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Using Yamaha lube, fuel additive, etc

retiredbob

New member
I just bought a used pontoon boat to use in freshwater. It has a Yamaha 50hp 4 stroke OB. In reading the manual on-line, I see the 'suggestion' to use Yamalube oil, Ring Free Fuel Additive and Yamaha Fuel Conditioner and Stabilizer.

How important is it to use the Yamaha "recommended" products -vs- other brand products.?

What brand oil can I use (dino or synthetic) ?

Should I use the Ring Free Fuel additive when using 87 octane brand name gas with 10% ethanol.?

Can I use Sta-Bil Marine additive in lieu of Yamaha fuel stabilizer?


Thanks in advance
 
I just bought a used pontoon boat to use in freshwater. It has a Yamaha 50hp 4 stroke OB. In reading the manual on-line, I see the 'suggestion' to use Yamalube oil, Ring Free Fuel Additive and Yamaha Fuel Conditioner and Stabilizer.

How important is it to use the Yamaha "recommended" products -vs- other brand products.?

What brand oil can I use (dino or synthetic) ?

Should I use the Ring Free Fuel additive when using 87 octane brand name gas with 10% ethanol.?

Can I use Sta-Bil Marine additive in lieu of Yamaha fuel stabilizer?


Thanks in advance

Is this a 4 stroke or is that a typo? Ring free is for 2 stroke engines, Yamalube is also for 2 stroke engines.
 
This is what I saw:
"Yamaha recommends Yamalube® 4-M FC-W™ for all four-stroke models. Yamalube® 4-M is formulated to meet or exceed all Yamaha factory requirements plus the new FC-W™ rating from the NMMA® (National Marine Manufacturers Association, www.nmma.org). This standard specifies an oil formula designed for the unique needs of marine four-stroke engines"

and

"
Ring Free is a result of joint development between Yamaha and Oronite corp ( subsiderary of Chevron). There is a misconception that Techron and Ring Free are the same. The fact is that Ring free was made to be used in 2 cycle water cooled engines of which have different combustion temperatures than normal auto use. Techron is made for 4 cycle auto use. If you look at the grand scheme of things Ring Free is not expensive. 1 12oz bottle will treat 120 gallons of fuel and is priced at $8.99. Compare that to your auto fuel additves, they run about $7 to $9 and treat a max of about 20 gallons or less.
Ring Free is suggested in most Yamaha outboard users manuals. The main purpose is to keep carbon down to a minimum. Which is more prevalent these days due to fuel additives.
It benefits 2 stroke outboards the most since these engines tend to carbon cake at the ports and behind the rings. One other good reason is some Yamaha 2 stroke outboards use an oxygen sensor. Ring Free helps keep the sensor from fouling up.
Both Evinrude and Merc have their own branded fuel additives that pretty much do the same thing! "



But, it seems that the 4 stroke users manual has quite a writeup suggesting using it in 4 strokes as well.
 
So, from the few comments, and from further google searches including the Yamaha Web site, it seems that any quality 4-stroke/water cooled OB oil will be acceptable:" Yamaha recommends Yamalube, of course, but if you simply cannot find it, choose oil that specifically displays the FC-W® rating logo."

Sta-Bil fuel additive should be as good as Yamaha's conditioner/stabilizer (and less expensive and easier to find in the store).

And Yamaha's Ring Free Fuel Additive is okay for 4-stroke engines but is primarily used for 2-stroke engines which have more carbon build-up. So, use it if I like, use it occasionally, or don't really need to use it - maybe option 2 is best 'use it occasionally'.

The suggestion to install a fuel/water separator is a good idea if the engine does not already have one (especially with E10 fuel) <<and going to E15 soon per Obama's edict>>. Yamaha says all newer engines are made to run on E10 but *NOT* anything higher!!
 
Ring Free does a good job of keeping valves clean for sure. Four stroke rings, particularly oil control rings can get stuck. Ring free works. Cheap insurance.

On the subject of ethanol isn't it bizarre that we have to have that rammed down our throats when it is hard to find any logical thinking person who doesn't view it as anything but a net economic loss on so many fronts.
 
ring free is recomended for 4stroke obs. read page 29 of the 06 f150 owners manual.
Not being a smart ass, but, i have seen the results of using ring free on a f225. it brought the compression up to acceptable levels.
 
My only suggestion is don't let ethanol gas sit in it for too long even if it is treated. Also I was told to make sure your set-up will allow the motor to run at it's recommended rpm at wide open throttle. Those 4 stroke need to be run wide open some of the time to get the temp up and prevent any "making oil" issues.

Your choice on the synthetic, I would decide on how often I was going to use the boat vs how often to service it. If your only going to put a few hours per year on it why spend the extra on synthetic if your do an annual oil change? Planning on running ALOT per yea might want to go with the synthetic
 
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Need help I have a yamaha 2013 90hp 4 stroke motor runs good for about hour and half then buzzer sounds check oil quart low fill up with oil and can run again any sugestion?
 
Few last questions: Does normal automotive red Stabil prevent the adverse deterioration of ethanol fuel at storage time in the off season? Should one use marine Stabil instead of the red automotive Stabil??
 
Just did a google on ethanol fuel stabilizers and focused on Stabil::

‘Stabil 360 Marine’ - 12 months (didn't spec ethanol fuels)
‘Stabil 360 Performance’ - 12 months - for ethanol fuels
‘Stabil Storage’ - 24 months.(didn't spec ethanol fuels)

With the problem I am having with my Merc, I am going to switch to non-ethanol gas anyway.

https://www.goldeagle.com/tips-tools/top-five-sta-bil-product-myths-debunked/

 
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