Winter Maintenance (Small Engines)

Have a question for you engine guys. I'd like to begin winterizing equipment like my string trimmer, lawn mower, leaf blower etc...

For instance, my snow blower has instructions for off season storage: close the fuel line, drain carb, remove spark plug and squirt 2-3 tablespoons of new motor oil into cylinder. Pull starter handles 3 times to distribute fuel through cylinder. Then replace spark plug and pull starter slowly until resistance is felt (thus closing valves and preventing corrosion). Lube all joints and then at beginning of snow season next year before operation, replace oil.

So my question relates to the use of sta-bil, the fuel stabilizer. Is it necessary to drain the carb like the manual directs? I'm assuming this is to prevent the separation of fractions resulting in stale fuel and corrosion etc... I'm assuming the sta-bil will keep the gas "fresh" in the off season and therefore I don't need to drain the carb. According to the website, stabil will keep gasoline fresh for up to 12 months.

If we are talking about 6 months without use during the winter, is it necessary to drain the fuel when using stabil?

What about the part about adding motor oil to the cylinder? is this recommended for two stroke engines as well? Do those have a different "winterization" method for off season?

ME??? I'm antiquated but all I do is dump a small jug of dry gas in my lawn tractor, my 8N, the bigger stuff & l;et them run for a while--for the smaller--weed whacker, etc--1/2 a small jug--I've never had a problem in the spring with anything not startin--I know to simplistic---me bad--of course I use tranny fluid for my 2 cycle mix

I always use Sta-Bil at the storage recommended dosage every time I fill my gas cans. I have been doing this for 10 years, give or take, and have never had any gas related problems; never had to tear a carburetor apart. In my opinion it works or at the least, does no harm. I have met one person who swears it messed up his carburetor so go figure, you will always find differing opinions.

I never winterize anything but this has more to do with procrastination and laziness than anything else. The oil in the spark plug hole is to help keep the cylinders wet; it would be a good idea to repeat the procedure again before starting it after storage. Starting an engine that has been sitting idle for a while and has no oil on the cylinder walls can cause scoring of the cylinder walls. Scoring would be groves in the cylinder caused by the metal on metal. You can also get polished cylinders which can also lead to lack of compression and loss of power. For all I know I could have scored and polished cylinders in all my engines but they work fine and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. I am not pulling a head on an engine running perfectly fine to see what the cylinders look like.

Bottom line; my experience shows me no need to drain carburetors, Sta-Bil works or at least does no harm, and oiling the cylinders through the spark plug hole is probably a good thing but if you “forget” don’t lose sleep over it. I am sure everyone that replies will have a different system that they swear works but in the end do what makes you feel good, after all it’s your stuff.

From what I have been told, you want to get the marine formula of stay-bil. It is the blue stuff.

The marine version prevents the separation of alcohol and gas........

Rick

I have almost always drained the gas out and than run the remaining fuel out of the equipment. I have had mixed results from Stabil and related products. I have a Makita 4 cycle leaf blower I am still having fits with because of leaving gasoline in it over winter.
I have 14 pieces or so of lawn and garden equipment that I use around here, with all those the price of gas stabilizer does not make sense for me to use it. The gas I remove from them I run in my International Super-H to plow snow with in the winter, so it does not go to waste. That old girl will burn most any ratio mixed gas.
Dan.

Dan,

I keep a bottle of Marine Stay-Bil behind the seat of the truck. I add it to every 5 gallon can of gas I buy all year long. As I said, they claim the phase separation (gas splitting from alcohol) I think it is called can happen in 1 month. So I don't take the chance. And I got a bunch of gas guzzling mowers, blowers, and saws as well.

Rick

Just go to your local airfield and buy 5 gallons of AVGAS. It will be fresh for 6 months easy.
Comes in 87 (red) & 100 (blue) octane and is 100% old school leaded Gasoline.
The best part about it is that it has ZERO alcohol content, so it has no affinity for water and hence no damage to metal, plastic or rubber parts.

I add Star Tron to all my jug gas,have no issues,i do not drain,no oil in the cylinder,i have enough work without all that. The current recommendation is to fill the tanks for winter so they do not condensate. The snow blower tank should be empty over summer as it is prone to evaporate all the good stuff out of the tank with the heat. My Echo trimmer,new in 2002,never fails to start,has never had carb work done ,i never drain it,but I do use the Sar Tron in all jug gas. Whatever brand additive you choose to use,it must be an Ethanol formula to be effective.

I have always ran every motor dry, without adding anything. This past Spring, I had to have a carb on a B&S, 16HP rebuilt. The carb guy says the ethanol tears them up. Best to use marine gas or aviation fuel. This year, I used marine gas in my equipment, and it ran great. It's $4 gallon, and aviation fuel, I think, is $6/gallon. I'm going to try the aviation fuel next Spring in the lawnmowers, weedwacker,chainsaws, brush-cutter, roto-tiller, and wood-splitter. In the long run, repairs are very expensive.

I buy gas 5 gallons at a time and mix in Stabil and some MMO. When done, shut off fuel line and let it run until it stalls itself. Start the snow blower a few times in the summer, start the lawn equipment a few times in the winter.

I just found an amazing online shopping website that is giving heavy discount offers in some areas. They are providing free shipping offers on Lawn Mower Sales Roswell. I have ordered a lightweight and fuel efficient Mower on that site.

I've always put a good glug of MMO plus a lil jug of dry gas in all my equipment & to date have had no problems come spring. E, what kinda stove do you use & where are you from. That's kinda what that profile section is for??????

I don't do anything but add Stabil all year round. Red Stabil now says OK for Ethanol. I use the storage mix strength. My 2 cycle mix has lasted well over a year.

IMO the problem is ethanol. Ethanol free gas, or E zero as I call it, is available in a number of configurations. Stihl sells MotoMix, premixed for two strokes; TruFuel is available at big box home stores, and my personal favorite is race gas sold at the pump near our local race track. Check VP Fuels and Sunoco (racegas.com) for more information than you wanted. Great storage fuel...up to three year shelf life! Expensive, but use E 10 from the pump (what you burn in your cars and trucks) during periods of regular use and then empty the tank, add some E zero, run for a few minutes and leave it. It will start right up the next time even of it's months later. Hope this helps.

Here's what works for me. I never use any type of additives - never had much faith in the "mechanic in a can" stuff either, aside from some stop leak in junk cars or hard-to-get-to heater cores ...... but I digress ...

Anything with a float bowl & floats: (snowblower, lawn tractor, lawn mower, etc ...) DRAIN THE GAS out of the bowl! At the very least, shut the gas off and let it stall out .. and when it begins to start to stall, throw the choke on little by little until it either dies, or your at full choke and it dies - that way you know you got every little last drop of gas out of there. You can skip all that if your going to drain the bowl. LEAVE the tank FULL, UNLESS it's going to sit in summer heat, like a snowblower will - in that case, drain it and use in something else. If it's got a metal tank, spray some WD or better lubricant/oil in there to prevent rust.

Anything with a diaphragm carb: (weedwacker, chainsaw, leaf blower, etc..) LEAVE the premix in it, and leave it alone - don't drain the fuel or the carb, even if it sits in summer temps. With these types, the plastic or fabric diaphragms will become stiff as a brick if you drain the fuel out and expose the parts to air. They seem to not mind stale fuel sitting in them. Just prime the hell out of them when it comes time to start them again. If you run Amsoil Sabre Professional, it has a fuel stabilizer built in, so it's a win-win. Fill it up & let it sit.

I've never done oil in the cylinders of anything I own, including my beloved 2-stroke '74 Yamaha RD350. If I knew it was going to sit more than a year, then I would. It becomes more of a pain in the ass on frequently used stuff, because all that oil is going to fowl the plug the minute you attempt to start it. Best to leave the plug out and crank/pull it over several times to blow as much of it out of there as you can before attempting to start.

Ethanol LOVES water. If it's sealed from the air, even this crappy diluted fuel we have here in MA will last years. It's octane will drop significantly, but it'll run. If there is any possible way for fresh air to contact the fuel (unsealed gas can, a vented carburetor, etc.), it can go stale in a matter of days. After a few months, the ethanol will have absorbed so much water, it will drop out of the mix like lead, and settle right to the bottom where your fuel pickup is, sending it straight to your float bowl. Water doesn't burn very well, so you know what happens then .... It will leave behind a orangy yellow mix resembling piss, in some real bad cases. That stuff you need to burn to get rid of - NOT in any engine either!