Ethanol and small engines... GRRRRRR
 

I've always gloated about the fact that Montana has not had ethanol in its gas. Its something I've been battling with in California for years. My carb'd bikes can't sit for more than a couple weeks without the pilot jets clogging up. That means a carb teardown and clean.

So now we have ethanol and I'm having to think about how to protect all my bikes, snowblower, mowers, etc. My new Husky 54" riding mower quit running on one cylinder a few days ago. I tore it down and found the pushrods popped off the rockers. Stuck valves. I'm guessing because of sitting all winter with 10% ethanol fuel.

So, what say ye.... Marvel Mystery Oil? Stabil? Any experience with this?

I vote Stabil. Or use TruFuel in your yard equipment. Lowe's has it typically but here are the options on Amazon:
Amazon.com: trufuel

We've been running pri-g in our waverunners. Supposed to be way better than stabil. I will say we let it sit August to may with a full tank and it fired second crank...


But we don't get etoh in ok. ;)

Yep, we try to only run leftover jet fuel in the lawn mower/generator, buy the premix stihl for the weed whacker and we only buy non-ethanol for the boat at the marina.

Motion, the best thing is to put a drain valve on the tank. Then run the engine out of fuel to shut it down. I'm doing this on my new power washer.

While it is a pain when you own as many small engines as I do, I try to remember to siphon the crap ethanol fuel from my seasonal use equipment at the end of the season and replace it with some avgas and run it long enough to get it through the fuel system. Avgas will last several years and never clogs pilot jets. Last time I fueled up my airplane, it was selling for $6/gallon.

I have also tried Stabil, but I don't think it can always prevent the dreaded chore of pulling tightly wedged in multiple carb banks from motorcycles to microdrill the clogged pilot jets.

I HATE ethanol crap!!!!!!!!!:mad:

There was a thread about this a year or so ago from Vinny with lots of posts in case you want to search for it, Richard.

I'm dealing with this as well with all the carbed stuff I have including the 356.

I got a whole bunch of carbed power equipment - trenchers, augers, hand-held power tools, cars, boats, motobikes, you name it.

I've used Stabil and had good success but am also trying Seafoam out at the moment. Bottomline I would say is to try and find gas w/out ethanol....

I'm with you brothers. Ethanol is EVIL!

Ethanol is the spawn of the devil. The stuff trashed every piece of power equipment I own. Not counting the huge amount of damage it did to the fuel system on my Polaris PWC. All my stuff either gets Stabil ethanol treatment or it gets run dry.

We run this stuff in all our firefighting saws and power equipment. Expensive as hell but its worth it.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369877425.jpg

Lots if gas stations sell Ethanol-free gas. There's an iPhone app to locate them. My Duc has never had ethanol in its tank. Mowers, blowers, etc all get pure gas.

It's probably tough to find ethanol-free gas in SoCal. Perhaps at one of the marinas?

Not sure about Cal, but I thought 93 - 94 Octane was ethanol free. Small price to pay considering the cost of machinery repairs these days.

Our 93 octane contains ethanol

I had the stuck valve issue in my Briggs V twin engine. It was at the end of the season running on all Dino gas. It's a design/materials flaw in the engine.

Not here. 10% ethanol

I thought I learned (herein) that Stabil Marine was the way to go. No?

Seafoam rated pretty well in a Practical Sailor review recently, sort of the consumer reports for sailing. I use the stuff in just about everything, unless I forget, and so far no issues.

Good luck Jim. I run race gas in my 930 when I can get it from my friends. I am not sure how much will it screw up my car. OUr 93 octane gas is garbage.

Not in Ohio.... A couple marinas that are over an hour away on Lake Erie or Avgas is the only non-ethanol anywhere close to me.

:eek:

The loggers in NH use startron in their 2 cycle fuel....... we put it in the sleds, mowers, pretty much all small gasoline engines now. My 2000 A6 2.7T pops a CEL light with out it.....

For some reason the Porsches don't seem to need it, but the Harleys get some.

Places that repair small engines love ethanol gas. Cleaning carbs, replacing fuel lines, etc. Good for business.

Locations for ethanol-free gas in your area (state):

Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada

Find ethanol free gas near you!

In my city 2 marinas are listed. I'll check into those later today and report back the price and purchasing details....

Go to pure-gas.org and you will find 150 gas stations that sell ethanol free fuel in Montana.

None in SoCal

Has anyone tried using whitegas (naptha, coleman fuel, etc) for storage? That stuff seems to keep for years and it has no additive. It is a lousy fuel (50-60 octane).

Yep, I have two items - my mower and my trimmer. I don't have the best storage options for them. I keep the mower out in the open on the side of the house. I need to get a cover for it. I've had to clean out the carb a number of times and have gotten to the point where I start it up on Wednesdays just to make sure it's good and I keep as little gas as possible in it. I'll start buying that gas in the cans now though I think.

I love engines.

I hate ethanol...

I looked up the Stihl pre-mixed fuel. It says it's ethanol-free and will last two years UNOPENED. I think I'll buy some, but it's not cheap.

$7~$8 per 32. oz container = $28~$32 per gallon. I go through maybe 12 to 15 gallons per winter. The butt puckers at that thought. But I'll try some anyway. I just clogged two of my best chainsaws last Memorial Day weekend, removing the Tree From Hell from a buddy's yard.

I converted my Briggs mower to run on E85 three years ago. It has spent this winter sitting in a shed with tank full of E85. It started yesterday w/o problems. I just had to prime it a bit longer.

My 200kmiles Audi UrS4 got converted two years ago. I had to beefen the ignition and install larger fuel pump. Other that cold starting issues, it runs like a champ.

Ethanol is great! 104 octane, clean burning and in these neck of woods, slightly cheaper per mile than gas.

Not here. It is maybe 10% less expensive and has about 30-35% less energy.

I've been reading up on ETBE. It has better characteristics than ethanol, and does not absorb water.

I stopped at a station today selling 110 octane ethanol-free gas for $7.99 a gallon.

And those websites posted earlier for ethanol-free gas stations are not up to date.

The web sites that show local stations near here as having ethanol free gas always point to BP stations. Does the BP gas (apparently the same as Amoco Ultimate or "BP with Invigorate") contain ethanol? It doesn't say one way or the other, but the premium is 93 octane. Web searches aren't clear....some people say that gas is ethanol free, and others say it is 10%. There are a handful of BP stations within 10 miles from me where I can get this gas, but my suspicion is that it has ethanol. If so, who is auditing those pure-gas web sites and the iPhone app which shows it as ethanol free as well?

Talking Kansas City area here....

Thanks,

JA

You can add a very small amount of sysnthetic 2-cycle oil to lawn and garden equipment. There is no cat and it wouldn't shut down the engine anyway if there were.

Or order some VP