I've seen 3 suggestions.
1/ start and run the machine for a few minutes once a month during the layup season.2/Use a fuel stabiliser.
3/ Run the machine to a stop a few times and use the starter bulb while doing so to ensure all fuel is flushed out of the systemNo 2 would be the easiest. No 3 the most effective. No.1 a p.i.t.a.
Anyone any experiences of these .
Or use Easystart when the time comes to start it in the Spring?
If the gasket and other bits in the carb has degraded by the ethanol even that won't help.
That worked perfectly with a lawnmower for me.
I didn't think the ethanol degraded the gaskets.I unsderstood the problem was caused by the ethanol etc evaporating and leaving a lac
leaving a lacqur deposit clogging the internals of the cartb
I have several such engines for gardening. I just run them out of fuel as I do with my 4 stroke engines.
Wonder how long before they are banned here - as it seems they are going to be in CA.
On the last run before lay-up, turn off the fuel supply off and run the engine until it stops, then turn the engine over to compression.
Ensure the fuel tank is full. Place a folded towel over the fuel filler cap, as many folds as you can while leaving enough drape to ensure no direct air passage to the filler cap,
Get an oily rag and stuff it into the exhaust pipe, leaving enough showing so you won't forget it's there next Spring.
Cover the whole thing with a cotton cloth.
Then use Super Unleaded. Some of which is ethanol free:
4/ use aspen 2 for the last fill.
I'm not going to worry about it and will continue to use pump E10 for the saws but I already use aspen in the hedgecutters because they use so little and run nearer my face.
That's what I do.
I also have an old home maintenance book that suggests taking out the spark plug, squirting in oil, and cranking it a few times before replacing the plug.
Never done that...
Thomas Prufer
IME modern lubricants have clever formulations that prevent significant piston ring/bore corrosion over a season or two of inactivity. It's good advice for anything you might be laying up for a while, though. Works best if you are in traditional car/motorbike configuration with a vertical cylinder, so that the oil settles in a nice ring all around the piston / bore / rings.
I just leave them and they start again in the next year. Jonathan
Not much experience yet of over-wintering petrol engines using E10 fuel.
We used to do that with a V8 boat engine. ISTR Volvo recommended Redex. Taking the spark plugs out of a marinised V8 was a bastard of a job because of the water jacketing round the exhaust manifold.
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