2 stroke oil to gas mix disaster

[Chris142]

I bought what I thought was a gallon jug of ethanol free gas. Measured out my favorite oil then added a little extra to Be safe. Was aiming for 32-1 ish.

Now looking at the can its not 128oz. It's 110oz.

It's for 4 stroke stuff so I ASSumed it had no oil in it but now that I looked it says that it contains lubricant.

Been fighting with my weed wackers a week now. Now I realize why.

Way too much oil.

 

[Astro_Guy]

Unless your weed wackers are > 10 years old they probably call for 50:1 fuel. Presently you are at 27.5 to one assuming 4 ounces of oil in 110 ounces of gas. Try thinning the mix to 40:1 and see what happens.

 

[Nukeman7]

Since you really don't know how much oil is actually in that mix, I would just start over again with fresh gas + VP Racing 2-cycle oil, even if it is 10% ethanol. The 2-cycle mixture won't have time to go bad sitting over the winter, now that it is Spring and you will be consuming it regularly.

As for the non-ethanol mix of unknown proportions, I suggest diluting it in a 5 gallon can of regular unleaded and using it in your mower, tractor or the Jeep.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

It's for 4 stroke stuff so I ASSumed it had no oil in it but now that I looked it says that it contains lubricant.

The attack of More ShrinkFlation!
Pretty soon a gallon will be 100 oz and the dawn of the Imperial metric-ish system !

Need picture of the can! Why would there be lube in it if it's pure gas for 4 Stroke?
Sometimes a bit more oil in the mix is bad as you are actually leaning out the A/F ratio.
I would throw the questionable stuff in the car as "a top oil" mix and start over. Remember you can phase separate E10 into E0 by adding water and shaking it, then let it sit for a few hours. You might add a few drops of Easter Egg food coloring to the water first - but the water gas line is usually clearly visible. Gas floats on top of the water.
Good luck.

 

[football]

You are doing more harm than good by running a weed wacker with more oil than 50:1. Assuming its modern and calls for 50:1.

More oil does not "lubricate better". All it does is increase carbon output. Carbon breaks off the top of the piston and scores the cylinder, decreasing compression and actually decreasing the life of your equipment, which is the opposite of what you were trying to accomplish with "extra oil".

 

[FowVay]

Give us some details. Did you add 4 ounces of oil (the 32:1 amount for 1 gallon of fuel) to 110 ounces of fuel already pre-mixed? What was the pre-mix ratio on the can? Was it a 50:1 or 40:1 ratio?

You can easily figure out how much fuel you need to add to your already blended concoction if you know how much oil is in the mix already.

Here's a starting point: If the can was 110 ounces of fuel mixed at 50:1 then it already contains 2.2 ounces of oil. If the can is a 40:1 fuel mix then it already contains 2.75 ounces. Which one do you have?

Let's assume you have 50:1 already. You added 4 ounces of oil to 2.2 ounces of oil already in the mix (6.6 oz total). This gives you a 17.74:1 mix ratio. To make this a 50:1 mixture you need 310 ounces of fuel mixed with your 6.2 ounces of oil. Since you already have 110 ounces of fuel, you should add around 200 ounces more fuel to your mixture and you will lean it back down to 50:1.

So, to make all of this simple and reliable, just add another 1.5 gallons of fuel to your mixture.

 

[Chris142]

The attack of More ShrinkFlation!
Pretty soon a gallon will be 100 oz and the dawn of the Imperial metric-ish system !

Need picture of the can! Why would there be lube in it if it's pure gas for 4 Stroke?
Sometimes a bit more oil in the mix is bad as you are actually leaning out the A/F ratio.
I would throw the questionable stuff in the car as "a top oil" mix and start over. Remember you can phase separate E10 into E0 by adding water and shaking it, then let it sit for a few hours. You might add a few drops of Easter Egg food coloring to the water first - but the water gas line is usually clearly visible. Gas floats on top of the water.
Good luck.

I guess some 4 stroke small engines use a mix like a 2 stroke? This is the fuel.

 

[martinq]

I bought what I thought was a gallon jug of ethanol free gas. Measured out my favorite oil then added a little extra to Be safe. Was aiming for 32-1 ish.

Now looking at the can its not 128oz. It's 110oz.

It's for 4 stroke stuff so I ASSumed it had no oil in it but now that I looked it says that it contains lubricant.

Been fighting with my weed wackers a week now. Now I realize why.

Way too much oil.

What did you actually buy? Brand / product / pics?

Thanks for the update. We stopped using trufuel early on as we had too many issues with it but most synthetic fuels are available mixed and straight. Need to read the label. If it says 4-Cycle on the can then it should not be 50:1 mix fuel.

 

[UncleDave]

Why would there be lube in it if it's pure gas for 4 Stroke?

The super fuel/ tru fuel/ Pure fuel labelling is all over the place on these cans.
The weed hacker 4 strokes dont have a sump so you still need to use mix.
Lots of shops just put the can on the self without saying anything to people.

 

[Chris142]

What did you actually buy? Brand / product / pics?

Posted above. Says lubricated too

 

[Chris142]

Give us some details. Did you add 4 ounces of oil (the 32:1 amount for 1 gallon of fuel) to 110 ounces of fuel already pre-mixed? What was the pre-mix ratio on the can? Was it a 50:1 or 40:1 ratio?

You can easily figure out how much fuel you need to add to your already blended concoction if you know how much oil is in the mix already.

Here's a starting point: If the can was 110 ounces of fuel mixed at 50:1 then it already contains 2.2 ounces of oil. If the can is a 40:1 fuel mix then it already contains 2.75 ounces. Which one do you have?

Let's assume you have 50:1 already. You added 4 ounces of oil to 2.2 ounces of oil already in the mix (6.6 oz total). This gives you a 17.74:1 mix ratio. To make this a 50:1 mixture you need 310 ounces of fuel mixed with your 6.2 ounces of oil. Since you already have 110 ounces of fuel, you should add around 200 ounces more fuel to your mixture and you will lean it back down to 50:1.

So, to make all of this simple and reliable, just add another 1.5 gallons of fuel to your mixture.

I thought of doing that but would hate to goof worse and burn the thing up. I dumped the mix already.

 

[martinq]

To keep it easier to separate the two, (mixed vs straight) we use Stihl MotoMix for mixed (2-stroke) fuel and Aspen 4 for straight (4-stroke) fuel. Using different brands helps to separate the two as the cost of using the wrong fuel it too high to risk it.

 

[Chris142]

Just got back from HD with this. Has good oil according to the can.

 

[martinq]

You are doing more harm than good by running a weed wacker with more oil than 50:1. Assuming its modern and calls for 50:1.

More oil does not "lubricate better". All it does is increase carbon output. Carbon breaks off the top of the piston and scores the cylinder, decreasing compression and actually decreasing the life of your equipment, which is the opposite of what you were trying to accomplish with "extra oil".

Yes, absolutely this. I would not recommend higher than 50:1 in any equipment requiring mixed fuel. Even 50:1 is a bit too rich if you're using a modern / quality mix oil.

 

[Nukeman7]

The Tru-Fuel 4-cycle Engineered fuel is 99%+ just a standard alkylate fuel according to the Calumet MSDS shown below. The "lubricant" content appears to be the <1% Naptha (hydrotreated light petroleum). As such, you can assume your mix is around 27.5 to 1 (i.e., 110 oz.gas + 4(+) oz. oil). You will need to determine how much of the original 114 oz. is still left in the gas can to calculate the amount of gas you need to add to get it closer to 40:1 or 50:1.

Just got back from HD with this. Has good oil according to the can.

View attachment 329361

That is a great choice of canned fuel from Home Depot. PowerCare is just relabeled VP Racing alkylate fuel at a cheaper price. Look above the barcode and you will see VP Racing Fuels printed on the can.

 

[doitmyself]

Just to sum up all the confusion here, the OP made three mistakes:
1.) The container of regular non-ethanol 4 cycle fuel he bought was 110 ounces, not 128.
2.) he confused the upper cylinder lubricant advertised on his labels as 2 cycle lubricant.
3.) He thought it was prudent to mix in "extra" 2 cycle oil to get a 32:1 mix vs. the recommended 50:1.

None of this is that complicated, but I can empathize with the situation. The perfect storm of bits of information gone askew.

 

[Chris142]

Basically.

I grew up on 2 strokes . The best oil I found was Torco GP7. And believe me I blew up a lot of engines to determine how good that oil is. Once I switched to Torco I no longer had engine troubles.

If trail riding I ran 40-1. If racing or blasting up sand dunes I ran 32-1.

That is why I prefer to mix my own. I need my stuff to last as long as possible. I'm in California and I can't simply run to a store and buy another gas powered Wacker. The idiot governor has outlawed all of those things with a small engines.

I tried battery powered ones and the battery life was not good enough for me.

A replacement gas powered anything involves a 5 hr 1way trip to Kingman,AZ where I can buy and smuggle them back home another 5 hr drive.

Even getting quality string for wackers is getting tough as HD and Lowe's no longer carry good string.

I may just be too stuck in my ways. The fuel I bought this morning did fix the bad running problem I was having. It sounded much better as soon as I started it.

 

[Japanese]

It's for 4 stroke stuff so I ASSumed it had no oil in it but now that I looked it says that it contains lubricant.

Been fighting with my weed wackers a week now. Now I realize why.

Yes, but it doesn't say how much lubricant it has. If it has 50:1 and you added 32:1 you should be now at 20:1, which is not that bad. Calculate how much more gas do you need in 110oz to bring 20:1 to 32:1.

Also, what do you mean that you've fought with the weeder? Also, make sure you don't idel too long with this mixture but use the weeder at WOT most of the time.
Don't dump the mixture because it's a healthy mix and could be used in motorbikes or other OPE too.

 

[Chris142]

Yes, but it doesn't say how much lubricant it has. If it has 50:1 (but we don't know that because it doesn't say it on the label), you may be now between 25:1 or 20:1, which is not that bad.
Also, what do you mean that you've fought with the weeder?
Don't dump the mixture because it's a healthy mix and could be used in motorbikes or other OPE too.

Things won't rev up with my mix. I put it in my jeep. The 50-1 is bought this morning made it run like new.

I know I could have diluted it but was afraid of making a bigger mistake.

 

[Fordiesel69]

You are doing more harm than good by running a weed wacker with more oil than 50:1. Assuming its modern and calls for 50:1.

More oil does not "lubricate better". All it does is increase carbon output. Carbon breaks off the top of the piston and scores the cylinder, decreasing compression and actually decreasing the life of your equipment, which is the opposite of what you were trying to accomplish with "extra oil".

Incorrect. 40:1 is the non epa agreed on mix for longevity. 50 is for emmissions. I'm too lazy right now to go back to my 2025 port and piston photos but there is no carbon. 32 and the carbon won't adhere you will just get a harmless liquid tan varnish the washes right off. 40:1 is the standard if you care about your equip.