Somehow my wife and her son got it in their heads that they need to spend $20 a gallon on special ethanol free fuel for their new Yamaha pressure washer. I'm telling them they can use pump gas just like I do with with every lawn mower I have ever owned. I think the gas I buy (top tier) is E10 as mandated in California. Is the use of pump gas going to ruin the pressure washer as they think?
E10 pump gas ok for Yamaha pressure washer?
- Thread starter Dave1027
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If it's going to sit around for any length of time then they are right to use ethanol free. It's maybe not as bad where you are but here where we have winter and summer with snowblowers and lawnmowers etc that are only used occasionally and only half the year....seems like most people end up with carb issues.
I use ethanol free in everything and haven't had issues. My father in law has had issues with almost all his outdoor power equipment and his motorcycle. I guarantee he doesn't put anything but regular 87 in.
I use ethanol free in everything and haven't had issues. My father in law has had issues with almost all his outdoor power equipment and his motorcycle. I guarantee he doesn't put anything but regular 87 in.
If it was 30 years ago we wouldn't have to worry about the ethanol fuel going bad after sitting a few months in the shed.
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?????
I have used 3 year old up to 10% ethanol gasoline with out problems in my ope with out the use of extra additives with out any problems.. It would seem marketing works or my ope is special.
I had 2 motorcycles where ethanol ruined the needle and seat and caused the bowls to continue to fill. One overflowed through an open I take valve and filled my crankcase with gas. And yes the petcock was closed but the ethanol ate the seal on that as well. I fixed the carbs with viton replacement parts, and sourced an NOS petcock.
I now use ethanol free gas ( VP Fuels $$, no ethanol free gas pumps in RI) or drain the tank and carbs before putting my bikes away for the Winter.
I drain all my OPE before storing for the season. Any motorcycle, marina, or OPE repair shop can tell you all kinds of ethanol stories. Also one of my bikes has a plastic tank- ethanol left in the tank releases water and the tanks can swell.
AFAIK ethanol is ok for DD, but not for anything stored for more than a month or 2.
I now use ethanol free gas ( VP Fuels $$, no ethanol free gas pumps in RI) or drain the tank and carbs before putting my bikes away for the Winter.
I drain all my OPE before storing for the season. Any motorcycle, marina, or OPE repair shop can tell you all kinds of ethanol stories. Also one of my bikes has a plastic tank- ethanol left in the tank releases water and the tanks can swell.
AFAIK ethanol is ok for DD, but not for anything stored for more than a month or 2.
Ethanol is hygroscopic so it attracts water if it just sits around. Limited shelf life.
I have a small collection of gas powered tools, all 4 stroke, and all seasonal. When I put gas in the gas can, it gets dosed with stabil. Thus, every small engine I own always has treated gas in it. Ever since i started handling it this way, I haven’t had any more fuel-related issues. I probably don’t use quite the full dose... maybe half to 3/4.
If you have no choice other than using Ethanol, use it. Be prepared for problems eventually. If I work on your small engine, I can immediately (immediately) tell if you are running Ethanol in it. No ifs, ands, or buts. It leaves white, crusty deposits that are unmistakable. That white stuff quickly clogs small passages in Chonda engines (and some Hondas and Briggs) enough to make them run rough, and sometimes not at all. It also erodes any rubber in your carb over time, and seems to attract water. Now, that all being said, a Yamaha product is very, very hard to mess up. It would probably run on year old gas like it had been pumped into your can fresh yesterday. Kind of like Honda (mostly), Kawasaki, Suzuki; all superior quality small engines. AND, don't let anyone tell you Stabil isn't a decent product.
On a different note, it you have old gas and want to get rid of it, put it (not if it's riddled with water) into your car. It will burn fine as long as you're not putting it into an empty tank.
On a different note, it you have old gas and want to get rid of it, put it (not if it's riddled with water) into your car. It will burn fine as long as you're not putting it into an empty tank.
I am fortunate to have a convenient and economical source of 89 octane E0 which I purchase five gallons at a time. Normally I treat it with Stabil towards the end of the season so that there is treated fuel sitting in the tanks over the winter. As others have said, if you must use E10 you would be well advised to treat it with Stabil.
I will confess to using the $20/gal. premix 50:1 E0 in my 2-cycle stuff as I generally don't use more than two quarts per season. That changed this past year due to some heavy use of the chainsaw and the addition of a 2-cycle snow blower. We had five inches of snow yesterday which the 2-cycle snow blower handled easily. Right now I am looking out the window at a dead tree that will require a gallon of fuel to cut up, so I may rethink this and go back to mixing my own soon.
I will confess to using the $20/gal. premix 50:1 E0 in my 2-cycle stuff as I generally don't use more than two quarts per season. That changed this past year due to some heavy use of the chainsaw and the addition of a 2-cycle snow blower. We had five inches of snow yesterday which the 2-cycle snow blower handled easily. Right now I am looking out the window at a dead tree that will require a gallon of fuel to cut up, so I may rethink this and go back to mixing my own soon.
not sure I'd spend $20 / gallon to get ethanol free fuel, but if it was a marginal increase like it is here in Iowa I buy the ethanol free. I've had too many rough start and running issues prior to going to E0.
Just my $0.02
Just my $0.02
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My feeling also. I would go electric before spending $20/gal on fuel. I almost hate to spend the 30cents per gallon extra for the E0. But I do it for the OPE, and the classic cars that sit all winter. Gas is starting to get expensive again. Regular E10 is 2.659/gal now, and seems to be going up fast lately
I'm lucky that I can can get E0 REC90 nearby so I use that, but prior, I would just use pump gas all summer when the equipment is running weekly, and cycle in E0 at the end of the season when it would be sitting for several months.
It really depends on the quality of the fuel lines and seals/needle+seat.
Many modern brands of OPE are tolerant of 10% ethanol fuel, and the manual will often state the requirements. But as noted above, if it sees infrequent use, a better choice is VP-C9 or Sunoco Optima. Both are E-free and last forever.
Remember, pump gas of any sort, even E-free, cannot be counted on to last all that long. You might get a good batch that lasts for years with the addition of Stabil, or you might not.
I purchased some 93 octane, 10% ethanol fuel for my generator, added Stabil and let the fuel sit. After 4 months, it was clearly going rancid. I made sure to use that stuff up right away on a few highway trips.
Many modern brands of OPE are tolerant of 10% ethanol fuel, and the manual will often state the requirements. But as noted above, if it sees infrequent use, a better choice is VP-C9 or Sunoco Optima. Both are E-free and last forever.
Remember, pump gas of any sort, even E-free, cannot be counted on to last all that long. You might get a good batch that lasts for years with the addition of Stabil, or you might not.
I purchased some 93 octane, 10% ethanol fuel for my generator, added Stabil and let the fuel sit. After 4 months, it was clearly going rancid. I made sure to use that stuff up right away on a few highway trips.
This notion always amazes me. We constantly have people on here carping about the damage E10 does to OPE, yet it has been in use for what, 30 years or more? One would have thought the OPE industry would have caught on by now just as the automakers have done.
I have lived in an EPA nonattainment area for over two decades so we cannot purchase anything but E10 here even at the Milwaukee Marina. So far I've had little problem running it, even in my 28 year-old lawnmower and 21 year-old snow thrower and garden tractor. I don't always drain the remaining fuel after each season so often it sits until the next use and I don't use a stabilizer or any other additive.
I'm not excited about using the fuel mind you, I'd rather have the higher BTU content of E0. But it just hasn't been my experience that it has killed every piece of OPE I've ever owned, nor do I understand why if there are brands out there that do disintegrate the manufacturers haven't done something to cope with this ubiquitous fuel.
The ethanol free folks seem to me to be cut from the same cloth as the top tier gas folks.
I've never had an issue using E10 gas and never had an issue using non-top tier gas in anything.
I only think about it when threads like this pop up occasionally.
Maybe I'm just lucky like that.
Or maybe neither is the condition that many make them out to be.
I've never had an issue using E10 gas and never had an issue using non-top tier gas in anything.
I only think about it when threads like this pop up occasionally.
Maybe I'm just lucky like that.
Or maybe neither is the condition that many make them out to be.
