I've got 4 machines with 2 stroke engines with the same problem, they act as though they are starved for gas. 2 are Red Maxx back packs, one Stihl back pack and one Stihl 4 Mix trimmer (actually a 4 stroke running on 2 stroke fuel). I R&R'd the carbs several times, replaced fuel filters, air filters with no improvement. I finally took the trimmer back to the dealer and they said it needs a new carburetor. The quote they gave me was over half the cost of a new machine so I went that route.
I kept the old machine and have since found a more economical source for arbitrators and am trying a replacement on one of the Red Maxx blowers. All the stations here have a 10% ethanol blend with gasoline that I suspect is the cause of my carburetor issues, in fact the dealer had an article taped to the counter on this problem.
I'm trying to contact the fuel distributor for our area to see if there are any stations that have 100% gasoline, but I'm not too hopeful on that. Has anyone come across any additives that will prevent whatever damage the ethanol does to these machines? I don't want to have to replace carburetors or machines every two years as a result of this ethanol push.
I was told by my Echo dealer that Echo will not honour the engine warranty if gasoline with ethanol has been used in their equipment. We still have a few gas stations with straight gas here in Canada.
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Saw an echo press release once.......it didn't state that they would not warranty their product being used with gas / ethanol mix......it was the % of ethanol.
Gas has been adding ethanol to the mix for years........only in the recent couple years have they increased the % of ethanol.....above 10%
We've seen no difference in the machines over the decades......what we have done is to use better 2 cycle oils.......Redmax, Echo oils are the only oils we use.........several years ago.....there was a "No Smoke" oil....think it was branded as "No Smoke"...........worst oil we have ever used.......constantly having problems with carbs and rings.
So far.....nothing related to the gas........or the ethanol % mix........will say this though.....I will not use any gas that has a higher than 10% ethanol mix
I was recently told that redmax recommends the higher octane fuel for their equipment. Apparently it's in the manuals, but who reads manuals for equipment you've been buying for 20 years?
Thanks for the info. I guess I should have read my manual, the dealer didn't mention the octane thing. I've used Stihl oil since I started doing business with a few Vavoline bottles when I ran short, I'm planning on switching to synthetic very soon. So perhaps the combination of higher octane fuel and synthetic oil will help. I wish I knew for certain, I expect more than a 2 year life cycle from my small equipment.
whats happening is the ethanol in the gas absorbs more water than it use to. Because all of my gas powered equipment was running like crap when we were using gas almost a week old, changed the fuel to new and it cleared up. All of the gas i get now i add stabil which has a water extractor in it, and now everything runs great
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Matt Thompson
Thompson's Landscaping
Henderson, NC
Add me to the list of having problems. I actually just picked my Stihl up on friday after having issues. The mechanic outright blamed the gas and said my trimmer worked fine after he put his fresh gas in.
I just noticed the local gas station chain (Kwik Trip) has put special notices on the premium spout stating it's the best choice for all small engines and performance engines and with no ethanol.
I did a little thinking about this and realized my chain saws have yet to give me a problem using the same fuel. The chain saws are used casually while the blowers and trimmers are used 3 to 4 hours daily. In my case, it seems to be the more fuel that is run through the machine the bigger a problem I have.
Thanks for the info uniscaper, I'll look into that here too.
I cant believe that my issues are because of old fuel - we go through about 10 gallons of mix a week growing season, much more in the fall- and my dealer has me running the Stihl full synthetic(white bottle). Ive got a ton of stihl 2 stroke and 4 mix and all of it is giving me(us) fits as it ages. Truly, my plan of attack from here forward is to flip every single piece of equipment (large and small) the day it hits 2 years of service. Anyone else do that? Im not plagued by downtime much but the opportunity cost is actually quite high.
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One of the carburetors I ordered arrived today and I put it on the Stihl backpack. I've got full power again. I called the fuel distributor for the Hudson Valley and they told me the nearest place I'd find ethanol free gas is in Scranton, Pa., about 90 miles away. That's not going to help me. I'll try the premium gas, although the distributor said that has 10% ethanol in it too. He also mentioned there's talk of raising the ethanol content to 15% at the governments recommendation. Apparently the gas stations get a tax credit for selling ethanol blended fuel. Thank you Big Brother!!!
I hate to say this for fear of jinxing my equipment, but I run Stihl saws, whippers, augers, and blowers with 87 octane/10% ethanol and never have any problems.
There, I said it. Wonder if anything will start tomorrow?
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