Two Cycle Woes

[Waitone]

My daughter has 2 two cycle engines:  Bolen string trimmer and Dewalt blower.  For the longest time they attempted to run on ethanol and the requisite 2 cycle oil with zero success.  I got smart and mixed up a gallon of real gas and oil and the engines ran swimmingly.  Finished the job and put the tools in the garage.  Next week I pulled the tools out and fired them up . . . . or tried to fire them up.  They went back to acting like they were running ethanol, just would not run.  I know they had real gas in them because I put it in.  The only difference is the real gas stayed for a week in a tank that used to contain ethanol.

Any ideas out there on what's going on?

[Gewehr98]

Acids/varnish from the intro of petroleum fuel to residual ethanol.

The internals of my Flex Fuel 2.2L Chevy S-10 are nitrided by GM due to acids forming.

[Waitone]

Any way to clean it out?

[Jim147]

Try some Seafoam in the gas mix.

jim

[230RN]

 I've got a little 2-stroke standby generator, the only 2-cycle I own.  I was concerned about gassing it up with pump gas + 2-cycle oil.  I happened to find pre-mixed fuel and oil at Ace Hardware in a sealed container.  I got two cans of 50:1 for the generator.

Brand:  Trufuel
Product Code: 8   75750  00009   5
Website: http://trufuel50.com/default.aspx
The actual fuel in it is CAS# 8006-61-9

Comes in several mixture ratios in a 32oz well-sealed can, advertises as having no ethanol and "Does not degrade/oxidize like typical gasoline.  Great for long-term storage" and is "Benzene-free."

I kept one can in the house to test (by smell) to see if it leaked.  In a year now, it hasn't.  As a torture test, I keep a can of it in the car which gets to pretty high temperatures in the dead of summer, and I haven't sniffed anything coming out of that can, either.

A little pricey, but for the amount used in small tools, the convenience and safety is well worth it to me.  Might be for you, too.  Beats running around to airports and marinas to find ethanol-free gas.

I have no affiliation with either Ace Hardware or Trufuel.

Terry. 230RN

[charby]

A problem I had with some 2 cycles is that after sitting for a while the gas would evaporate out of the carburetor and the oil would remain, over time this excess residual oil would clog up the fuel/air jets. Sometimes the entire fuel tank would drain through the carburetor.

I fixed this problem by putting in a fuel shut off valve and running the carburetor dry before storage.

[Kingcreek]

I have several 2 cycle engines in use. The oldest is a 1973 Johnson Silver Anniversary 6hp outboard (still looks like new and used every year). I got it out of the barn and put fresh fuel in it last weekend. It started on the third pull and ran like a sewing machine. The secret is as stated above. Drain and run them dry or run a little seafoam thru them. It is entirely a fuel issue. My chainsaws and weed trimmers work fine if I run them at least once a month or drain them and run them dry for longer storage. I avoid putting any of the evil poison ethanol juice in them.
And I never ever use last years fuel. Any mix that isn't used in the chainsaws during the winter gets tossed before spring.

[charby]

And I never ever use last years fuel. Any mix that isn't used in the chainsaws during the winter gets tossed before spring.

I just put the old gas from my outboard/lawnmower/snowblower in the fuel tank of my truck, never had a problem doing that.