Ethanol gas evidence

puzlrock · Apr 19, 2021

lennyzx11 said:
I bought a walk behind mower yesterday and started messing with it today.
It ran last season and was left with ordinary pump gas with 10% ethanol.
Not only the bad gas, and cleaning the carb bowl, main jet, float, etc.
Look at this nice surprise from the plugged up fuel line.View attachment 695196
That’s a longer drill bit it used to go through it ramrod style. This came out the opposite end on the first pass.

I have found that with a product called PRI G I never have to drain fuel at the end of the season or worry about the ethanol. I have used this stuff for years and it works great. No more varnishing or plugging and the fuel stays fresh. Follow the link and read up on it, it is amazing. They have PRI G foe gas and PRI D for diesel.

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ArlyA · Apr 19, 2021

Or just use seafoam. It works just fine and not costly. I never drain any fuel systems while using it.

ljgordon · Apr 19, 2021

Each year I run dry the: mower, tiller, pressure sprayer, 2 weed eaters. Add 2 oz. of Husqvarna fuel I bought at Lowes. Restart for 15 seconds, shut them down, put them up for the winter. Works every time.

Grumpycat · Apr 20, 2021

Best thing to do is not store the mower outside or even under an awning. Ethanol is not a problem until you add water.

txndncowboy · Apr 20, 2021

I think that's exactly what ethanol does to old rubber fuel lines. You got to use newer synthetic lines now to avoid that goop.

lennyzx11 · Apr 20, 2021

@ArlyA I wasn’t blaming the world problems on Ethanol additives. If you think it was something else, I’m openminded.

It appears to be the original fuel line. I had heard of this happening with ethanol gas is why I think this is what caused it.

I run Stabil in most of my small engines when I put them up or they are low usage. I want to try some SeaFoam per recommendations here but haven’t ran across it yet to buy.

I try to run most things out of gas. The chainsaw on the tractor usually has some but it always starts but usually no longer than a month or two.

But I manage to forget something and get to take the bowl/carburetor apart every year to reinforce my desire to drain or run STABIL in everything before letting it set up.

TMGT · Apr 20, 2021

Luckily for me, the next county over has non-ethanol fuel, run that with stabil the past 2 years. Haven't had to do any repairs or drain any fuel systems since, ethanol has its place, just not best for intermittent use equipment.

I still run a stabilizer in every can I fill because I never know when a peice of equipment will be done for the year and I don't want to have any surprises.

SylvainG · Apr 23, 2021

ljgordon said:
Each year I run dry the: mower, tiller, pressure sprayer, 2 weed eaters. Add 2 oz. of Husqvarna fuel I bought at Lowes. Restart for 15 seconds, shut them down, put them up for the winter. Works every time.

At home, my 1992 push mower with a B&S engine starts on the 2nd or 3rd pull each year. The only thing I do is let it run out of (regular) gas and add oil through the spark plug hole before storing it in the non heated shed for the winter. The following spring, I replace the oil. Only maintenance this mower has seen is a new carb film and the primer bulb five years ago.

As for my 1993 snow blower with a Tecumseh engine, I shut off the fuel valve after every use and let it starve, put oil in the spark plug hole before storing it in the spring in the garage and stabilizer in the fuel tank. Next fall, I change the oil. It has seen no maintenance and don't even bother plug it in to start it. It starts on its first pull.

As for my 1995 snow blower with a Tecumseh engine at the cottage, it sees the same maintenance as the 1993 above but being stored in an non heated shelter, I use the electric start to start it and it always starts after a few seconds.

As for my 2003 generator with a Tecumseh engine at the cottage. It sees the same treatment as the blower but is always a pain to start. Once I get it going after several pull (wish the flywheel had teeth so I could add an electric start!) it starts but stops right away. I have to squirt carb cleaner for several seconds after it starts to keep it going. Once it has started though, it runs fine.

As for my 2010 log splitter and 2016 wood shipper with their Chinese engine see the same treatment as the blowers and always starts after two to three pulls.

Next is the 2016 garden tractor and 1992 boat. These having no fuel shut off, I put stabilizer in the tank and run it for about five minutes. It then sees the same treatment as the blowers, except the boat being oil injected do not need an oil change.

mrmikey · Apr 23, 2021

I still run a stabilizer in every can I fill because I never know when a peice of equipment will be done for the year and I don't want to have any surprises

Same here. I think we're good here in NS as far as ethanol goes, I check it every couple of months and haven't came across any ....yet.

I try to run most things out of gas

I'm of a different mindset LOL. I fill it up with stabilized fuel as always. Shut the fuel off, let it run for half a minute or so and then kill it. My thought is that by running it for a bit with the fuel shut off the needle and seat won't be constantly hard against one another and leaving a depression in either. The stabilized fuel remaining in the fuel bowl will stop things from drying out.
I bet if you ask 100 people how they shut down equipment, you'll get 99 different answers LOL...........Mike

ArlyA · Apr 23, 2021

In all our occasional use gas engines like the lawn mower, weed whackers and snow blower and even the 6x6. We keep seafoam in them all year areound which is less costly than having its fuel system cleaned out.