Originally Posted By: MNgopher
It is just amusing to me see the same lines and stories put out there about how its always the fault of the ethanol when the folks I know who have rotten luck with that type of equipment always run non-ethanol fuels here, and still have the same issues. Food for thought...
I agree 100%. Most snowmobiles recommend, if not outright require, premium fuel. Up here, Shell, Esso, Petro-Canada, Coop, and even Husky/Mohawk (who introduced E10 here in the first place, long before any laws on the matter existed) market pure gasoline premium. Yet, these "ethanol related" problems still exist for people not using E10 in the first place. The other day, I was talking to one of the top small engine mechanics in this city. He was unaware that pure gas was still available if one buys premium.
I've run pure gas in my snowblower for as long as I can remember. I've also battled with that carb for as long as I can remember.
Originally Posted By: tommygunn
Thanks to Garak all I can hear is the faint whispers in the back of my memory of my father ranting about how fuel injection is manufacturers over complicating cars and how nothing will ever be easy to fix ever again and how we shouldn't fix a "good thing".
My dad was pretty old school when it came to mechanics, but he knew when something was going the way of the dodo. He was the first to cheer when points disappeared (and he could bury his timing light in a corner of the garage for much less frequent usage) and when fuel injection became standard.
Again, compare the automotive sector to the OPE sector. Despite subsidies and environmental cheerleading, the electric (i.e. rechargeable) car is still in its infancy. That's in no small part due to continual, incremental advances in the gasoline engine. They work better, work more reliably, require less maintenance, and generally consume less fuel than they did in the past, with a few hiccups here and there.
Look at the OPE sector. Rechargeable OPE is all over the place, and doing quite well. With respect to gas OPE, many things have remained unchanged in fifty years. Sure, they might put an electric start on a lawnmower or snowblower, but the engine and carb are the same as they were decades ago, if not worse.
Back in the late 1980s, my dad and I were bored on the farm one day after harvest. There was an old grain auger sitting in our scrap heap. It hadn't been run since around 1970. It was just dragged into the scrap heap and left there. We decided to get it running. We put in fresh oil, cleaned the spark plug, rinsed out the gas tank with fresh gas and refilled it, and poured a bit of gas down the carb. We started it with no problems, and it ran very well.
Try that with a "modern" piece of OPE with a 75 cent carb and fuel lines. Leave it outside, uncovered, with no Stabil, without draining gas, without fogging, and walk away for 25 years. See how easy it is to start.
But no, it's all ethanol's fault.