ethanol blend vs ethanol free gas in small engines

[BrightestBulb]

Ever since I started using ethanol-free gas and Seafoam my generator starts first pull no matter how many months of sitting. Before that all my stuff was always getting carbs cleaned or rebuilt and never fired when I needed them the most. As a previous poster mentioned I found the website https://www.pure-gas.org way back and found it a godsend to find the stuff no matter where.

 

[turbodog]

Ever since I started using ethanol-free gas and Seafoam my generator starts first pull no matter how many months of sitting. Before that all my stuff was always getting carbs cleaned or rebuilt and never fired when I needed them the most. As a previous poster mentioned I found the website https://www.pure-gas.org way back and found it a godsend to find the stuff no matter where.

After owning about 11 generators, and 6 currently, I can say that's 99% due to seafoam and 1% luck.

 

[markr6]

So quick summary as I get ready to use my mower one last time (mostly just to vac up leaves):

1. Change dirty oil now or in April? (4-stroke)
2. Run dry or fill tank with gas/stabil?

 

[KITROBASKIN]

turbodog, can you give us a brief rundown in terms of what percentage (or per gallon) of seafoam would you use for a motor that is probably gummed up, and what % and frequency used as a maintenance dose of Seafoam?

 

[turbodog]

So quick summary as I get ready to use my mower one last time (mostly just to vac up leaves):

1. Change dirty oil now or in April? (4-stroke)
2. Run dry or fill tank with gas/stabil?

In theory, you change it at both times. If you change it just once, then opt for springtime.

The idea is that daytime/nighttime temp swings causes the air inside the engine to expand/contract each day. The 'new' air each day contains water vapor which condenses as the temp drops at night. So... you supposedly have some amount of water mixed with your oil come springtime.

This is the same theory why you leave gas cans tightly capped (and to prevent evaporation).

 

[turbodog]

turbodog, can you give us a brief rundown in terms of what percentage (or per gallon) of seafoam would you use for a motor that is probably gummed up, and what % and frequency used as a maintenance dose of Seafoam?

Man I don't know. I read the label and sort of eyeball it a bit. I don't use for maintenance... only when there are problems, which 90% of the time is on the finicky carburetor on the eu2000 generator. My larger gensets don't have a problem so it must be something in the design of that particular unit.

 

[Poppy]

In theory, you change it at both times. If you change it just once, then opt for springtime.

The idea is that daytime/nighttime temp swings causes the air inside the engine to expand/contract each day. The 'new' air each day contains water vapor which condenses as the temp drops at night. So... you supposedly have some amount of water mixed with your oil come springtime.

This is the same theory why you leave gas cans tightly capped (and to prevent evaporation).

LOL... this is funny.

I had an instructor who used to say... "In my mind's eye, I am a vegetarian! On the other hand, I just had a steak that was wonderful." " Eventually I'll be a vegetarian."

So in my mind's eye, I change the oil every year, but I think every 100 hours is good enough, and with the frequency that I run my mower, that's about once every three years!
Regarding any build up of moisture, I just assume that the water will boil out of the oil, and for the most part the gas too.

There are some who will spray/fog the cylinders with oil prior to storage. I tried that once, and foolishly left the spark plug out. Ever since then my 7 hp snow blower smoked on initial start up, and behaved more like a 5-6 hp blower. At that point in time it was a 35 year old machine. My bad. Fogging makes some sense to me, and I would do it if I was meticulous.

But I think that you might have to change your spark plug too. Ah... too much work for me

 

[markr6]

Is stabilizer just for gas with some ethanol content? If I'm using 90 octane alcohol-free gas does it not apply?

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Is stabilizer just for gas with some ethanol content? If I'm using 90 octane alcohol-free gas does it not apply?

There are stabilizers for all sorts of fuels out there not just gasoline.

 

[turbodog]

Stabilizer helps all gas, regular/premium, straight/ethanol blend.

 

[idleprocess]

Stabilizer helps all gas, regular/premium, straight/ethanol blend.

As I understand it, gasoline is inherently unstable. I know this from experience, having allowed a vehicle to sit for approximately a year without cycling the gas tank and barely gotten it started to the point that I was able to add some gas and techron into its tank so that it stood a chance of running properly. What I pumped out of the tank had unnervingly varnish-like properties.

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

This is what I'm-a gunna do -

 

[joshk]

I worked as a mechanic for years back in high school. We had customers that would never buy a drop of gas with ethanol, and others that ran it all the time. There was only one difference I noticed... The people that never bought ethanol constantly ranted about how their issues were just normal maintenance, and everyone else's issues were because of ethanol. lol.

 

[idleprocess]

I worked as a mechanic for years back in high school. We had customers that would never buy a drop of gas with ethanol, and others that ran it all the time. There was only one difference I noticed... The people that never bought ethanol constantly ranted about how their issues were just normal maintenance, and everyone else's issues were because of ethanol. lol.

In automobiles, I gather that ethanol causes a narrow handful of specific problems in older cars. i.e. I've heard that the circa 1990 300ZX twin turbo experiences greatly accelerated (haw!) injector wear when one switches to ethanol gas ... but at the point this was reported those cars were already >15 years old, factory turbo systems were nowhere near as mature as they are now, and their drivers tend to drive them assertively.

Otherwise, as has been oft stated in this thread, atrophy is an issue with engines that aren't used with the regularity of most cars.

 

[Poppy]

I finally got to working on my blower today.

Actually some time last week I pulled the magneto and brought it to a shop hoping for a replacement. I was unable to find one online. They didn't have one, and wished me luck.

Since it was so rusted, I decided to clean it up a bit so that it would make a definite ground connection. I now had spark.

It would put put on gumout or starting fluid, so today I pulled the carb, and checked the diaphragm fuel pump as turbodog suggested. I pulled and cleaned the float valve, and the needle valve. If that didn't work I'd get a carb rebuild kit, or a whole new carb, like chance suggested.

Now it starts and runs.

It is so loud that I won't run it without hearing protection.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[greatscoot]

I used to get ethanol free gas at a station in Michigan, my mileage was easily 15-20% better.

 

[orbital]

+

Poppy, you make me want to go out and fix something


motivate by example!

 

[Poppy]

LOL orbital,
Come on over! A couple of days ago my next door neighbor asked if I knew anyone who could work on a snow blower?

I'll put in a good word for you :devil:

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

A snow blower. That's one tool I'm thankful I don't need. .........

 

[Poppy]

Yesterday we got nearly 2 feet of snow.
I did a lot of snow blowing. My house was the easiest. I have a shorter driveway, and no sidewalk on my side of the street.
My next door neighbors were in Florida for the week, visiting an elderly parent. They left behind an adult daughter, her grandmother, and a dog. She got instructions from her dad on how to start their snow-blower, but couldn't figure out how to get the gas out of the gas can, with one of those new fangled safety nozzles. So she was shoveling.

I showed her how to do it and helped her get the blower running, and in the mean time used my blower too.
I ran my tank dry.

She had gas, but I didn't know if it had stabilizer in it, so instead, I walked home and brought back a 2 1/2 gallon container with stabil in it. OMG... until we started discussing it in this thread, I would not have given it a second thought to just use her gas!

I think I am ruined.