Ethanol Gas and it's harmful effects

[justplain bill]

Am I the only one that hates ethanol gas? It seems it is always stopping my carbs up and especially doing a number on my neddles and seats. I just tried to start a murray push mower that I have not started in two years and it would not begin to start. I removed the carb and tore into it and I have never seen such a mess. It was full of a jelly like substance and even had a lot of corrosion on the metal parts. What the heck am I doing wrong here?

 

[Carscw]

What you did wrong was leave gas in the carb for two years.
Search the group for ethanol you will find more info then you care to find.

 

[bertsmobile1]

You and 2.5 billion other people.
Solution is to put a tap in the fuel line and running the carb dry,
Hand helds, tip out the fuel then start the impliment and again run carb dry.
I do about 50 ethanol carby jobs a season.
Them that listen never come back, those who don't make a contribution to my retirement fund annually.

 

[Rivets]

Even though I hate ethanol in the fuel, your problem is not the ethanol. It is poor maintenance on your part. Any time you are going to leave an engine sit for more than 30 days, drain out all the fuel, that includes draining the float bowl. You can now start hating me.

PS: I'm not going to get into the debate this time, been there --- done that.

 

[Mad Mackie]

Rivets is correct. Long term storage of auto gasoline has always been a problem, with ethanol, the problems just got worse.
The lead was removed, then phosphates were added which was destroyed countless thousands of engines. MTBE was next, which turned out to be a serious health hazard. Then the "beloved ethanol", not sure what will be next. During all this, the refining process of crude oil has changed several time in an effort to produce more gasoline from the same amount of crude. The process is "cracking" which produces a weaker but more plentiful amount of gasoline from the same amount of crude oil.
Just some food for thought!!!!

 

[bertsmobile1]

Cracking which quite simply put is breaking up the long chain molecules into smaller ones has been done for 100 years.
Fractional distillation was the first method of refining but all that does is to release dissolved octane from the heaver base oil which for most crudes is 4/5th of nothing.
Up untill the 60's the major aim of refining was to produce petrol with LPG, plastics and fertilizer as by products.
Now days plastics & fertilizers are the primary products with petrol as a byproduct.
Then there are all of the commercially valuable by products that have been deemed so dangerous you need a license to use them like Benzene, Hexene, Heptane , Tolluene & of course kerosene ( parrafin to some )
They now get used to dilute the slop we get sold at the pump.
Most of them can not be burned in a piston engine so we have to use an after burner to burn them in your muffler .
However the idea that you are paying for something that produces no power and is burned after it leaves your engine would make people cranky so it a master piece of PR Bull dust it got called a Catalytic Converter.
However its job is to render enviromentially safe stuff that should never have been put in there in the first place

 

[justplain bill]

Even though I hate ethanol in the fuel, your problem is not the ethanol. It is poor maintenance on your part. Any time you are going to leave an engine sit for more than 30 days, drain out all the fuel, that includes draining the float bowl. You can now start hating me.

PS: I'm not going to get into the debate this time, been there --- done that.

Thanks for the tip. Of course it's something that I already knew, but I'm 75 and just not as active as I once was and probably a little bit lazy also. I have several push mowers and three riders and sometimes I lose track of time. I probably just like to complain.
I don't hate you and thanks for setting me straight.

 

[reynoldston]

Just keep that ethanol coming, I say add more. It makes for more work and money in my bank account :thumbsup:

 

[577jersey]

Yup,,run them bowls dry,,then spray some WD40 or seasfoam into the intake while cranking the engine over a few times,,all your stuff will start for years to come...ethanol or not.
You may have to replace cheap rubber fuel lines every few years but thats no biggie.

I also recommend Lucas fuel stabilizer,,works real good.

Tom

 

[BlazNT]

I always run oil and gas mix for my winterizing. Drain all gas out of tank then add enough mixed gas to run for 2 min or so the run it dry and drain the bowl. I then take all the gas left over both mixed and regular and put it in my truck. Start with fresh gas next season.