Too Much Two-Cycle Oil ?

[E.L.Green]

i have a 3 gal providing fuel for an 8 hp mercury outboard. i follow the mixing instructions as per the bottle. the chart on the label is telling me to use 8 oz for the 3 gals. it sounds like a bit much to me and there is excess oil burnoff, not an extravagant amount just some smoke. can anyone give me some pointers? i dont want to have too little and burn it out and that is the ratio ive always used, but im afraid of having too much and gumming the carb up. i do notice sometimes it will "hiccups" and will have a puff of smoke. thanks in advance.

[GordMay]

That's about 50:1, which is normal.
➥ Gas Oil Mixture Ratio Calculator

[E.L.Green]

yeah which is always what i followed but just seeing that smoke gets me paranoid. now i feel a bit better though. thank you.

[Mark Zarley]

You may want to revisit the owners manuel. My Yamaha is a 100 to 1 mix. The chart on the oil can only goes up to 50 to 1 . If yours is supposed to be 100 to 1 you should only add 4 ounces to 3 gal.

[GordMay]

Yamaha is justifiably proud of their 100:1 fuel/oil mix ratio.
Nonetheless, I’m fairly certain that small Mercury outboards use a 50:1 mix.
However, as Mark suggests, check your manual.

[E.L.Green]

yup its 50:1 . thanks for all the help guys.

[Jim Cate]

FWIW,

A few years back we bought a new Suzuki 15 in Fiji. The motor was American market bound, and was marked for 100:1 oil mix. The dealer said that Suzuki had to do that in order to meet some regulations in the States, but that the motor had been designed with 50:1 in mind, and he recommended that we use that ratio. No harm came from it, and when the motor was stolen 12 years later, with many many hours of hard use and very little maintenance it was running fine.

I've continued to use a bit extra (around 75:1, but not carefully measured) on the Yamaha 15 we replaced it with, and which apparently is really designed for 100:1. Smokes a little on cold startup, but runs fine, doesn't foul plugs and is now 6 years old. Certainly doesn't seem to impede anything, and just might help!

Cheers,

Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Manly Qld Oz

[E.L.Green]

does the hiccup and puff of smoke need to be addressed ?or im i worrying too much?

[Ex-Calif]

I would consider a hiccup and puff of smoke not normal but I would not immediately relate it to the mixture.

When does this happen?

[E.L.Green]

only on occasion, maybe once every few runs. so far this year i have done a complete fuel system swap. i.e. tank and fuel lines. it was serviced at the end of last year. the reason for the fuel swap was the connections would seperate just enough for it to starve of fuel.

[Ex-Calif]

I wouldn't panic if it was a hiccup once in a while.

There are many reasons for a hiccup. If it starts easy and runs well keep trucking and keep an eye on it.

My experience is that infrequent minor hiccups are probably electrical related. Coil, points etc.

[E.L.Green]

well. im not going to start saying anything about the way she runs or starts cus we all know what the title of my next thread will be.