I have an oil-injection 2-stroke Mercury outboard motor that doesn't
need to pre-mix oil with fuel. I was told that the the oil injection
system of Mercury outboard motor is not quite good, and I might be
better off pre-mixing the oil with fuel instead of relying on the oil
injection system. This means I probably need to know how to mix oil
with fuel.

I had mixed oil with fuel for an 2-stroke lawn equipment that I rarely
use. That lawn equipment barely works and may have something to do
with I am not mixing oil/fuel correctly. Therefore, my experience on
mixing oil with fuel is scant, and I am not sure if that is comparable
with doing this for a boat.

My questions a

- How do we mix it? Am I supposed to do this:
(1) Half-fill the portable gas container.
(2) Pour oil into the container.
(3) Fill up the portable gas container.
(4) Shake the container violently.

- How long should I shake the container? Let's say it is a 10-gal
container.

- How big a container should I get to pair with a 44-gal fuel tank in
my boat? Should I get one 10-gal container or should I get four 10-gal
containers? I guess we only need one container; but I am not sure.

- Do we refill the gas container in a gas station in this way with
one 10-gal container:
(1) Ask the gas station attendant to half-fill the 10-gal container.
(New Jersey doesn't allow self-service)
(2) Add oil into the container.
(3) Ask the gas station attendant to fill up the container.
(4) Shake the container violently.
(5) Load the gas container on top of the boat, and pour
the mixture into the hole for gas.
(6) Don't pay the gas station attendant just yet.
Repeat step-1 to step-5 for three more times or until
the fuel tank in the boat is full. Meanwhile, the gas
station attendant is rolling his eyes, and other
customers are waiting not very patiently.
(7) Finally, pay the gas station attendant.

Is this really how we get fuel for our boats in New Jersey
where self-service is not allowed? Do we need to get four
10-gal gas containers to avoid this situation? Do we need
to re-fuel only in off-hour?

Thanks in advance.

Jay Chan

I'd keep with the oil injection system on the outboard and not attempt
to pre-mix your fuel with oil. The ratio on outboards is typically
variable and changes with speed (intentionally) to reduce smoking. I see
no reason why you would premix the oil with the fuel.

Additionally, you likely have a low oil alarm on the engine and if you let
the tank go empty, it'll sound.

b.

wrote:
I have an oil-injection 2-stroke Mercury outboard motor that doesn't
need to pre-mix oil with fuel. I was told that the the oil injection
system of Mercury outboard motor is not quite good, and I might be
better off pre-mixing the oil with fuel instead of relying on the oil
injection system. This means I probably need to know how to mix oil
with fuel.

I had mixed oil with fuel for an 2-stroke lawn equipment that I rarely
use. That lawn equipment barely works and may have something to do
with I am not mixing oil/fuel correctly. Therefore, my experience on
mixing oil with fuel is scant, and I am not sure if that is comparable
with doing this for a boat.

My questions a

- How do we mix it? Am I supposed to do this:
(1) Half-fill the portable gas container.
(2) Pour oil into the container.
(3) Fill up the portable gas container.
(4) Shake the container violently.

- How long should I shake the container? Let's say it is a 10-gal
container.

- How big a container should I get to pair with a 44-gal fuel tank in
my boat? Should I get one 10-gal container or should I get four 10-gal
containers? I guess we only need one container; but I am not sure.

- Do we refill the gas container in a gas station in this way with
one 10-gal container:
(1) Ask the gas station attendant to half-fill the 10-gal container.
(New Jersey doesn't allow self-service)
(2) Add oil into the container.
(3) Ask the gas station attendant to fill up the container.
(4) Shake the container violently.
(5) Load the gas container on top of the boat, and pour
the mixture into the hole for gas.
(6) Don't pay the gas station attendant just yet.
Repeat step-1 to step-5 for three more times or until
the fuel tank in the boat is full. Meanwhile, the gas
station attendant is rolling his eyes, and other
customers are waiting not very patiently.
(7) Finally, pay the gas station attendant.

Is this really how we get fuel for our boats in New Jersey
where self-service is not allowed? Do we need to get four
10-gal gas containers to avoid this situation? Do we need
to re-fuel only in off-hour?

Thanks in advance.

Jay Chan


When I mix a can of two-stroke fuel for the little outboard we run on
our dinghy, I always dump the oil into the empty can first. When the
gasoline is introduced, it will slosh the oil around sufficiently to
put it into suspension. This works particularly well with our small gas
can, as it is possible to direct the stream of gas from the pump
directly onto the spot where the oil is sitting on the bottom. In a
really enormous tank this might not be as practical, as there is a
possibilty the gasoline spray wouldn't be direct enought churn out and
disperse the oil sufficitently.

When I mix a can of two-stroke fuel for the little outboard we run on
our dinghy, I always dump the oil into the empty can first. When the
gasoline is introduced, it will slosh the oil around sufficiently to
put it into suspension. This works particularly well with our small gas
can, as it is possible to direct the stream of gas from the pump
directly onto the spot where the oil is sitting on the bottom. In a
really enormous tank this might not be as practical, as there is a
possibilty the gasoline spray wouldn't be direct enought churn out and
disperse the oil sufficitently.

That may or may not work. But this worths a try. This means I should
change the sequence of actions, and add oil first before adding fuel
instead of adding 1/2 of fuel then add oil then add the other 1/2 of
fuel. Your way is actually easier and faster.

Thanks for the tip.

Jay Chan

Hey all, I post this to be shot down. Tell me if I'm wrong.

I've owned 2 cycle outboards off and on for over 30 years. All Evinrude and
Johnson.
The few problems I ever had with them were related to the outdrive (once,
for age) or were electrical (periodic, for submersion in sal****er).
At a marina, most places will put it in last. When refilling a partially
full tank, it is hard to know how much oil to put in until you know how much
gas you put in.
Personally, I've added the oil first and last. First for empty tanks, last
for partials.
The oil is completely soluble in gasoline and will naturally disburse in a
short period of time.

This may be a bit dated, but the anecdote is that oil injections systems and
their alarms may fail.
The downside is your engine will overheat and you will sputter to a stop.
The upside, when working properly (which is usual), is that they do
accurately apply the correct amout of oil, which reduces smoking, polution
and possibly oil usage.

On the occasions where I or someone (the guy at the marina) forgot the oil,
we sputtered to a stop, deliberated, divined the error and added the oil.
Then we resumed our fun.
On the occasions where I or someone (it was me) doubled the oil, we smoked
quite a bit until our next tank.

I don't recommend forgetting the oil or accidently doubling it, but if on
rare occasions it happens, it is not catastrophic.
If you, someone else or the oil injector messes up often, it probably could
be.

My suggestion is to use the oil injection system and periodically give the
oil level a visual inspection during use.
It may be hard to tell with light usage, but over time you will be able to
tell.
If you sputter to a stop and the oil isn't being used, put oil in the gas.

The absolute here is to always keep a quart or two of the 2 cycle engine oil
on the boat.








wrote in message
oups.com...
I have an oil-injection 2-stroke Mercury outboard motor that doesn't
need to pre-mix oil with fuel. I was told that the the oil injection
system of Mercury outboard motor is not quite good, and I might be
better off pre-mixing the oil with fuel instead of relying on the oil
injection system. This means I probably need to know how to mix oil
with fuel.

I had mixed oil with fuel for an 2-stroke lawn equipment that I rarely
use. That lawn equipment barely works and may have something to do
with I am not mixing oil/fuel correctly. Therefore, my experience on
mixing oil with fuel is scant, and I am not sure if that is comparable
with doing this for a boat.

My questions a

- How do we mix it? Am I supposed to do this:
(1) Half-fill the portable gas container.
(2) Pour oil into the container.
(3) Fill up the portable gas container.
(4) Shake the container violently.

- How long should I shake the container? Let's say it is a 10-gal
container.

- How big a container should I get to pair with a 44-gal fuel tank in
my boat? Should I get one 10-gal container or should I get four 10-gal
containers? I guess we only need one container; but I am not sure.

- Do we refill the gas container in a gas station in this way with
one 10-gal container:
(1) Ask the gas station attendant to half-fill the 10-gal container.
(New Jersey doesn't allow self-service)
(2) Add oil into the container.
(3) Ask the gas station attendant to fill up the container.
(4) Shake the container violently.
(5) Load the gas container on top of the boat, and pour
the mixture into the hole for gas.
(6) Don't pay the gas station attendant just yet.
Repeat step-1 to step-5 for three more times or until
the fuel tank in the boat is full. Meanwhile, the gas
station attendant is rolling his eyes, and other
customers are waiting not very patiently.
(7) Finally, pay the gas station attendant.

Is this really how we get fuel for our boats in New Jersey
where self-service is not allowed? Do we need to get four
10-gal gas containers to avoid this situation? Do we need
to re-fuel only in off-hour?

Thanks in advance.

Jay Chan

Hey all, I post this to be shot down. Tell me if I'm wrong.

Did you attempt to post once before and somehow something went wrong
and the message didn't show up? That would have explained the reason
why I see that this message thread should have 5 messages but only 4
show up. I guess in this situation I would re-post if I were you.

The oil is completely soluble in gasoline and will naturally disburse in a
short period of time.

Great! I didn't know that oil can be completely soluble in fuel. I
thought I had to shake the container in order to mix them fully. Now I
know that they can be naturally mixed together without shaking, I don't
need to put them in a portable container anymore. I can simply fill up
the boat fuel tank and then add the necessary amount of oil -- in one
step instead of filling up the portable fuel container repeatedly.

I am very gald that I have asked.

When refilling a partially full tank, it is hard to know how
much oil to put in until you know how much gas you put in.
Personally, I've added the oil first and last. First for empty
tanks, last for partials.

Good tip. Then I can tell exactly how much oil to add in proportion to
the amount of fuel that I have added to the fuel tank.

This may be a bit dated, but the anecdote is that oil injections
systems and their alarms may fail.

"Dated" info is good for my case because the motor in my boat is a
"dated" 1995 model.

The downside is your engine will overheat and you will sputter to a stop.
The upside, when working properly (which is usual), is that they do
accurately apply the correct amout of oil, which reduces smoking, polution
and possibly oil usage.

Good to know this.

On the occasions where I or someone (the guy at the marina) forgot the oil,
we sputtered to a stop, deliberated, divined the error and added the oil.
Then we resumed our fun.

You mean the motor was not dead after it ran without oil. This is odd.
I would have thought that the motor would become seized. When I
forgot to add oil into my lawn mower, the engine seized and I could not
get it to re-start.

On the occasions where I or someone (it was me) doubled the oil,
we smoked quite a bit until our next tank.

This outcome is not so bad. I can live with this.

My suggestion is to use the oil injection system and periodically
give the oil level a visual inspection during use.
It may be hard to tell with light usage, but over time you will be
able to tell.

This seems to be more troublesome to do than simply pre-mixing oil into
the fuel. Sound like pre-mixing oil is easier.

On the other hand, if I don't put oil into the oil reservoir of the
motor, I am afraid that the motor will sound alarm about the fact that
the oil-reservoir is empty. And I will be forced to fill up the oil
reservoir, and the motor will end up using oil from both the
oil-reservoir and from the oil pre-mixed in the fuel -- double the oil
usage. This is not so good either.

Seem like I may end up doing what you have suggested and need to
visually inspect the oil level right in the middle of a boating trip --
sigh...

The absolute here is to always keep a quart or two of the 2 cycle
engine oil on the boat.

Yes, I surely will follow this advice. Thanks.

Jay Chan

The oil is completely soluble in gasoline and will naturally disburse in a
short period of time.

Great! I didn't know that oil can be completely soluble in fuel. I
thought I had to shake the container in order to mix them fully. Now I
know that they can be naturally mixed together without shaking, I don't
need to put them in a portable container anymore. I can simply fill up
the boat fuel tank and then add the necessary amount of oil -- in one
step instead of filling up the portable fuel container repeatedly.

I am very gald that I have asked.

One additional info that may or may not be useful for other people:
I have just talked with a mechanic in where I work. He said that we
still need to shake the oil and fuel to get them mixed. But the
motions of driving the boat around and stop and start at the traffic
light are good enough to mix them together. This means we really don't
need to manually mix them together.

This additional info is probably not necessary for mixing oil and fuel
because we will almost certainly move the boat around and get them
mixed before we reach the site to launch the boat. But this info is
probably more useful for mixing fuel stablizer into fuel. According to
the mechanic, we also need to move the boat around to get the stablizer
properly mixed with the fuel. Because of the fact that we probably not
intend to move the boat around when we are preparing to winterize the
boat and to add stablizer into the fuel, this means we need to add the
stablizer into the fuel when we are returning from the last boating
trip of the season -- not after we have filled up and have already
parked the boat at home and get ready for winterizing.

Hope this info helps someone.

Jay Chan