It appears ethanol is slowly going away. A lot of stations are refusing to sell it and many farmers aren't growing the corn they need to make it. This past year, I have read many articles that show it's not as cheap or economical as was first thought. I won't go into it because it's a lengthy subject, but you can google it and find these same articles.
The damage done by ethanol in our fuel system is limited to anything that has rubber fuel lines, rubber gaskets and component parts of a carb. Fuel injected engines, like in most automobiles don't see the same amount of damage. Like it was mentioned by someone in a past post, ethanol is an alcohol based product. Alcohols inherit properties is to absorb moisture. So, with ethanol in your tank, any mositure in the air that is displaced as you burn your fuel, is going to loose it's mositure to the ethanol in your fuel, causing water to build in your carbs. When this happens the metal in your carbs, ie. springs, screws, needle valve parts and levers and anything else that can rust, will be affected. The other downside is, alcohol (ethanol) also causes rubber to swell. So, your "0" rings and diaphragms will, over time, not work like they are suppose to.
If you do not have access to 100% fuel, you can use an ethanol additive for your fuel. At one point, I used Stabil and/or Lucas. I don't use it anymore because where I live, we have large marina's and the owners sought out real gas because of the complaints of the boat owners. But, use the ethanol additive if you can't find the good stuff, this will counter the mositure problem and minimize the damage to your rubber lines and gaskets. I saw a statement about the "Tempo" fuel lines. Those lines were a problem way before we started using ethanol in our gas, if you have them, get them changed out ASAP.
Cleaning? The Seadoo (Rotax) motors are designed to be wet. They were built with the intent that they would be dumped over and flooded. Thats why they put floatation in them. So, while playing, if we dumped it, we could tow it back and drain the water. Therefore, you can rinse down your motor with fresh water from your water hose. Now, in saying that, it doesn't mean take the spary nozzle and blast the motor with it. All your electrical connectors are suppose to be "water resistant"... not "water proof". There is a difference. I use the open end of my water hose to gently wash down my entire hull and motor. I do not buy any of that store bought stuff. It's a waste of money.
I clean my hull maybe once a year. What is the best grease cutter on the market? "Dawn" dishwashing liquid. Even the Coast Guard uses it to trap and disperse oil sheen. This liquid will cut any grime in your hull. Up to you, spend the big bucks or steal your ole ladys dishwashing liquid.
Lubrication?... another myth.. you don't have to spray everything with some protectant. If you want to, I'm sure it doesn't hurt, but to me, it's a waste of money. The only real thing you need to spray protectant on is your moving parts, like carb linkages. I do use WD-40, only because it evaporates the petroleum distillates off and leaves an oil based coating. Like I said, I only spray my moving parts.
Salt Water? This is a tricky topic and maybe, best if you use the search engine in the forum to look for my research, or do some of your own. Salt water is about 96.5% water and 3.4% salts. There are a few other elements (as many as 84 of earth elements) and are dissolved particulates. The gases you can find are oxygen and hydrogen. But, the ones you have to worry about are the mineral particulates like Sodium Chloride (Salt), magnesium, sulfur, calcium, potassium and bromide, just to name a few.
The problem these deposits create, isn't really washed away by your flushing. When you flush, your only washing way sediments and particulates that are still dissolved in the water. Even the most cared for engine, over a period of time, will show corrosion from these minerals. The reason is simple. The word is called "leaching". When your motor passes the exhaust through the open loop system, the water heats up. When the water reaches temperature to the metals capability of absorbtion, the minerals leach out of the water and cling to the metal components. This is something a lot of older Seadoo owners see on the tuned pipe. Anyone that has had to remove and repair the round welded lugs of the pre-heater of the tuned pipe, has seen the white build-up that caused the damage. That is calcium and sodium chloride damage that was leached out of the water. You can't stop this.
Rotax came up with the good idea of a closed loop cooling system for the 4-TEC, so it will see a lot less mineral damage. The only thing they have to get mineral build up on is the open loop system of the exhaust. SCIC motors have the intercooler to worry about. I would flush and blow this out at least once a year.
Salt Away...? You can minimize mineral damage by using a product like "Salt Away". This will actuall help remove mineral deposits that have leached out of your water. It will only slow down the process, not stop it.
Fresh Water lakes. Though you lake riders don't have the same problems with the salt, you still have lakes high in minerals. There are some lakes that have far fewer, so deposits aren't as likely to build and damage the metal as fast. You might own the ski for 20 years before even seeing a problem, so you guys are lucky on that aspect of it.
I didn't plan for this post to be so long, but there were several questions in the thread I thought I might shed a bit of light on for you guys. Sorry it's so long, but it will give you the basics to be able to use tags to do your own research.....
