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Re: [ihc] Octane selection



On Aug 16, 2004, at 11:51 AM, Steven Stegmann wrote:

John,

I keep hearing that gas won't keep but practice just
doesn't bear it out.  Today's gasoline is so much
cleaner that the gunk we used to get...  Ever notice
how you don't see the red varnish any more.  Mobil
even cleaned out my old thero-quad before I junked it.
 Where the gasoline sprays from my EFI there is never
any deposit.  Just as clean as if I'd been spraying
acetone through there.

Talking with my small engine dealer in St. Louis last
fall, I've known him for 25 years, he has switched his
company around on recommendations for fueling lawn
mowers, trimmers, etc.  John Deere (he's a JD small
equipment dealer, lawn stuff up to about 50 hp) now
recomends that fuel tanks be kept full.  Through the
winter fill them as full as you can get.  The idea is
to exclude all air.  He has been having happier
customers and I sure have been having better luck
since I've been doing this, maybe 2-3 years.  They
always (2 cycle & 4 cycle) start immediately in the
spring.
Well, Steve, that may be gasoline in Missouri, or even in Maryland, but that is not gas in California. Our gas starts to smell bad in a mower tank in a couple of weeks, and if left in the mower carb, it will gum it up to the point of requiring disassembly in order to get the mower back to running again.

Gas in a small gas can gets a bad smell, turns color, and deposits gum on the inner walls of the can. Personally, I use a lot of Stabil gas stabilizer because it's not always convenient to empty everything before we leave for the winter.

Our chain saw and mower shop sells Stabil by the gallon, and stocks a lot of it. I think most of his business is cleaning carbs on the small engines.

If the Scout is to sit more than a month without being used, I treat it with Stabil.

So, that's gas in California.

John

John Hofstetter
Ol' Saline
www.goldrush.com/~hofs



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