Recent content by Smithsonite

80 & 100 are recommended by Amsoil right on the bottle - they leave it up to you to decide. They stake their reputation on it. Some people aren't comfortable with either and mix at 50:1 - that's fine - it's your money as I said. If you want to use double the necessary oil, totally fine. Same...

If it works, why not? As I mentioned many posts ago, I've been running the same Echo SRM-210 trimmer on it since 2003, trimming 2.5 acres of land, and going through a minimum of 1 tank per use (sometimes 2). I ran a small engine & auto repair shop for 14 years, and used it at 100:1 in all my...

I've run 100:1 in saws 40 years old. ONLY with Amsoil Saber, though. I wouldn't dare do it with much else ... aside from maybe one other brand whose name escapes me at the moment ...

Back in the day when carbureted cars did this, we called it "dieseling" ... because that's essentially what was happening - fuel was igniting by high compression caused by excessive carbon deposits, or igniting from glowing carbon deposits. Either way, it was no longer a spark-ignition engine at...

I'm betting on a fuel cap vent with asthma.

Only other thing if not carbon would be a piece of head gasket not machined correctly, sticking into the combustion chamber and glowing red. Actually one more thing. Wrong type of spark plug with the wrong heat range. If a projected resistor plug were to get hot enough it could definitely cause...

It also has MANY modifications. Carb mods, reeds, porting, pipes, higher compression, different pistons, crank balanced, etc.. I got the squish set within .001" of where I wanted it, and run the timing advanced farther than anyone else with the same bike dares. Runs absolutely perfect. I figure...

My RD350 consistently gets 38 MPG. I spent a LOT of time tuning.

They are the simplest, lightest, cheapest, and most powerful engines for their size. Zero downsides in my eyes. As a mechanic, I wish everything I owned was a 2-stroke, even the cars and truck! A V8 2-stroke would be an absolute powerhouse.

Really subjective, since it depends entirely on how the equipment was cared for. That said, as a lifelong mechanic, my 2-strokes last many times longer than the internet would have you believe. I can tune them by ear (whether it's a chainsaw or string trimmer, or a dirt bike / ATV or my...

After 14 years running a shop doing small engines and auto repair (mostly automotive towards the end), I quit AND got rid of all my modern junk vehicles. Whelp ... looks like this site doesn't like my pics either. (n) Replaced a '07 Silverado 1500 I bought brand new with a '93 Ram W250 with a...

Yep, I've seen that as well. Marketers years back always pushed that stuff as "ethanol resistant fuel line" - stuff was absolute garbage! I ended up doing my own research, and testing as it happened. Found Tygothane / Versilon clear hose in formulation C-210-A to be the best, truly...

Do it, or don't do it. Only matters to YOU. The first time you need the equipment and it won't start, and now instead of working on you or the customer's lawn you're tearing into a carburetor and fuel system for a cleaning, THEN you'll want to use E0. :) Another thing I've learned. Heat...

I ran a small engine shop for 14 years. 95% of my business was cleaning carburetors gummed up, corroded and / or destroyed from ethanol. My customers would say you're dead wrong with that opinion.

If you are near or in a state that sells E0 at the pump, that's the way to go. It's high $4 a gallon around here in NY, NH, VT, and ME.