Bad Fuel for my other engines. Anybody with suggestions?
 

More and more I find myself fixing my gasoline powered equipment. It is isolated to small engines. Snow blower, power washer, string trimmer, etc. Engines that don't get used as often as the cars. I have been putting Stabil in everything and it seems to help a little. I just spent 2 hours cleaning the carb on my snow blower that was stored with no fuel and ran empty, (so I thought) There was enough old gas that it varnished in the bowl and when the new gas pumped in, it turned the varnish into a sticky goo that plugged everything! Those things are not really designed to be serviced easily!

Anybody have suggestions?

Darren

I went through this with our 4 stroke pit bikes (Pilot jet clogs), since they don't get used a lot. I had to take apart the carbs and clean the pilot jet all the time. I was told by a motorcycle mechanic to start them at least 2, 3 times a month. I've been doing that and it seems work.

Only one way to cure this -- run the stuff on a regular basis... and use Sta-Bil in your fuel. I keep a separate 5 with gas that has that added... but even then I'll run my stuff just to keep gas going thru it.

I use "clear" premium for my motorcycles and maintenance equipment. E10 is a nightmare unless you own a small engine repair business.

An old mechanic told me once that if you are going to store an engine, run the carb dry (shut the fuel off and let the engine run out of gas) before storing. Believe it or not, I always do this with my generator and it works great. I use Stabil as it leaves a little trace of lubrication to keep the rubber parts soft even though the gas is gone.

Is 'clear' premium gas without ethanol? I had my local race shop order in some VP-C9 gas.

This should help.

http://www.vpracingfuels.com/storagefuels

Darrren

PERFECT!! I'm going to order some as well.... thanks for the great find!

Don't ya just love the internet. Thank gawd for Al Gore.... :rofl:

This might be handier for smaller amounts of use -- since 5 gallon jugs for lawn mowers etc might be a "lot" of gas...


http://www.vpracingfuels.com/sef-small-engine

He stole the idea from Spiro T. Agnew...

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...MG9141_001.jpg


:lol:

I figured the extra cost is well worth it. I hate farting around with stuff that should just work when I want it to. The snow blower pushed me over the edge. That thing was not designed to be serviced - ever. What a PITA. I got it running and promptly drained all the gas again. My VP fuel should be in this week and I will refuel with that. I have been reading a ton about fuel and fuel storage. It seems that gas should not be stored in plastic containers. I have several of the big plastic 5 gallon gas cans that we use to race motocross. Looks like I might be switching to metal cans this season!

Darren

Yes, no ethanol. Do a Google search for clear premium. You should find a national page that list locations.

I've also used race fuel blended with E10 with success.

In my area clear runs $4 gal. +/-

I had so many problems I could go on and on. Here's a list of over 6000 stations that have Ethanol free. http://pure-gas.org/

Care to share??


I use VP Fuels 5 gallon race fuel containers - but I think they're still just polypropylene or whatever they're made of.

Thanks John, I was posting from the phone and didn't have the time to search the link. :thumbsup:

The last in ground fuel tanks I saw being installed in a gas station were plastic. :_paranoid

I've been storing my bike gas in plastic for years with no issues.

I swear I was reading that on a site I was researching. The closet thing I ran across again was that plastic cans aid in the breakdown of ethanol and gas when stored in for a period of time. Racing motocross, the gas doesn't last that long. The yard gas on the other hand. I will be digging around for more info.

Darren

I never used Stabil in any my 2 stroke gas engines, and never had an issue. Echo leaf blower and weed wacker and John Deer snow blower starts fine, after sitting close to a year. I am just down the road from you, and all I use is 87 octane fuel from Sunoco or Marathon and mix with Echo 2 power blend oil. Echo does have a fuel stabilizer that is built in. I store them in Polyethylene (plastic) cans. Never have an issue with them.

Perhaps it is where you buy your fuel.

Jeff

I typically buy everything from a Shell station. A high volume location for sure. I buy premium. I will try another location and see if my results improve. I am still digging for the plastic can article I read.....

Darren

I quit Shell long ago, because of cost. Typically, I use Marathon or Speedway. Why spend the extra money on premium gas for 2 stroke engine? I use 87 octane for my truck, riding lawn mower, etc.

Maybe it is your brand of 2 stroke engines? Most are made in China (Briggs and Stratton moved to China). My father has 1988 US Made Troy Built Tiller than runs great. He just puts in new fuel each year and the tiller starts up on one pull. Although, he has mentioned that after 25 years that it might need the carb worked on. His Toro leaf blower only lasted 3 years, it was from China.

Jeff