Posted on 08/01/2008 7:45:45 AM PDT by tobyhill
Rick Kitchings has been a small-engine mechanic for about 30 years, and he’s been busier than ever lately.
Recently, a customer came into his shop in Savannah, Ga., with a string trimmer that had barely been used. “It looked like it just came off the showroom floor, but the motor was absolutely shot, absolutely worn out,” Kitchings said.
The owner had fueled the trimmer with an gasoline-ethanol blend, which is becoming increasingly common thanks to a federal mandate to convert to biofuels.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I’m not sure if ethanol (ethyl alcohol) does any damage to metal directly, but secondary damage from debris created by the reaction of ethanol with plastic and rubber components of the car, is most likely the culprit.
Automobile technology has had the advantage of decades of research to perfect the systems necessary for standard petrol / gasoline. Ethanol is relatively very new, as an automobile fuel.
....WOW....thanks for the heads-up....I haven’t been paying attention to what kind of fuel I’m putting into my chain saws, trimmer ect...I’m starting today to make a change....hope I’n not too late.
Most likely a defective unit. Take it back if it won’t run on currently available gasoline. Possibly he didn’t mix in enough oil with the gas.
“It can’t hurt just this once, can it?”
You’re wrong - Jimmuh Carter’s “Gasahol” wrecked tens of thousands of car engines. and the current 10% is doing the same thing all over again.
More problematic to some of us is that, whatever the crap they pump in So Cal might be, it eats up carburetor bowls as well as gunking up the rest of the system. I have one friend who keeps a carb on one car at a time, if he isn't going to drive it today - it is either dry and on a shelf or on the car he will be using.
You’ll need to read what I wrote, again.
:)
I know methanol will eat/dissolve rubber, e.g. the tip of carb. needle, diaphragms, but not sure about ethanol.
I don’t know about ruining engines, but I do know that you couldn’t run gasohol in carburerated engine in the summer time. If you shut the engine off for 5-10 minutes on a hot day you couldn’t start the engine when you got back in the car. We used to put a cold drink cup over the throat of the carburetor to cool it down to get the car started.
It’s costing boaters thousands in damage to their tanks and filters and hoses.
Vapor lock. I remember this in the ‘55 Chevy. Modern gasoline has a summer/winter change in RVP to prevent this and reduce emissions.
You’re dead on. Sorry.
So, how are we supposed to do that now?
Thank you Congress, thank you very much!
I recently took apart an old Craftsman Chainsaw that had worked reliably for years. The plastic fuel line between the gas tank & carb just about disintegrated in my hands. Rather than just replace the fuel line I disassembled & cleaned the carb. There was a little screen inside the carb that was totally sludged up. This may have been residue from the plastic fuel line mixed with the fine grit that got past the fuel filter.
Works fine now, but I’ll be watching that fuel line.
I have been using 10% alcohol with gas for years in my weed eater with no problems.
Don’t ever put ARCO gas in a car/engine that is carburater fed or you will be buying a new carburator.
That gas destroys carburators and makes them un repairable
Any gas in California will make an engine run bad if it is a few months old.
If a fuel line is old enough it will deteriorate regardless of what you run through it. If the saw runs a little ragged while cutting you might want to open your screws a little/richen the mixture to account for the load. I forgot to do that a lot.
I sold Stihl but the Craftsman was a good saw. A Poulon?
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