Age old question, Winter Storage?

[Rickcin]

My neighbor, who does small engine repairs on the side, put fresh fuel (always ethanol free ) with Stabil in his lawn tractor before winter storage and runs the tractor around his yard to distribute the fuel and that’s it, he has never had a problem with start up in the spring.
That seems like the simplest method along with a trickle charger for the battery!

That said, I’m sure others have different methods as I’ve also called the shop where I purchased the mower and there recommendation was to either run it dry or add fresh stabilized fuel to the tank so obviously there’s more than one correct answer?

 

[Timbuktu]

I was once told that ethanol was a no no in small engines. Don't know if that's true or not.

 

[Rickcin]

I was once told that ethanol was a no no in small engines. Don't know if that's true or not.

Yes and I always use ethanol free fuel only!

 

[MarineBob]

I was told by many small engine people there is no issue with ethanol fuels other than if you have old (15+ years old or older) equipment, there is no issue other than long term storage. Older seals/gaskets were suseptible to ethanol deterioration and a lot of people think that is still this case....not true if the carbs/fuel lines are designed to tolerate ethanol fuel. As with many things, the no ethanol 'rule' has become another not needed restriction based on old impacts that mostly do not exist now. There is a long term storage issue that likely is irrelevant for off season storage of equipment, as long as the seals etc will tolerate ethanol. There is nothing wrong with using ethanol free fuel but you got to decide if its worth the effort to find, purchase and store it. In a way its kind of like the no lead fuel issues that got confounded when lead was taken out of gasoline. For the most part, unless you put on a lot of miles and drove your car hard, especially like for lightly driven collector cars the no lead was not really a significant issue. And the not too difficult fix for that was installation of hardened valve seats. Not trivial but not impossible.

 

[Gord Baker]

I only use ethanol free gasoline and I always add stabilizer. Last year I left the lawn tractor with an almost full fuel tank and it started right up in the spring but not sure if that’s the best thing to do?

With an almost full tank there is minimal air which contains moisture. Turn off or block Fuel line and run it til it stalls. You did good. The Lieberals have banned Ethanol Free fuel in all of Canada. Idiots.

 

[Gord Baker]

I was told by many small engine people there is no issue with ethanol fuels other than if you have old (15+ years old or older) equipment, there is no issue other than long term storage. Older seals/gaskets were suseptible to ethanol deterioration and a lot of people think that is still this case....not true if the carbs/fuel lines are designed to tolerate ethanol fuel. As with many things, the no ethanol 'rule' has become another not needed restriction based on old impacts that mostly do not exist now. There is a long term storage issue that likely is irrelevant for off season storage of equipment, as long as the seals etc will tolerate ethanol. There is nothing wrong with using ethanol free fuel but you got to decide if its worth the effort to find, purchase and store it.

You really don't understand the effects of Ethanol in fuel that is not used within 30 days. Your small engine people are after your money!

 

[Cajun power]

A few suggestions and a caution:

Smoking cylinders with standard engine oil and then hand spinning is a tried and true way to pickle an engine for storage.

Batteries will prematurely fail in cold temps. Remove battery and put inside out if cold ( in a plastic tray). Once a month put it on a battery maintainer.

Fuel in a carb is asking for trouble..regardless if you use stabilizers. Same thing with leaving in tank. Empty tank and use that fuel. Car? Something else.

Closing a fuel line shutoff valve to lar engine starve sounds like a good idea but there are some issues doing that.

A. You take the risk of having the vacuum collapse the fuel line.
B. Not all fuel is actually removed. Some will still be in carb and fuel line.

The better way to accomplish this?

Pinch off fuel line at fuel tank. Remove fuel line from fuel tank tank. (This assumes you removed fuel from tank as suggested above... otherwise do that first).

Zip tie fuel line up higher than carb


Open fuel shutoff valve.

Start engine and allow it to die from fuel starvation.

After engine dies, put fuel line back into empty and dry fuel tank.

Open carb fuel bowl, blast the anti back fire solenoid pin with compressed air then spray some wd40 directly into the anti back fire solenoid pin. Exercise the pin down and release 10 times with finger tip. Reassemble carb fuel bowl

Remove spark plug(s). Smoke a little engine oil (a cap amount(, then rotate engine by hand a few times. Replace spark plug.

Can be done in less than 1 hour. Will save many hours of frustration time and money in the next season and extend life of machine

God bless America

 

[Gord Baker]

A few suggestions and a caution:

Smoking cylinders with standard engine oil and then hand spinning is a tried and true way to pickle an engine for storage.

Batteries will prematurely fail in cold temps. Remove battery and put inside out if cold ( in a plastic tray). Once a month put it on a battery maintainer.

Fuel in a carb is asking for trouble..regardless if you use stabilizers. Same thing with leaving in tank. Empty tank and use that fuel. Car? Something else.

Closing a fuel line shutoff valve to lar engine starve sounds like a good idea but there are some issues doing that.

A. You take the risk of having the vacuum collapse the fuel line.
B. Not all fuel is actually removed. Some will still be in carb and fuel line.

The better way to accomplish this?

Pinch off fuel line at fuel tank. Remove fuel line from fuel tank tank. (This assumes you removed fuel from tank as suggested above... otherwise do that first).

Zip tie fuel line up higher than carb


Open fuel shutoff valve.

Start engine and allow it to die from fuel starvation.

After engine dies, put fuel line back into empty and dry fuel tank.

Open carb fuel bowl, blast the anti back fire solenoid pin with compressed air then spray some wd40 directly into the anti back fire solenoid pin. Exercise the pin down and release 10 times with finger tip. Reassemble carb fuel bowl

Remove spark plug(s). Smoke a little engine oil (a cap amount(, then rotate engine by hand a few times. Replace spark plug.

Can be done in less than 1 hour. Will save many hours of frustration time and money in the next season and extend life of machine

God bless America

Most fuel tanks are Vented.

 

[MarineBob]

You really don't understand the effects of Ethanol in fuel that is not used within 30 days. Your small engine people are after your money!

I can only express my experience.......how long has there been ethanol gas? 15-20 years? Never, ever, have had any issue with mowers, lawn tractors, snow blowers, chain saws, weed whackers........ I only started using some
Stabil a couple years ago because a neighbor was moving and gave me a couple of bottles. So I suppose others have had different experiences, but me? None, at all. Couple pulls next season and never an issue. Maybe I am just luckly. So, no one has gotten any of my money, and the last time I had repairs done by a shop? Let's see? That would be never. I recognize that if someone does not want to risk having to pay for repairs that are potentially caused by ethanol fuel, their lowest overall cost is paying for presumably preventive measures. i understand that, but my experience and common sense observations do not indicate ethanol fuels are all that bad if you use the fuel before it sits for long periods of time. 30 days seems trival as an issue in my experience. I have had gallon jugs sit over the winter in the garage when it didnt snow much and when put into the spring time ready to go lawn mower with its last fall gas, couple pulls and off and running. I guess everyone's experience is different. I have never heard a good explanation of why ethanol gas can't sit for a short while or why its bad in its fresh condition for any engine. The only explanations I have gotten is......I was told its bad......

 

[Law57]

I live in N MN. Extremely cold Jan - Mar. I just run my mowers empty. I do use premium non-oxygenated fuel. Never an issue.