After years of treating gas the same way two of my small engines refuses to start.

[4WD]

Our marina fuel prices are just ridiculous...3 times a regular gas station price.

I was getting E0 when passing through a town 50 miles away - sometimes that meant another $29 gas can …
Then this website steered me to our farmers coop that I never frequented …

Pure-gas.org - ethanol-free gasoline in the U.S. and Canada

Pure-gas.org is the definitive web site listing stations that sell pure gasoline in the U.S. and Canada.

www.pure-gas.org

 

[thastinger]

Our marina fuel prices are just ridiculous...3 times a regular gas station price.

That is odd considering there is no road tax on the fuel. Ours is a dollar a gallon higher

 

[PWMDMD]

I run a side business of fixing snowblowers in my area.
I stopped using stabil a while ago, I still get tons of people who have gummed up carbs even though they use stabil.
2 years ago I used startron enzyme stuff. Zero issues and zero gummed up carbs. My customers who also switched to it, I never hear from them any more.
FWIW.

So I changed the oil on the snowblower today and added some old gas just to see if it would start and it started right up but was surging. I added a healthy dose of Startron Enzyme and within 5 mins it smoothed out. I'm going to run the old gas out and then get some new gas + Startron for the season. Thank you for the advice!

 

[nicholas]

So I changed the oil on the snowblower today and added some old gas just to see if it would start and it started right up but was surging. I added a healthy dose of Startron Enzyme and within 5 mins it smoothed out. I'm going to run the old gas out and then get some new gas + Startron for the season. Thank you for the advice!

According to startron it takes 24 hours to fully rejuvenate old stale fuel.
Honestly it's the best stuff to de-gum a sticky or surging carb.

Anytime.

 

[Bearguy69]

I'm so annoyed right now. For years, I have been purchasing 87 octane fuel and adding Sta-Bil without any problems. I follow the directions on the packaging. It has been a few months since I used my ride on lawn mower and generator and today neither one would start. Last time I used them they started right up. A squirt of carb cleaner and they both turn right over for a few seconds meaning both carbs are probably gummed up. This fuel was purchased in the summer (I believe there is no ethanol here during summer months) and the Sta-Bil was added right away into standard plastic gas containers. I even use the fuel shutoff value each and every time I use the lawnmower and generator to make sure all the fuel is used up in the carburetor.

This happened after the first year I owned my snow blower 10 years ago and using the method above I have since had 10 drama-free years of operation and most of that gas was E10. I'm only buying 10 gallons of gas at a time and I go through that in less than 6 months. What the heck else can I do to prevent this situation? Is the Sta-Bil 360 ethanol and storage a better product?

87 octane with 10 percent ethanol is bad for small engines. You don’t know how old that fuel is coming out of the pump. The longer that E10 fuel is stored it’s absorbing water. And no fuel stabilizer can prevent phase separation. You probably just got a bad batch of fuel from the pump. It happens. That’s why I use Ethanol free and a fuel stabilizer.

 

[benjy]

ALL my carb'd small equipment gets NON ethanol gas!!! no stabilizers necessary!!!!

 

[PWMDMD]

ALL my carb'd small equipment gets NON ethanol gas!!! no stabilizers necessary!!!!

EtOH-free fuel does not exist in my area outside of Worcester airport and that’s not really a viable option.

 

[spasm3]

EtOH-free fuel does not exist in my area outside of Worcester airport and that’s not really a viable option.

Consider adding TCW-3 at 640:1 in your fuel before storage. I also crank my genset every 2 months and let it get hot. then shut the fuel valve off and let it die.

 

[spasm3]

Also, If your generator is low on fuel, you have 2-3 times more air that can have moisture, exposed to the fuel. I top off my tanks to full, before storage, less air exposure. I have had less trouble since doing this.

 

[Bearguy69]

In Washington state and Idaho all gasoline is a minimum of 10 percent ethanol even the premium. Unless it says ethanol free it’s not ethanol free. And even if the pump says E-10 it could be E-15. Best to either get ethanol free or buy the 4 cycle fuel in the can

 

[Bearguy69]

Non of those fuel additives stop phase separation if there’s ethanol in your fuel it’s going to absorb water. Watch project farm on youtube about it.

 

[brianl703]

In Washington state and Idaho all gasoline is a minimum of 10 percent ethanol even the premium. Unless it says ethanol free it’s not ethanol free. And even if the pump says E-10 it could be E-15. Best to either get ethanol free or buy the 4 cycle fuel in the can

It is a violation of Federal law to use E15 in small engines, marine engines, or vehicles made prior to 2001. A pump dispensing E15 must be so labelled:

 

[Bearguy69]

It is a violation of Federal law to use E15 in small engines, marine engines, or vehicles made prior to 2001. A pump dispensing E15 must be so labelled:

 

[Bearguy69]

Understand however the fuel truck can actually dump residual from one dump to another. And it has happened

 

[Skippy722]

Understand however the fuel truck can actually dump residual from one dump to another. And it has happened

We had a fuel truck driver say they’re not simply allowed to just “dump” a load however they feel, he has to get it cleared from dispatch and there is a paper trail the entire way. Not to say accidents don’t happen though.

The forum update kinda broke the quoting but there’s good info in this thread.

Fuel Tanker Driver Here

I drive a fuel/gasoline tanker for a living. Been a visitor of this site for years and thought I'd go ahead and create a profile today. Just by browsing through the forums, seems to be a bit of misunderstanding about gasolines and where/how they end up as the final retail product. I'm open for...

bobistheoilguy.com

 

[kschachn]

In Washington state and Idaho all gasoline is a minimum of 10 percent ethanol even the premium. Unless it says ethanol free it’s not ethanol free. And even if the pump says E-10 it could be E-15. Best to either get ethanol free or buy the 4 cycle fuel in the can

Do you have anything to support that statement? That could cause problems if true.

 

[kschachn]

We had a fuel truck driver say they’re not simply allowed to just “dump” a load however they feel, he has to get it cleared from dispatch and there is a paper trail the entire way. Not to say accidents don’t happen though.

The forum update kinda broke the quoting but there’s good info in this thread.

Fuel Tanker Driver Here

I drive a fuel/gasoline tanker for a living. Been a visitor of this site for years and thought I'd go ahead and create a profile today. Just by browsing through the forums, seems to be a bit of misunderstanding about gasolines and where/how they end up as the final retail product. I'm open for...

bobistheoilguy.com

Correct.

 

[Bearguy69]

Do you have anything to support that statement? That could cause problems if true.

At the pump it says it contains a minimum of 10 percent ethanol. That means it can contain more but not to E-15

 

[brianl703]

At the pump it says it contains a minimum of 10 percent ethanol. That means it can contain more but not to E-15

There must be some standard about what the acceptable range of ethanol by percentage in E10 is. I did a Google search and didn't find anything.

 

[Bearguy69]

There must be some standard about what the acceptable range of ethanol by percentage in E10 is. I did a Google search and didn't find anything.

That’s what I’m saying it could be 10,11,12,13 percent ethanol just can’t be less than 10 or equal to E-15.
That’s why I run ethanol free in my car and truck along with any of my small engine equipment.