Recreation fuel

[85_Ranger4x4]

That's interesting, I always heard that mixed 2 stroke oil has a reduced shelf life. I'm not sure if that's true or not, I always mix small amounts as needed.

Good two stroke oil has fuel stabilizer mixed in it.

Generally I avoid ethanol in anything with a carb.

 

[rumblecloud]

The original issue reads like dirty fuel filter, not "bad gas", or clogged vented gas cap
Is it a Gravity feed fuel system?

Thank you RonD for the detailed explanation. That helps a lot as well moving forward.
To answer a couple of questions, it does have an electric fuel pump and I changed the small in-line filter when I first started having the problems. Fuel delivery was my first check. Bad gas was going to be my next check and then the carb. Hopefully the gas is/was the issue, but we'll see over the next few times out. I do recall last summer I added about 8 gallons of regular fuel and it seemed to run quite well for the remainder of the summer. This year was the first year it was left out all summer and winter. I'm sure that had an effect on the condensation in the tank.

So we'll see...

 

[sgtsandman]

Same here. A gallon at a time. Started my 18 inch Stihl yesterday to loosen up a felled tree. Tried the smaller 14 but it was a no go. So I have to go out today and get that one going.
never ends.

I’ve found that running the engines in power equipment with gas in it at least once every three months helps with starting issues.

That was driven by the requirement in one of my generator manuals. If I didn’t do it at least every three months for at least 20 minutes, the warranty would be voided.

Of course, they have fuel shutoff valves and I run them dry after the periodic run. So, that probably doesn’t hurt either. That and I hook up a halogen work light set and give them a good work out.

The chainsaw rarely sits for more than a month. So, it starts pretty easily as well.

 

[RonD]

I added an inline shut off to my lawn mower, gravity feed, and run carb dry before storing it for the winter
Although I got pretty good at cleaning the carb every spring, lol, just got bored with doing it

With other more portable equipment, i.e. chain saw and weed wackers it easy to drain the tanks and then run them dry
But many of these have sealed tanks, so fuel can last a long time in them

 

[19Walt93]

I use regular 87/10% ethanol pump gas in all of my equipment EXCEPT two stroke stuff that will sit unused for a year or more... then I either use premix fuel or dump it all out and let it dry. Supposedly premix is good for 5 years and so far that seems to be true, I have yet to have it go bad but it's expensive.

Sta-bil is a bad deal if you let it sit in a tank too long... you think dried up ethanol is bad... wait till you get to try cleaning out red goop.

The Marine Stabil is green and is intended for use in E10-15. Old gas of any flavor isn't good.

 

[RobbieD]

Old gas of any flavor isn't good.

That's OK. When it comes to recreational gas, I'm really not a connoisseur, so I don't drink it just for the taste.

The Marine Stabil is green and is intended for use in E10-15.

That sounds great for St Patrick's Day!

 

[JohnnyO]

I know the difference between regular gas and recreational gas and what it is supposed to be used for, but would like your opinions.

I have a 72 Ford 5000 tractor. I normally use regular gas. Not sure of the ethanol content. It runs fine or did until last summer. It would start fine and run for about a half hour, then stall. It would start up again, but stall immediately. If I waited a while, it would start and run for about a half and the process would repeat. Son-in-law suggested the gas was bad and that I should use rec gas. I drained the tank (about 7 gallons) and replaced it with a couple of gallons of rec gas ( didn't want to use too much in case I had to drain it again. Started and ran it for about an hour dragging in some felled trees for firewood and it ran good.

While I agree that the gas could have been bad, I'm not sure about the use of recreational gas. Does regular gas have a shorter tank life than rec gas or something like that? What's your take on it.
Thanks.

When I had to get a new carb I was told by the mower shop that ethanol in the gas evaporates quicker and leaves a gummy residue in the carb in engines that aren't run regularly. Modern cars have EFI and much higher fuel pressure and aren't bothered by it. Mower shop told me to put Sta-Bil in the gas all the time, not just for storage. Haven't had any problems since in the mower, snowblower, jet ski, or generator.