor of this wavier application, hundreds of thousands of boaters will suffer the consequences."

Fishing participation is already in great decline. Should the ethanol cap increase and thus outdate older outboards, it could push hundreds of thousands more away from the sport.

The EPA is currently collecting public comment on the proposed waiver. To comment, visit www.Regulations.gov and enter docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0211.

Thank you for the thread to reply. every owner of an older 2 stroke must complain. we are in the most danger of having our motors fail!!!! We must all state our concerns!!!

Do you think the EPA will listen, or just go with the highest bidder, choke, I mean lobbyist when it comes to ethanol?

I just posted the following comment to the website posted:

Have any studies been made on the long-term effects of higher content Ethanol fuels on fuel systems? I have read plenty of studies regarding fuel efficiency on cars, but how about the effects on other engines, such as lawn equipment, outboard boat motors, and recreational vehicles. Some people I know have experienced problems with the fuel system since Ethanol dissolves certain

components, which can lead to long-term damage to the engine.

Secondly, many recreational vehicle and boaters use their engines in high humidity environments or store their vehicles for a long time, between each use, does Ethanol adversely effect the engine's fuel system in any way due to water solubility in the fuel? If so are efficiencies gained through use of Ethanol lost to extra cost burden such as fuel additives, maintenance, or repair to engines.

I bet since I am not from a government agency they won't listen.

My comment tracking number is  80989f1d

I bet it will be just like when we had to go from leaded to unleaded gas.

We will have to adjust to the inevitable.