Too much injector cleaner in my Echo...

[jl4c]

Shred 'N Vac

I picked up a used Echo ES-2100 a couple months ago. It runs great, no complaints. Into a freshly mixed tank full of fuel I put what I thought was a small (1 tbsp) of Walmart Supertech injector cleaner—the concentrated, use-every-2500-mile stuff, not the weaker use-every-tank stuff. A three or four ounce bottle is supposed to treat up to 25 gallons of fuel. Obviously a tablespoon in a pint of fuel is going to be VERY CONCENTRATED. I fired her up and as the new fuel started to burn I thought the carb was plugging up. The unit ran so poorly I was afraid it might have dissolved all the elastomeric parts in the carb. It became hard to start, wouldn't idle and would hardly rev up. Dumped her out and filled with fresh mix and all was well after a few minutes of run time. Never would have guessed it would have that dramatic an effect. If you want to put injector cleaner in your mix, do it very SPARINGLY.

 

[brokenbudget]

hmmmm, didn't know chainsaws had injectors to keep clean
if people would look at their manuals even one ioda they would know not to put crap like this in the tank.
nothing but fuel stabilizer other than a good oil....

 

[jl4c]

hmmmm, didn't know chainsaws had injectors to keep clean
if people would look at their manuals even one ioda they would know not to put crap like this in the tank.
nothing but fuel stabilizer other than a good oil....

Many popular fuel stabilizers (including Sta-bil) include carb and injector cleaners as part of their formulation. (Did you ever read the label or do you only read manuals?) Furthermore, I'm not aware of any meaningful difference between carb cleaner and injector cleaner, are you?

Carb/injector cleaner has helped me avoid tearing apart many old and gummed up carbs. There is always the risk of ruining a perfectly good diaphragm when disassembling a carb so I try carb/injector cleaner in the mix before I remove a carb. Usually I use the "weak" stuff but the local Wallyworld was out and I used the concentrated stuff.

The problem wasn't what I did, it was how much. I've never mixed that high of concentration before and the results were surprising. I'm sorry you don't have one IOTA (note the proper spelling) of curiosity or appreciation for some new knowledge.

 

[brokenbudget]

big difference between cleaners and stabilizers. a big one.
who in there right mind puts injector cleaner in their 2 stroke equipment?
read the bottle and the manual. if any "additives" are being used, they at least should be specificly for 2 stroke engines. most carb and injector cleaners say not to use it in small engine applications. the amount of "cleaner" in any stabilizing product is so small you can dump the whole bottle in a tank and it won't make a difference.

 

[7sleeper]

opcorn:

7

 

[T0RN4D0]

Do you guys use stabilisers in your mix?

I just dump aprox 3% of oil in there, give it a good shake and thats it, never had any fuel related problems.

 

[Fedaburger]

A buddy gave me an old homelite weedeater with the pull cord hanging all the way out. He said I can have it fix it or use it for parts. Had it running in five minutes. Just curious I popped the muffler off to check thngs out and all was well with p/c. I did notice the piston skirt was real bad dirty and black. The exhaust port had some caked up carbon but not to bad. I only use stihl ultra because I must be scared to try anything else. About a month of use I popped the muffler back off to check things out and lo and behold the piston skirt was as pretty as u please. I think that might be a reason I shy away from all the other mix oils. -

 

[Cantdog]

A buddy gave me an old homelite weedeater with the pull cord hanging all the way out. He said I can have it fix it or use it for parts. Had it running in five minutes. Just curious I popped the muffler off to check thngs out and all was well with p/c. I did notice the piston skirt was real bad dirty and black. The exhaust port had some caked up carbon but not to bad. I only use stihl ultra because I must be scared to try anything else. About a month of use I popped the muffler back off to check things out and lo and behold the piston skirt was as pretty as u please. I think that might be a reason I shy away from all the other mix oils. -

I'm not a Stihl flag waver by any stretch but I use only ultra in all my saws...(1) because I like to pick a lube and stay with it and can get it local everytime and (2) it works very well. I started using it as I own a Kombi 4 mix and started running it in my other saws. But what sold me on it was similar to what you describe. I built a ported 630 Super II Jonsered from a junker I got for free. I put a new meteor in it and started using it.......fell, limbed and fit to 16", 15 full cord of hardwood (maple and ash) with this saw. It ran super but I wanted to see what kind of wear and carbon buildup etc. it was experiencing. To my amazement the inards looked just like they did when I put it together. The piston only showed a faint brown discoloration right where the transfers opened and blew across the piston top from either side. The ex port was just as shiny as it was when I bolted the muffler on. I know this is not a huge amount of time on a saw but I did expect more wear and carbon. I had this saw for three yrs and sold it last fall but again tore it down to make sure all was still well and it still looked just about the same as it did the first time....it needed nothing...I did put in anew set of crank seals because I had not replaced them when I built the saw. I never use any other additives or anything else in my mix and as you said it cleans up carbon on older motors by about 75% by simply using it.

 

[Fedaburger]

I also have a small featherlight that would not idle so I tried seafoam and mmo bout 3/4 of ounce each. Did a bunch of cuttin with it and it started idling again. I can't say wich one helped maybe it was the mixture of he two. And the ultra of course.

 

[jl4c]

I also have a small featherlight that would not idle so I tried seafoam and mmo bout 3/4 of ounce each.

It's a good thing you came here so you could learn for yourself that you should never ever put anything in your 2-stroke motor except gas and fuel stabilizer (the kind w/o any injector cleaner). Count yourself lucky you met BB in time. I sure do.
/sarcasm

 

[Fedaburger]

It's a good thing you came here so you could learn for yourself that you should never ever put anything in your 2-stroke motor except gas and fuel stabilizer (the kind w/o any injector cleaner). Count yourself lucky you met BB in time. I sure do.
/sarcasm[/QUOTE

I always take my dads tried and true advise on most situations. "if it ain't broke don't fix it" it's always worked for me.

 

[Brushwacker]

Shred 'N Vac

I picked up a used Echo ES-2100 a couple months ago. It runs great, no complaints. Into a freshly mixed tank full of fuel I put what I thought was a small (1 tbsp) of Walmart Supertech injector cleaner—the concentrated, use-every-2500-mile stuff, not the weaker use-every-tank stuff. A three or four ounce bottle is supposed to treat up to 25 gallons of fuel. Obviously a tablespoon in a pint of fuel is going to be VERY CONCENTRATED. I fired her up and as the new fuel started to burn I thought the carb was plugging up. The unit ran so poorly I was afraid it might have dissolved all the elastomeric parts in the carb. It became hard to start, wouldn't idle and would hardly rev up. Dumped her out and filled with fresh mix and all was well after a few minutes of run time. Never would have guessed it would have that dramatic an effect. If you want to put injector cleaner in your mix, do it very SPARINGLY.

I expect most Walmart additives are a bit inferier and rather not take a risk such as an good engine with them. I know the bar oil was on the thin side and I used to use it for winter when it was cheap. I have a buddy that believes Walmart oils is all the same as name brands and keeps using it. Seems he has way more problems with his cars and pickup motors and transmissions then anybody I know that uses his stuff primarily for commuting.
Seafoam has proven its worth to me primarily for removing old gas varnish deposits, in carbs and its reputation has grown immensly should mean something.

 

[StihlyinEly]

FWIW, I think the injector cleaner was just too concentrated in the fuel for it to run right. Injector cleaner is essentially interchangeable with carb cleaner, so if a feller wants to periodically keep a carb/jets and lines from gumming, it could be considered a viable option in low concentrations.

It shouldn't be necessary, however.

I burn 90-91 octane in all my small engines, and the 2-strokes get Amsoil Saber Pro at 50:1. High octane fuel is high in detergents, and we know the good synthetics (Stihl Ultra already being mentioned), actually have enough detergents to clean up gum and carbon.

Quite a few times I've purchased used 2-stroke equipment that was carboned and gummy, and a few tanks of premium gas/Amsoil cleans 'em up in a whistle and has them running smoother and with more power.

 

[WKEND LUMBERJAK]

I have used sea foam on small engines. I used the spray sea foam to clean up carbs after disasembly. seems to do real well. It is lables for 2 strokes.

 

[homelitejim]

I use nothing but 92 octain fuel with Husky XP oil and sea foam. My mix is 40:1 because I have much older saws along with one or two new ones. A little story about sea foam, my 2000 Chevy Tahoe is creeping up on 200,000 original miles on a fine 5.7L power plant, not long ago I was leaving work and it started to bog down and back fire, eventually it cleaned up and got me home, this happened for about 2 weeks. I was just about to make a appointment with the Chevy dealer to get it looked at when I decided I would drop a bottle of sea foam in the tank and see what happens, low and behold it cleaned it right up and I have yet to have the problem re occur. I also left fuel in a 4 wheeler over the winter and it would not start this spring, I emptied the tank and put in sea foam treated fuel and soon it was purring like a alley cat.

 

[PLMCRZY]

Since this guy is so smart why is he even asking us for advice?
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[jl4c]

Since this guy is so smart why is he even asking us for advice?

Perhaps I missed something, but I don't see anywhere in this thread where anyone asked for advice. As the OP, I was simply detailing an unexpected negative experience with fuel injector cleaner.

 

[StihlyinEly]

Perhaps I missed something, but I don't see anywhere in this thread where anyone asked for advice. As the OP, I was simply detailing an unexpected negative experience with fuel injector cleaner.

Chill. It's the interwebs. :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Bill G]

It's a good thing you came here so you could learn for yourself that you should never ever put anything in your 2-stroke motor except gas and fuel stabilizer (the kind w/o any injector cleaner). Count yourself lucky you met BB in time. I sure do.
/sarcasm

So why have you chosen to be a smartmouth here.???????????????

You posted your experience that lead to a problem. That is asking for advice

Folks pointed to a reason that may or may not have caused the problem,

You chose to come back with a smart mouth response.

So why is that???????????

 

[PLMCRZY]

So why have you chosen to be a smartmouth here.???????????????

You posted your experience that lead to a problem. That is asking for advice

Folks pointed to a reason that may or may not have caused the problem,

You chose to come back with a smart mouth response.

So why is that???????????

Glad im not the only one that noticed that.

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