Bad gas...

[hardhat]

So me and my dad have been cutting up this live oak tree in the mornings before I go to work for the last week or so. He is using a husq 445 that we bought him 2 or 3 years ago. Saw has been great and run like a champ until a few days ago. It would die out under load and sounded like it was starving for fuel. I didn't have my carb adjustment tool with me, so we cleaned the air filter. It was caked up and looked bad. Figured this would not cause above symptoms, but it needed cleaning anyway. Saw ran a little better....

Next day, saw running like @$$. I thought maybe a cracked fuel line as that could explain it possibly, so I mashed the primer bulb a few times holding the saw in different positions, couldn't get it to suck air so now I'm scratching my head. I told him I would just take it to the husky place and let them fix it because I really didn't know what could cause those symptoms. Maybe carb, just saw is too new for carb to need rebuilding.

He said before we take it to the husky place let me try some of your gas!?

Why?

That gas in there now is out of the boat and has been sitting a few years!

I poured the black gas out that literally looked like it had chunks of crap in it!

Put in some of the 93 no ethanol with pri g that I run in all my saws and after priming and sputtering to clear the bad gas out, runs like a champ....

After this he says, "Maybe that's why the boat won't run!"

LOL....

Take home message is do not use old gas, Particularly ethanol containing gasoline in anything where the gas might sit in the tank for any length of time.

 

[blsnelling]

I had bad gas once. I feel better now

 

[KenJax Tree]

That didn't take long i was waiting to see how long it was gonna take lol

 

[sunfish]

Why would your dad put old boat motor gas in a chain saw?

 

[hardhat]

Why would your dad put old boat motor gas in a chain saw?

Because he probably did it one time before and it worked fine, so its fine to do it again. After all 2 stroke mix is 2 stroke mix

I read somewhere that outboard motor oil is not good for small engines as they run at higher temps. I don't know if this is true, but I just run synthetic 2 stroke mix made for small engines and use premium no ethanol gas. For the amount of cutting I do, the cost increase is trivial. And if the gas is old, I throw it out.

 

[7sleeper]

No sense in throwing out good mix. Dump it into the lawnmower/tractor, they love mix.

7

 

[sunfish]

Because he probably did it one time before and it worked fine, so its fine to do it again. After all 2 stroke mix is 2 stroke mix

I read somewhere that outboard motor oil is not good for small engines as they run at higher temps. I don't know if this is true, but I just run synthetic 2 stroke mix made for small engines and use premium no ethanol gas. For the amount of cutting I do, the cost increase is trivial. And if the gas is old, I throw it out.

2 stroke water cooled outboard oil is no good in air cooled 2 stoke engines, but it's better than straight gas. Like 7 said, just run it in the lawn mower.

 

[hardhat]

No sense in throwing out good mix. Dump it into the lawnmower/tractor, they love mix.

7

I agree with this to some extent, I've gotten rid of old gas before by adding a little to the tank of a lawnmower or even a car. Hasn't hurt anything....However, my thinking now, is that it can't be good for the engine and so I just don't do it. Old gas can be good for starting fires when it is below freezing (but only when very cold, I cannot stress this enough). Gas very dangerous for a fire starter when warm outside. Diesel is much better when temps are warmer.

Also nice to mix a little gas in (1 cup gas per gallon of oil ) to used motor oil for firestarting. Makes it easier to light. Make sure you shake the jug up well or the gas fumes come to the top and can be explosive (It's a shame to admit I know stuff like this)

My dad is a happy go lucky guy and sometimes does stuff without a lot of thought......Used dino motor oil is great for starting fires... Used synthetic is surprisingly hard to light. So got the idea to add a little gas to it to make it light easier.....So we have this huge pile of brush we are gonna light (warm outside). My dad hands me the jug, I pour it all over the pile and kneel down to light it.... When I strike the lighter...Whoof! Did not explode but the fire spread across the 6 foot pile in about 2 seconds. I didn't get burned and we had a good laugh about it. Now we know to be careful about how much gas we add to the burned motor oil....

Kids, don't try this at home.


This is not my video, BTW

 

[7sleeper]

Just to clarify, my mix that is older than 1/2 - 1 year goes into the lawnmower/tractor or my scooter. And since they are used more often, old mix isn't a problem. And I don't dilute in any special way. Just dump in what I have and if there is space ad regular gas, that's all there is to it. What I DONOT!!! do is mix large amounts of mix. Usually only a litre at a time. If I need more or have larger projects I mix more, but the typical "hey let's mix a gallon for our once a year 15min. use" is going to get you in trouble.

I forgot, YES we are SHOCKED!!! at realizing that you know such fire starting techniques, not quite sure that I can cope with the emotional trauma this has led to....

7

 

[dswensen]

Kids, don't try this at home.

Good thing that is labled "Fail of the Day". That's not funny at all. Could have very easily ended up very differently for the idiot with the lighter. I will admit to using gas to start a brush fire before, but when I did it, I threw in a lit raod flare from a distance. That was when I was much younger and more foolish