Small Engine Tip

[JohnnyO]

Had my dad's snowblower up to the shop since it wasn't running well toward the end of last winter. Dude at the shop allows that small engine carbs aren't real fond of the reformulated gas we have now and he recommends using Sta-Bil in the gas ALL the time, not just when you're storing it. I ran a triple dose through my snowblower the other day since it had a similar problem (stalling when you take the choke off), although not as bad as dad's. Seems to run better now and without the choke. Come to think, my weed whacker was doing the same thing last summer.

Just an FYI.

 

[gwaii]

hmmmm....my lawnmower's been doing the same thing.i'll have to give it a try.

 

[shane96ranger]

I had the same thing told to me 2 winters ago. The damn thing wouldn't idle, so I called the guy my Dad takes his snowblower to. He said the detergents and such were the cause. I don't know about other states, but Utah gas now contains 10% ethanol, which I'm sure doesn't help matters either. He recommended I mix my fuel at 32:1 instead of the 50:1 it calls for, and it's been running great since that point. It also usually starts on the first pull, without the choke.

Oh, and nice avatar Johnny! What a classic movie that is!

 

[richlands55]

Mix lacquer thinner with your gas. Only use about 1 oz. per gallon. I have a craftsman pressure washer and it won`t run unless I do that.
I have mixed my gas like that for years and it makes a big difference. You can use it in 2 or 4 stroke.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

i just richen the fuel mixture.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Ethonal is the enemy for small engines, do not run it if you can help it. Ethonal varies wildly by percentage, even marked as E10. We recomend premium because it has the octane that our products require (89 minimum) and has no ethonal like actual 89 octane does in our area.

Just a little water in the fuel (like condensation) makes the ethonal seperate out from the fuel which goofs everthing up when you are trying to run on straight ethonal and water.

Also we recomend that you put some gas in your car before your little gas can, if the last guy got E10 (which has been noted to be as high as 30% ethonal) you are going to get quite a bit of that little can full of it before the hose gets cleaned out. (unless the last guy is like me and empties the hose in tank after I shut the pump off)

Winter isn't so bad for storage so it is fine to store trimmers and stuff with fuel in them, summer is the worst time for long term storage so it is best to store snowblowers dry.

Mixing richer will plug up your spark arrester screen if so equipt, which will cause a severe lack of power before it quits running. Some newer two strokes also have catalytic mufflers on them and may not appreciate it.

I just went thru the Echo carburetor class two weeks ago.

 

[COPPERHEAD85]

^^X100!
Ethanol mixed petro will not store well at all!
I hate that crap and as said above small engines hate it to.
The newer stuff may be better adapted to it that the older.
Toro,Jacobson,Sthil,Club Car and EZ-Go,been to school on all of them was a Equipment Manager at a Golf Course,say use good old pure Dino Juice.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Nothing two stroke really likes it, because when it seperates out your pickup (which is usually at the bottom of the tank) is sucking up ethonal rather than your fuel/oil mix.

Just about the best thing you can do if straight gas isn't an option is shake the heck out of it to try to remix everything.

 

[shane96ranger]

Sorry to threadjack a bit here Johnny, but is the 10% Ethanol mixture done in every state? Ethanol is the biggest farce. All of my vehicles get worse gas mileage with it, and I hear it costs more to produce than gasoline. It also is supposed to increase the chances of condensation in your fuel tank from what I understand.

Back to the original topic. I always shake the hell out of the can before I dump the mixed gas in my snowblower or weed eater. But it sounds like it may be a good idea to shake the can for my mower as well.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

Sorry to threadjack a bit here Johnny, but is the 10% Ethanol mixture done in every state? Ethanol is the biggest farce. All of my vehicles get worse gas mileage with it, and I hear it costs more to produce than gasoline. It also is supposed to increase the chances of condensation in your fuel tank from what I understand.

Back to the original topic. I always shake the hell out of the can before I dump the mixed gas in my snowblower or weed eater. But it sounds like it may be a good idea to shake the can for my mower as well.

E10 has to run slightly richer so thats why you get less mileage. im not sure on the production costs.

since ethanol absorbs moisture it attracts water into the tank, but i've never really had that kind of problem yet

 

[shane96ranger]

E10 has to run slightly richer so thats why you get less mileage. im not sure on the production costs.

since ethanol absorbs moisture it attracts water into the tank, but i've never really had that kind of problem yet

Yeah, I think the water thing would be more evident on a small engine. I wish I could get corn free gas!

 

[JohnnyO]

Yeah, I think the water thing would be more evident on a small engine. I wish I could get corn free gas!

True, also I'm not an expert I was just passing info along, but small engines still have carbs and non-pressurized fuel delivery (unlike modern cars) so fuel sitting in the carb and tank is usually going to sit a lot longer and gum up and cause more problems. Even my lawnmower is just going to get run once a week at most in the summer, the snowblower usually less (except for last winter ) so you're not going to go through the gas as fast. The more I think about it, the more using Sta-Bil all the time makes sense.

 

[shane96ranger]

True, also I'm not an expert I was just passing info along, but small engines still have carbs and non-pressurized fuel delivery (unlike modern cars) so fuel sitting in the carb and tank is usually going to sit a lot longer and gum up and cause more problems. Even my lawnmower is just going to get run once a week at most in the summer, the snowblower usually less (except for last winter ) so you're not going to go through the gas as fast. The more I think about it, the more using Sta-Bil all the time makes sense.

I wonder if Heet would work? It's usually cheaper than Sta-Bil.

 

[gribly]

I agree on the stabilizer in all your gas. If you want to cheap out, just run less of it per gallon. I have many small engines, my father and I own a lot of small boats, and I run stabilizer in everything, 2stroke or 4stroke. I also run them dry when I will not be using them for a while. For winter, I mix mystery oil into the last bit of fuel in the tank, and mist mystery oil into the intake when it starts to die out.

 

[JohnnyO]

I wonder if Heet would work? It's usually cheaper than Sta-Bil.

Heet is just dry gas to absorb moisture. I don't think it gets to the root problem, which is that the extra ethanol in the gas now makes it gum up sooner when it sits.