I took the Tolman back to the mechanic and he decided to look it over
while I was there. Took the cover off and he pronounced "Bad gas,
smell that varnish smell" and yes, I did. He verified spark and fuel
delivery. He sprayed starting fluid in and she she started but died
as soon as it was gas only. Yes, this gas is about 4 months old and
probably had ethanol but the tank is nearly full so I did not think
I'd get enough humidity in to matter.
He advised to NEVER buy fuel with ethanol in it and never keep fuel
for more than a couple of weeks. Unless I buy only at marinas, it
will be tough to find ethanol free fuel.

Frogwatch wrote:
I took the Tolman back to the mechanic and he decided to look it over
while I was there. Took the cover off and he pronounced "Bad gas,
smell that varnish smell" and yes, I did. He verified spark and fuel
delivery. He sprayed starting fluid in and she she started but died
as soon as it was gas only. Yes, this gas is about 4 months old and
probably had ethanol but the tank is nearly full so I did not think
I'd get enough humidity in to matter.
He advised to NEVER buy fuel with ethanol in it and never keep fuel
for more than a couple of weeks. Unless I buy only at marinas, it
will be tough to find ethanol free fuel.

I keep gas in the tank over winter...and the motor starts the first time
in the spring.


--
Palin & Bachmann in 2012 -
All Stupidity All the Time

"HK" wrote in message
m...
Frogwatch wrote:
I took the Tolman back to the mechanic and he decided to look it over
while I was there. Took the cover off and he pronounced "Bad gas,
smell that varnish smell" and yes, I did. He verified spark and fuel
delivery. He sprayed starting fluid in and she she started but died
as soon as it was gas only. Yes, this gas is about 4 months old and
probably had ethanol but the tank is nearly full so I did not think
I'd get enough humidity in to matter.
He advised to NEVER buy fuel with ethanol in it and never keep fuel
for more than a couple of weeks. Unless I buy only at marinas, it
will be tough to find ethanol free fuel.

I keep gas in the tank over winter...and the motor starts the first time
in the spring.




I had my first experience with gas going bad this past winter. The JD
Gator I use to plow the driveway had been filled at the beginning of last
summer (5 gals) but not used much all summer.
I usually add Stabil when I know an engine won't be used for a while but
this time I didn't.

During the winter, with the regular snowstorms, I noticed it was starting to
run poorly. Often it would only run on one cylinder (of 2) until it warmed
up. It was losing power and starting to stall often after a particularly
heavy pass of plowing. The exhaust also had a foul odor. I figured it was
time to have the engine serviced and tuned up.

Then we had yet another storm and since the fuel tank was almost empty, I
filled it up with fresh gas. Within 5 minutes it was running like new,
smooth idling and back to original power. All it took was some fresh gas.

Eisboch

HK wrote:
Frogwatch wrote:
I took the Tolman back to the mechanic and he decided to look it over
while I was there. Took the cover off and he pronounced "Bad gas,
smell that varnish smell" and yes, I did. He verified spark and fuel
delivery. He sprayed starting fluid in and she she started but died
as soon as it was gas only. Yes, this gas is about 4 months old and
probably had ethanol but the tank is nearly full so I did not think
I'd get enough humidity in to matter.
He advised to NEVER buy fuel with ethanol in it and never keep fuel
for more than a couple of weeks. Unless I buy only at marinas, it
will be tough to find ethanol free fuel.

I keep gas in the tank over winter...and the motor starts the first time
in the spring.


What's your secret to successful gas storage?

On Wed, 1 Apr 2009 15:39:05 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:

I took the Tolman back to the mechanic and he decided to look it over
while I was there. Took the cover off and he pronounced "Bad gas,
smell that varnish smell" and yes, I did. He verified spark and fuel
delivery. He sprayed starting fluid in and she she started but died
as soon as it was gas only. Yes, this gas is about 4 months old and
probably had ethanol but the tank is nearly full so I did not think
I'd get enough humidity in to matter.
He advised to NEVER buy fuel with ethanol in it and never keep fuel
for more than a couple of weeks. Unless I buy only at marinas, it
will be tough to find ethanol free fuel.

Do I get a prize for diagnosing it correctly?

Jim22208 wrote:
HK wrote:
Frogwatch wrote:
I took the Tolman back to the mechanic and he decided to look it over
while I was there. Took the cover off and he pronounced "Bad gas,
smell that varnish smell" and yes, I did. He verified spark and fuel
delivery. He sprayed starting fluid in and she she started but died
as soon as it was gas only. Yes, this gas is about 4 months old and
probably had ethanol but the tank is nearly full so I did not think
I'd get enough humidity in to matter.
He advised to NEVER buy fuel with ethanol in it and never keep fuel
for more than a couple of weeks. Unless I buy only at marinas, it
will be tough to find ethanol free fuel.

I keep gas in the tank over winter...and the motor starts the first
time in the spring.


What's your secret to successful gas storage?

He gets special gas because he's a special guy!

Eisboch wrote:

"HK" wrote in message
m...
Frogwatch wrote:
I took the Tolman back to the mechanic and he decided to look it over
while I was there. Took the cover off and he pronounced "Bad gas,
smell that varnish smell" and yes, I did. He verified spark and fuel
delivery. He sprayed starting fluid in and she she started but died
as soon as it was gas only. Yes, this gas is about 4 months old and
probably had ethanol but the tank is nearly full so I did not think
I'd get enough humidity in to matter.
He advised to NEVER buy fuel with ethanol in it and never keep fuel
for more than a couple of weeks. Unless I buy only at marinas, it
will be tough to find ethanol free fuel.

I keep gas in the tank over winter...and the motor starts the first
time in the spring.




I had my first experience with gas going bad this past winter. The JD
Gator I use to plow the driveway had been filled at the beginning of
last summer (5 gals) but not used much all summer.
I usually add Stabil when I know an engine won't be used for a while but
this time I didn't.


I always dump some Stabil in the gas engine tanks...outboards, tractor,
chainsaw, et cetera. Actually, the dealer puts the Stabil in the
outboard fuel tank.


--
Palin & Bachmann in 2012 -
All Stupidity All the Time

On Apr 1, 8:08 pm, HK wrote:
Eisboch wrote:

"HK" wrote in message
om...
Frogwatch wrote:
I took the Tolman back to the mechanic and he decided to look it over
while I was there. Took the cover off and he pronounced "Bad gas,
smell that varnish smell" and yes, I did. He verified spark and fuel
delivery. He sprayed starting fluid in and she she started but died
as soon as it was gas only. Yes, this gas is about 4 months old and
probably had ethanol but the tank is nearly full so I did not think
I'd get enough humidity in to matter.
He advised to NEVER buy fuel with ethanol in it and never keep fuel
for more than a couple of weeks. Unless I buy only at marinas, it
will be tough to find ethanol free fuel.

I keep gas in the tank over winter...and the motor starts the first
time in the spring.

I had my first experience with gas going bad this past winter. The JD
Gator I use to plow the driveway had been filled at the beginning of
last summer (5 gals) but not used much all summer.
I usually add Stabil when I know an engine won't be used for a while but
this time I didn't.

I always dump some Stabil in the gas engine tanks...outboards, tractor,
chainsaw, et cetera. Actually, the dealer puts the Stabil in the
outboard fuel tank.

--
Palin & Bachmann in 2012 -
All Stupidity All the Time

I gotta admit to a slight suspicion that there could be more to this.

Frogwatch wrote:
On Apr 1, 8:08 pm, HK wrote:
Eisboch wrote:

"HK" wrote in message
m...
Frogwatch wrote:
I took the Tolman back to the mechanic and he decided to look it over
while I was there. Took the cover off and he pronounced "Bad gas,
smell that varnish smell" and yes, I did. He verified spark and fuel
delivery. He sprayed starting fluid in and she she started but died
as soon as it was gas only. Yes, this gas is about 4 months old and
probably had ethanol but the tank is nearly full so I did not think
I'd get enough humidity in to matter.
He advised to NEVER buy fuel with ethanol in it and never keep fuel
for more than a couple of weeks. Unless I buy only at marinas, it
will be tough to find ethanol free fuel.
I keep gas in the tank over winter...and the motor starts the first
time in the spring.
I had my first experience with gas going bad this past winter. The JD
Gator I use to plow the driveway had been filled at the beginning of
last summer (5 gals) but not used much all summer.
I usually add Stabil when I know an engine won't be used for a while but
this time I didn't.
I always dump some Stabil in the gas engine tanks...outboards, tractor,
chainsaw, et cetera. Actually, the dealer puts the Stabil in the
outboard fuel tank.

--
Palin & Bachmann in 2012 -
All Stupidity All the Time

I gotta admit to a slight suspicion that there could be more to this.

All the pumps I've seen here in Florida are labeled up to 10% ethanol.
I'd put stabil in every tank of boat fuel and make sure you have a water
separator fuel filter mounted in the boat.

"Frogwatch" wrote in message
...
I took the Tolman back to the mechanic and he decided to look it over
while I was there. Took the cover off and he pronounced "Bad gas,
smell that varnish smell" and yes, I did. He verified spark and fuel
delivery. He sprayed starting fluid in and she she started but died
as soon as it was gas only. Yes, this gas is about 4 months old and
probably had ethanol but the tank is nearly full so I did not think
I'd get enough humidity in to matter.
He advised to NEVER buy fuel with ethanol in it and never keep fuel
for more than a couple of weeks. Unless I buy only at marinas, it
will be tough to find ethanol free fuel.

I just bought a used boat. It had a small 1.2hp trolling motor. There was
plastic gas compartment that would hold about two cups of gas. I
disassembled nearly the whole engine and cleaned and fixed. I poured the
gas into a shallow container to use as parts wash. It smelled strongly like
a can of paint varnish. The project took a couple of evenings, and the
smell just hung in the shop so bad I finally poured the gas into a sealed
can. My atvs get "bad gas" from time to time from gas setting.

It's just good to use gas up and not let it sit around for any length of
time. Stabil helps, but it changes over time.

Steve