Ethanol: carbs vs EFI

[Wayne Creek]

New to the EFI world.

When I had a carburetors I would run the motor dry and drain the carbs at the drain plugs.

Is this still the proper thing to do when I know the motor will not be used for a couple of weeks? Injectors are so different than carbs and I'm not sure if running the motor dry is bad for the fuel pumps either.

I do add StarTron to the fuel and am planning on dumping any fuel more than a couple of weeks old into the truck so the outboard will have fresh. I also have a 10 micron Racor in line.

Richard

[Moonlighter]

No, do not run it dry. Bad for EFI engines.

Your plan to keep it fed with fresh fuel and treat it with startron, plus the racor, is all you need to do.

[Wayne Creek]

Additional newbie EFI questions

Thanks again Moonlighter!

I notice that you are a frequent contributor and have answered a lot of questions. I appreciate the time.

As concerns the fuel system, any tips for winter (5 months) storage of an EFI motor?

The manual just says to treat the gas and make sure it has fully flushed the old gas out. Maybe 5 min. on my DF20A?

I can get small quantities of ethanol-free gas. Would it make sense to run that for storage? I think I've read that you shouldn't mix fuel types.

I know there are other steps (oil, lube etc) but where I've been bitten in the past is fouling of carbs.

Thanks. I know this is elementary for many, but this is a brand new motor and I really don't want to ef it up!

Richard

[Moonlighter]

Hi Richard

You are asking the wrong perosn re winterising!

Winter here in Australia is prime fishing time, our "winterising" comprises filling the tanks, charging the batteries and loading ice and bait in the coolers and hitting the water!

Hopefully one of our Us based members will,chime in and provide the info you need.

[Wayne Creek]

Ha!

Well that's a fair answer and a long way from coastal Virginia where boating is, for me at least, shy of a three season activity.

November, December, January, February and much of October and March are out depending on the year. No cabin=no go.

[Wayne Creek]

Duh!

Apologies are in order I think.

There is a sticky at the beginning of this forum called of all things, "Maintenance Matters - How To Winterize Your Suzuki Outboard"

Duh! !!

Guess I could have looked a little closer. . .

[bigdude2468]

I fired up my DF 115 after six long cold Wisconsin months this past Saturday. Turned the key, waited for the fuel pump to reach pressure and I would guess in less than two seconds my engine was purring like a kitten. Did a normal weatherization last fall with Stabil in the fuel, fogged the cylinders etc, nothing beyond normal stuff. I do burn non ethanol fuel in the Suzuki 115. I will say in my experience with other outboards, personal watercraft I burn plain 10% ethanol, regular fuel. Put Stabil in the fuel near the end of the season and I have never had an issue the next season.