Non-Ethanol Fuel

[talbot]

For some reason 'clear' gas is readily available at local stations and marinas here in W. Oregon. Which is good, because I have never found the additives for ethanol to be effective. The carbs still get messed up. BTW, I don't think Sta-bil has anything to do with the alcohol problem. It addresses the issue of shellac-like gunk that forms in gas (ethanol or clear) that has to be stored for a long time.

[Wolverine]

I agree with your assessment of sta-bil. Also, sta-bil itself goes bad.

[JGrahamK]

I fully agree - run the carb dry if it's going to sit for a week or more, use pure gas with Sea Foam and keep the tanks full. Depending on how much I've used them, after changing the oil or at the start of the season I might squirt in some carb cleaner (Gumout) into the air intake on a running engine. I do this on my snowblower, outboard, pressure washer, chainsaw etc.  I never use ethanol gas in small engines. I've done this for years and the motors start first or second pull.

Note that there are 2 kinds of Sea Foam for fuel storage and fuel system treatment.  The Sea Foam Marine PRO in the cans with the green label is made for boats and marine use.  Although it's harder to find and more expensive, I prefer it to the Sea Foam Motor treatment in the can with the all red label because the red label stuff contains volatile additives.  The volatile additives are ok in my car or truck, which are designed to burn ethanol.  My thinking on the small engines is since I'm going to the effort to buy gas without ethanol, then why would I buy an additive that's only going to put other volatile stuff back in.

[Quantico Frank]

Thanks for the tip on Sea Foam Marine Pro and the post in general. I'll pick some up and use it in my outboard and the other stuff in the other small engines. I've pretty much decided to use pure gas in all of them at this point. When I went the half hour down to Fredericksburg, VA for my first batch, I thought it was interesting that the Southern States where I bought it was right across the street from my John Deere dealer.

[Quantico Frank]

$401 later, I have the snow blower back. The Troy-Bilt service center replaced the carburetor with a new one, and they said a "jet" had fallen out of it which you can't put back in and blamed everything on ethanol fuel including the jet that had fallen out. Anyway, I now have a functioning snow blower which should bring back global warming in my region, and none too soon. I'm now also a permanent devotee of non-ethanol gas and both types of Sea Foam. Thanks for all the advice!

[Riggerdood]

400 bucks for a carb?!?!? That's crazy! And I'm not buying the "jet fell out because of ethanol" schpiel. Ethanol is bad, and does damage, but not mechanical in nature like that. And where did that jet go? Into a cylinder?

Oh well, yes Frank, I'm guessing you've just guaranteed no more snow in VA's low country for a long time ... 

[Quantico Frank]

Yeah, Tim, I agree about the "jet." I actually think the big number is because they really have to take apart huge chunks of the machine to even get at the carburetor—- my neighbor and I found that out when we were trying to fix it ourselves. "Right to fix?" Apparently Troy-Bilt has never heard of it or hadn't when they designed this machine (of course they're still selling this model.) They told me that if that jet falls out, it's impossible to put it back in, and therefore, new carburetor. When I asked to see the carburetor they took out, they told me mine wasn't handy or would be hard to find, but they had another one in the office that was gunked up and showed me that one. I left negative feedback on the Home Depot web site, but my model has an overall rating of about 4.7 out of 5. When I checked the one star reviews (for the first time) there were a number of "wouldn't start after it was only used a few times" reviews.

[Riggerdood]

Wow, not exactly glowing reviews. That right to fix issue is actually going through the courts right now, I believe in the form of a class action lawsuit against John Deere.

[Quantico Frank]

I think John Deere may have already changed course to comply with it. Tell a farmer in Nebraska, 150 miles from the nearest dealership, that he can't work on his tractor himself, and you'll get feedback.

[Riggerdood]

Yeah, it's been a while since I've heard anything about the case. Not surprised at all if JD caved. Bad optics. (I'll skip the obvious Case vs. John Deere joke here.)