Bad Gas

[37chief]

What is up with the gas now days. I have a 65 ford F 100 That has been sitting for 5 or so months. The carb has green stuff in the float bowl, and the jets were plugged with the stuff. Carb cleaner doesn't cut it. This is gas in California. Diesel seams to be ok. How is your fuel? Stan

 

[GeneMO]

I just last night ordered a new carb for my Cub Cadet lawn mower. I had the carb all apart, finally resorted to Lacquer thinner, and that didn't seem to cut the gunk real well. Finally just gave up and order a new carb. In my chain saws I try to always find alcohol free "boat"gas. Only one or two places carry it here. Now down closer to the Lake, its easy to find.

 

[m16ty]

It's mostly caused by the ethanol they put in the gas nowadays. The ethanol draws moisture out of the air, and once you have moisture all kinds of nasty stuff can grow.

 

[JIM MN]

You need to be using E-91 gasoline, since you do not use your pickup every day. E-91, no ethanol? 91 has a long shelf life. Pickup, tractor and any small engines will start faster and run better. Gas will stay fresh longer. Try to find some and give it a try?

 

[m16ty]

You need to be using E-91 gasoline, since you do not use your pickup every day. E-91, no ethanol? 91 has a long shelf life. Pickup, tractor and any small engines will start faster and run better. Gas will stay fresh longer. Try to find some and give it a try?

You mean non-ethanol 91 octane. "E" denotes ethanol, as in E-10 and E-85.

 

[Dennis K]

You guys must be getting some crappy gas or crappy ethanol, ethanol is a cleaner. I have NEVER had any problem with E-10 sitting over the winter in my lawnmowers or my BMW motorcycle. They start right up like they were run the week before. We raced Ethanol for almost 10 years with zero problems. We have at least 5 ethanol producing plants in state so maybe our ethanol is fresher, if there is such a thing.

 

[Fawteen]

The only confirmed ethanol-related issue I've had is fuel lines turning to snot and clogging up carbs. Once ethanol-rated fuel lines are installed, I don't recall any other problems.

I routinely leave E10 mixed gas in my 2 stroke equipment over the Winter and have never had an issue starting one in the Spring. I don't recall any issues with straight E10 in 4 stroke equipment either, but that could be either bad memory or the Stabil I use for stuff that gets parked over the Winter.

 

[Russ from MN]

We use E10 in all our 4-stroke equipment, and have very few problem's. the last problem was a roto-tiller with a Honda engine, and that was 4 years ago. I do use 91 octane ethanol free for all our 2 stroke equipment, because we have 3 chainsaws that are about 50 years old and some of their fuel system parts might not be compatible with ethanol. I was given a leaf blower recently that the fuel lines just crumbled when I touched them.

 

[Russ from MN]

What is up with the gas now days. I have a 65 ford F 100 That has been sitting for 5 or so months. The carb has green stuff in the float bowl, and the jets were plugged with the stuff. Carb cleaner doesn't cut it. This is gas in California. Diesel seams to be ok. How is your fuel? Stan

I had that problem with a 73 Dodge pickup back in 75, there wasn't any ethanol in the gas to blame it on then!

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Algae might be the issue here it’s not as common in gas but if you were buying the premium fuel at a place that isn’t busy it’s possible. a biocide and a different fuel source might be the answer

 

[Aaron SEIA]

It's mostly caused by the ethanol they put in the gas nowadays. The ethanol draws moisture out of the air, and once you have moisture all kinds of nasty stuff can grow.

Nope. I've got engines that have had ethanol gas in them for 20+ years and never had a fuel issue. Buy clean gas and keep it clean.
AaronSEIA

 

[Sprint 6]

People like to blame ethanol for poor maintenance habits. My 54 International was last driven in 1969, so it had non-ethanol in the tank. Shouldn't that fuel still be good since there was no alcohol in it?

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

What is up with the gas now days. I have a 65 ford F 100 That has been sitting for 5 or so months. The carb has green stuff in the float bowl, and the jets were plugged with the stuff. Carb cleaner doesn't cut it. This is gas in California. Diesel seams to be ok. How is your fuel? Stan

This truck hasn't just been sitting for 5 months. That is just the last time it was driven. How long did it sit before that? How long before that?

Unless you can truthfully say that 5 months ago you started with a clean, dry fuel tank and a new or freshly cleaned carburetor that you personally, visually confirmed was clean inside, you've been building up to this over a long time. It did not just happen over the course of the last 5 months.

 

[Blackhole49]

What is up with the gas now days. I have a 65 ford F 100 That has been sitting for 5 or so months. The carb has green stuff in the float bowl, and the jets were plugged with the stuff. Carb cleaner doesn't cut it. This is gas in California. Diesel seams to be ok. How is your fuel? Stan

I pay the $1+ per gallon and buy Rec. fuel. Been doing it for at least 12 years. Cheaper and easier than working on carburetors constantly. I have 40+ gas powered tools/toys that sit way more than they run. Pretty much eliminated carb issues. Your already paying 50% more than the rest of the country for gas, what's a little more.

 

[RJKeith]

What is up with the gas now days. I have a 65 ford F 100 That has been sitting for 5 or so months. The carb has green stuff in the float bowl, and the jets were plugged with the stuff. Carb cleaner doesn't cut it. This is gas in California. Diesel seams to be ok. How is your fuel? Stan

I either use ethanol free gas (which is hard to find) or treat gas with an additive like Seafoam (which some like, some hate, and I am in the like group) in engines that could sit for several months. Ethanol gas will turn to varnish over time and it is the devil to clean out. After you finally get it to start, you will still have varnish clogging thinks for a while. Make sure what the varnish is clogging is an inexpensive fuel filter, not your carb.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

What is up with the gas now days. I have a 65 ford F 100 That has been sitting for 5 or so months. The carb has green stuff in the float bowl, and the jets were plugged with the stuff. Carb cleaner doesn't cut it. This is gas in California. Diesel seams to be ok. How is your fuel? Stan

 

[Dean]

It's mostly caused by the ethanol they put in the gas nowadays. The ethanol draws moisture out of the air, and once you have moisture all kinds of nasty stuff can grow.

Agreed.

I avoid ethanol like the plague but doing so is becoming more and more difficult.

 

[Dean]

People like to blame ethanol for poor maintenance habits. My 54 International was last driven in 1969, so it had non-ethanol in the tank. Shouldn't that fuel still be good since there was no alcohol in it?

No, but it was possible to store gasoline in vehicle tanks, carburetors, etc., for 5+ years pre-EPA.

 

[scootergmc]

I'm in California, no ethanol free gas anywhere close, and the biggest problem I've run into with our ethanol gas is eating older fuel lines. I run stabil in smaller equipment and will drain everything if it's going out of service for a while. If it gets regular use, gas/moisture corrosion isn't an issue. With tractors, etc., the key is draining the fuel system if it's not in use for a while, and being mindful of the last fill. If the gas is going to sit in the tank for 6 months, get it out and use it in something else. The ethanol attracts water, and older tanks/carbs are notorious for condensation as well. Bad combos.

Just did a quickie rebuild on a Marvel TSX-603 again last night after doing it about a year ago. Why? Because the owner decided to use old gas, leave it in the tank, line, carb, and it ate through top of the old fuel line at the carb inlet, which also allowed water into the carb as well. Discovered a bunch of gooey rubber all the way to the seat, and the inlet passage and bowl had a nice rusty finish to it, along with a proper water/rust line. He's off to buy new fuel line and filter today. Hopefully everything is now good.

Diesel is also a problem. Lubricity just isn't there anymore since 2005ish ULSD. I run Stanadyne lubricity formula in anything pre-2010ish. I haven't done enough research into the renewable diesel or B5/20 blends, so I can't comment there. My truck and tractors aren't new enough to handle the blends. I just run diesel #2 with Standyne.

 

[Russ from MN]

I'm in California, no ethanol free gas anywhere close, and the biggest problem I've run into with our ethanol gas is eating older fuel lines. I run stabil in smaller equipment and will drain everything if it's going out of service for a while. If it gets regular use, gas/moisture corrosion isn't an issue. With tractors, etc., the key is draining the fuel system if it's not in use for a while, and being mindful of the last fill. If the gas is going to sit in the tank for 6 months, get it out and use it in something else. The ethanol attracts water, and older tanks/carbs are notorious for condensation as well. Bad combos.

Just did a quickie rebuild on a Marvel TSX-603 again last night after doing it about a year ago. Why? Because the owner decided to use old gas, leave it in the tank, line, carb, and it ate through top of the old fuel line at the carb inlet, which also allowed water into the carb as well. Discovered a bunch of gooey rubber all the way to the seat, and the inlet passage and bowl had a nice rusty finish to it, along with a proper water/rust line. He's off to buy new fuel line and filter today. Hopefully everything is now good.

Diesel is also a problem. Lubricity just isn't there anymore since 2005ish ULSD. I run Stanadyne lubricity formula in anything pre-2010ish. I haven't done enough research into the renewable diesel or B5/20 blends, so I can't comment there. My truck and tractors aren't new enough to handle the blends. I just run diesel #2 with Standyne.

It's really hard to find ethanol-free gas in Arizona too, some stations that are near racetracks have racing gas, but it's really expensive. There is a website https://www.pure-gas.org/ That I used to find non-ethanol gas near where our son lives in Washington state. He has some older chainsaws that should have it.