[Sailorsam]

a neighbor of mine is a mower/small engine mechanic and he tol me some stuff about ethanol gas.
egas starts breaking down in 3-4 weeks and eventually forms three layers. the bottom layer is the problem, degrading into something like varnish.
he said the big problem is the carburator. the stuff eventually turns into little gel balls that obviously clog the system and are extremely hard to remove.

he said the big thing is to keep using your gear, every week or two weeks.
gumout / ethanol treatment helps.
ethanol-free gas is available (costs more of course)

whatever you do, don't let your equipment sit over winter wi egas. drain it or run it till all the gas is gone (some people say this is bad for the engine, apparently not too much).

I'm sure some of youse have expertise in this area; was I misinformed or is this the straight scoop?

 

[padd54]

I agree with your neighbor. I use "clear" gas in all my small engines and boat. I wish I could afford it for my cars.
I hate e-gas and wish we could outlaw it!

 

[Sacajawea]

Yes, it's the straight scoop. We have to put additive in the boat gas tank, just for that reason. And with small engines, what's been helping I've found, is ye olde dry gas... if you forget and let something sit and it coughs and chokes on you.

 

[SnakeRanch]

I use REAL gas, LL100 aviation gas, in my generators, all small engines, and motorcycle. If you can use it it is available at any small airport. It is WELL worth the price. As far as small engines that require unleaded, they can be very easily made to unrequire it...

 

[lowlife]

Also etoh makes small engines run hotter

 

[mtn-marine]

Run some Mechanic in a bottle thru the fuel system and it'll clean out all the gunk built up by ethanol. If I have a piece of equipment that won't start I pour some into the carb and fuel lines. Wait 20 mins and it'll start right up.

 

[cwi555]

Never run that crap through any small engine I own. Its worth the premium price on 100% gas.

 

[BorntoVenture]

Never run that crap through any small engine I own. Its worth the premium price on 100% gas.

The problem is pure gas is getting hard to find in some areas. As of now the closest station that sells it in my area is ~22 miles away.

The other issue is the simple fact that the gas companies can't be trusted because no one is checking the ethanol content at the time of delivery. There is absolutely zero guarantee that the gas you're buying is really only 10% ethanol and not a much higher level.

 

[Sneeky]

Use PRI-G or Sta-Bil for ethanol gas. It will help.

 

[pastornator]

I ran the grounds department for a 120 acre campus and my oldest son is a service writer for a John Deere dealership that majors in landscape equipment -- skag, bobcat, deere, stihl, echo, etc., etc., etc.

Based on my experience your neighbor is 100% correct.

Pay whatever you have to pay for true pure gas without ethanol. When I was forced to run 10% ethanol, I was replacing about 30 carburetors and crank seal sets a year. That total dropped to less than 3 when I was able to procure ethanol free fuel from Stihl in 5 gallon cans.

Now that I've moved to Wisconsin (from Kentucky) where straight gas is easier to find once one gets out of the big cities, I eagerly shop for the good stuff. Just went out yesterday and started my White walk behind and my Craftsman 20 HP lawn tractor. Both started on the first try and ran like they did when I put them away last November -- no Stabil used.

HAPPY CAMPER! :

IF you have to run ethanol blend then find or order some of this PB BLASTER product. Worth its weight in gold for getting things running in the spring:

http://www.blastergroup.com.au/small-engine-tune-up.html

If the Blaster product won't get it running nothing will except new parts. :thumb:

 

[weaselrunner]

seems that I did not get all the gas out of our generator a couple years ago. could not get the thing to start even using ether. finally right before a hurrican came thru, we took it to somebody and was told it was the ethanol in the gas that caused the problems. He rebuilt the carb and it runs better than even when it was brand new.
He took over to his work bench and showed us one carb he was working on. When he pulled it apart, it spilled what looked like curdled milk of of it.. He said thats what the etho. does. He grew up in and came from the midwest and said how he hates the stuff because he's seen it and what it does for most of his life....

 

[last1standing]

this site comes in handy if your looking for good gas
http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=WI

 

[ManyFeathers]

Yes it does.

It's hard not to use the gas though. If I start having issues with anything, I'll pull the bowl off the carb and remove the needle and jet and clean them all out.

I've done this with several small engines and motorcycles

It's really simple. The best way is to run the engine out of gas before winter.

I've noticed plugs need to be changed a little more often too.

 

[beaner]

Pure gas does cost more but I have tracked the mileage and the improved MPG makes up for the difference before you start thinking about how hard it is on engines (especially small engines).