Ethanol Gas

[jrzmac]

I think anyone that owns a mini bike should watch this video. It's a small engine mechanic, and what he's seen in the last 2 or 3 years is incredible what this ethanol is doing to small engines. Not just Mini Bikes but Lawnmowers, Snowblowers, even Boats! And if you live in the Northeast like me, and have to put stuff away for the winter, if you don't treat the fuel before storing your machines, you can forget about starting the things come spring. I've actually been running the machines until all the gas was gone before putting stuff away. Now I've been hearing that thats not a good thing to do and that it's actually worse to do because it could cause rust on some of the metal parts, and cause and rubber parts like gaskets and fuel lines to crack and stuff. They're saying you should fill your tank, treat it with Fuel Stabilizer, let it run for ten minutes, then put it away. This guy say's to run everything at least once a month, maybe even every 3 weeks, just to make sure the gas is getting circulated, or the Ethanol in the gasoline will actually start to turn to water. I think this is why a lot of us are having carb problems lately. I'm on my second carb in the last 3 years?
Well watch if you want:

Talking About The Damage That Ethanol In Gasoline Does To Small Engines - YouTube

 

[Erok000]

I start mine about once a month and have been fine for 2 years.:hammer:

 

[rap2457]

A guy I work with told me to try Ethanol Shield which will eliminate ethanol problems,I use it in the summer and in the winter I use Stabil.My mower and snowblower always start right up.But I never had the carbs apart to see how clean they are?Ray

 

[smallbikes88]

I had a problem with a snowblower when i took the carb apart it looked like jelly inside it. We also had a problem at portland with our bikes running like crap, and checked the gas it was completely clear looked like straight ethanol?

 

[smallbikes88]

It really seems the only thing to do is drain the gas when your done, if stabil doesnt work we are all screwed. Can you imagin if we cant run our minibikes?

 

[buckeye]

Evinrude fuel stabilizer works good as well.

 

[jrzmac]

I've been runnig my stuff dry also, but I heard thats no good either? they say that anything metal might start to rust and anything rubber or plastic will start to turn brittle and crack so? your screwed either way I guess. I saw a video of a guy with a street bike and he was putting his bike away for the winter. he said to fill the gas tank all the way, then ad Sta-Bil to the tank. swish it around then run for like 5 minutes. Then just cover the bike and make sure you start it and let run about 10 minutes each month. I mean really, who wants to run out to the garage in mid January, and start playing around with the lawnmower??? and minibike? but I guess with the situation, and it's only gonna get worse I hear, you gotta do whatever you can to protect the equipment. I know all gas stations are running 10% ethanol right now, and supposedly, they're going up to 15%. That means we'll be out there every 2 weeks in the winter, starting our bikes!!! well maybe a quick ride around the block every couple of weeks wont kill anybody!

 

[Erok000]

I ride in the snow, so it was no biggie starting in mid Dec.:1orglaugh: As for my mower Stabil works good:thumbsup:

 

[metalhead100]

yea I bet it is doing more harm to the earth RE manufacturing items to replace those that get tossed out due to this rotting fuel....It also has less thermal energy (so your gas does less)........

They will slowly drive us to EP power by making IC engines to costly to run...

$4.00 a gallon ..... All we have done is allow the GOV (based on a scientific hypothesis ) to tax us to death....

Its all taxes folks....

Sorry rant over....flame suit on....

 

[buckeye]

You are not too far off.

 

[TomH]

They are making it sound like if we run 15% all our pollution problems will be over around here. Probably because nothing will run anymore.

 

[Adrenaline]

polution isn't benefitted much based on my understanding that alky's stoichiometric ratio is much lower. correct me if i'm wrong. as for additives my grampa started me using stabil plus Marvel mystery oil.

 

[metal man]

watching the vid i have to call some of what he is saying bullshit . granted the ethanol in the fuel does cause issues , but i have never seen any thing as bad as he is talking .
fuel lines drying up and braking in a few weeks ? sounds like then wrong lines used .
the ethanol in gas does have the pulling water from the air effect . also it is a oxidizer in that it is a semi mono propellant as most alcohols are . meaning in dont need as much air to burn , like nitro methanol . it does cause gas to degrade much faster and makes a mess , you cant store gas like you could years ago . but then the gas dont smell like gas any more , its like some nasty chem dump .
one thing i have seen with the gas around here is it seems to have alot of other shit in it . like some dissolved sludge and varnish as the color is funky every so often . it goes from a light yellow /white to a deep yellow and stinks , it dont smell like it should i have had runs that smelled more like lacquer thinner then gas and its fresh off the truck . :shrug:

 

[zeeman]

Yes, I've experienced problems with carbs lately from letting them sit for a while without any treatment. I was at a local independent motorcycle repair shop yesterday, and he said the best, and cheapest fuel treatment is from Lucas Oil. He gets it at Wall Marx cheaper than he can get it from his supplier. The same price for the competition's product comes in an 8 ounce bottle. With the Lucas, you get 16 oz. for the same price. Pretty sure he said Lucas. It had a flag on the bottle. Just one opinion out of thousands, I know, but he sounded convincing.

 

[zeeman]

Lucas Oil
This is the stuff I'm talking about.