I've often wondered if the oil will settle out of the gas while in the chainsaw. In light of the problem that stihlboy is having right now, it makes me think that perhaps the oil settled out of the gas. And if it did, is it hard to get remixed in this cold weather? I may pour a quart jar of mixed gas and put it in the freezer just to find out. If it does settle, and if the chainsaw is kept in a place that gets cold, I tend to think that it may be very difficult to remix after it has set for several days. If it does settle out and if it is difficult to remix in cold temps, then perhaps draining these big saws after every use in cold weather might not be a bad idea. Robb
Oil settling issue
- Thread starter rube2112
- Start date
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billyjoejr
ArboristSite Guru
Interesting theory.
I'll keep and eye on this thread to see the results of your experiment.
Just don't grab that new special sauce for the BBQ. LOL
I'll keep and eye on this thread to see the results of your experiment.
Just don't grab that new special sauce for the BBQ. LOL
stihlboy
Guess who's back
who told you my saws stay in the bed of my truck filled with premix???? you are good man. i am gonna trade snelling a P&C for porting a BB kit i hope. im using Ultra from now on
It takes a long time for modern two-cycle oils to 'settle' in your gas, much longer than most people leave a saw sitting around. In 20 years in the business I've never seen a two-cycle engine blow up because the oil settled down to the bottom of the tank. It's always stale gas, lean mixture, or someone trying to run oil not intended for air-cooled two strokes.
flatpikr
ArboristSite Operative
I've had some dino 50:1 in a 1/2 gal bottle of Jack Daniels for all of this winter. It has been exposed to near 0° weather. Since it is in a clear bottle, I can see that no change has taken place. Looks just like it did when I put it in. YMMV. Don't worry, I didn't waste any of the JD.
stihlboy
Guess who's back
how about two weeks in -3 temps also would it being 5degrees and it not running well cold cause a failure like mine??
Your mixed gas was three weeks old? Was your fuel system in good repair? What oil were you using? Did you have problems with the carb icing up?
Rockfarmer
ArboristSite Guru
Once its mixed it cannot separate. I have heard of oil not mixing well because it was subzero cold and not shaken, but rest assured it cannot separate once mixed. I do encourage you to look into it more because obviously its very important. 
opcorn:
opcorn:I believe what your saying, but there are as many different oils to use as there are people who use them........the arguements on the oil threads are good evidence of that. Perhaps some oils are more prone to settling than others. Also, there still may be an issue of how difficult it is to properly mix gas and oil in frigid temps. Robb
Just the action of a person picking up a saw and trying to start it creates enough agitation to ensure the oil/gas is mixed just fine. I've had saws sit on hillsides in the middle of a unit for weeks that started right up and with no problems, cutting hundreds of thousands of board feet.
Once again, I believe what your saying.......why does every set of instructions for every chainsaw I've ever owned always say to shake the gas container before every refueling? Instructions to shake the fuel when first mixing is always given.......but then also to shake before every fueling. I've also read that it DOES settle. I'm not saying that its true, and i know you can read anything and everything online, but still, certain oils might be more prone to it than others. Robb
I'm not trying to be a smart azz but how would you be able to tell that a fried engine was caused by gas settling? Robb
There are specific indicators. When you're pulling the machine down, the first thing you do is look at and smell the gas in the tank and the residual gas in the carb. 99% of the failures I see or have seen in the shop were directly due to the stale/old gas in the fuel system. I have yet to see a failure which could not be explained by evidence that was readily apparent.
There's a lot of things that can go wrong with a modern two-stroke, and oil settling is near the bottom of the list, along with other 'mysterious' reasons people try to come up with to explain a failure. A blown engine is almost always the result of poor maintenance.
I am?
ok.....that makes sense.....what about the poor lubrication properties of oil when its zero degrees? We all know that most wear occurs in cars during start up, Seems to me that it may be even worse for a chainsaw in cold temps. (high rpm's and zero degree oil) That can't be a good mixture. Robb
dt6266
ArboristSite Operative
if this were the case think about how many snowmobiles would have cooked
You better get cracking.
I never start any piece of equipment and immediately apply full throttle, regardless of the weather or temperature conditions. Only a fool does that.
Rockfarmer
ArboristSite Guru
Thats how sleds get blown up by people who live on lakes. They start them up and scream across the lake and "cold seize" 
