Kerosine for Storage

[FXjohn]

why not just use truefuel?? and honestly if you're only storing it for 6 months you should be fine

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: lars11
Not kerosene, what made you think of that??


Was putting the last bit of kerosine in the heater the other week and thought... It's a light oil, doesn't really attract water. I even remember a thread here about a kerosene Briggs as well as saw a few Youtube videos of Briggs running on kerosine.

Sounded like one of those win win things. But I guess the practical side of the idea is not that great.

I'll probably stick with my StaBil + MMO and a full tank of gas for the 4 cycle and a can of Tru Fuel for the 2 cycle. Been working since 2008 and but I was looking for something maybe better.

Storage around here is more like 3-4 months as I just cut the lawn this afternoon and the first cut usually starts the end of March/beginning of April.

 

[lars11]

ok, while kerosene has some lubricity, bit like diesel, it's not at all as good as 2 stroke oil or maybe mmo. I think your previous practice with stabilizer or truefuel and oil is the way to go. It will work perfectly.
If there's a problem in spring, it's not because of fuel issues.

Don't forget to run for a few minutes and a light spray on the external parts too.

 

[Dean85]

Double dose of MMO, 2-cycle mix or Stabil will work just fine for storage.

 

[JimPghPA]

I have also been using the Sta-Bil spray can of fogging oil, but I spray it down the spark-plug hole and then put a clean paper towel or rag over the spark plug hole and pull the rope several times to get the oil all through the cylinder. I then put the spark-plug back in and pull the rope a few more times with the engine spark disabled. Then I slowly pull the rope and stop pulling on a compression stroke so the intake valve and exhaust valve are closed. With single cylinder engines this leaves the valve springs not in full compression. It is hard on springs to store them in full compression. Also with the intake and exhaust valves both closed there is much less chance of normal atmospheric air pressure changes causing air to move in and out of the cylinder, and possibly having moisture from the air condense out and accumulate in the cylinder.

I have found that the down side to using Sta-Bil the way I use it, is that after several uses, while the Sta-Bil is burning off when the engine is first started, some of it builds up on the white ceramic inside of the spark-plug and after about 6 times the spark-plug has to be replaced.

It would be interesting to know if people who spray the Sta-Bil fogging oil into the carb during the last minute or so of running end up with a fouled plug after a half dozen times or so. Can anyone comment about that?

 

[Darkfire]

Originally Posted By: steve20
get yourself some E-ZERO gas to run it the last 15 mins before storage.

^ This. 5-6 bucks for a can of Trufuel from a local hardware store is a good insurance policy. I'd also spray into the carb venturi with something along the lines of Sta-Bil Fogging Oil personally.
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
It would be interesting to know if people who spray the Sta-Bil fogging oil into the carb during the last minute or so of running end up with a fouled plug after a half dozen times or so. Can anyone comment about that?

I have, never checked the plug though afterwards. Mower seemed to run the same next time I used it.

 

[Fordiesel69]

Kerosene for storage works great for OPE. You just do not want the engine super hot when you run it. That is when the detonation occurs.

Upon spring startup, you will not get it to start on fresh gas as the carb will have a full bowl of kero. So the trick is to use a spray bottle mixed with gas / oil to get the engine going on the inital start.

Without detonation, there should be no engine damage and no oil dillution. Some older kohlers acutally run great on kero with just a tiny bit of power reduction. You just have to tighten the points from 0.20" to 0.13". My 1965 kohler k181 ran just fine with it.