Stale Gasoline?

[JOHN SCHUTTE]

Two days ago I scored a free "off-topic" lawn tractor with a Kohler CV16S engine. After installing a fresh battery and fuel filter it would not start. It acted like it was not getting fuel so I poured some fresh gas in the carb and it fired right up. I guess the fuel lines and pump were dry and needed "priming". The engine is down on power due to gas that has lost it octane, but dosn't smell bad. The tank had about 1 1/2 gal. in it. Last night I topped it off with 2 gal. of fresh gas. It does run a little bit better, but is still down on power and has an intermittent misfire. Should I drain the gas and start with new? Any suggestions?

[Methos]

Originally Posted by JOHN SCHUTTE

Two days ago I score a free "off-topic" lawn tractor with a Kohler CV16S engine. After installing a fresh battery and fuel filter it would not start. It acted like it was not getting fuel so I poured some fresh gas in the carb and it fired right up. I guess the fuel lines and pump were dry and needed "priming". The engine is down on power due to gas that has lost it octane, but dosn't smell bad. The tank had about 1 1/2 gal. in it. Last night I topped it off with 2 gal. of fresh gas. It does run a little bit better, but is still down on power and has a intermittent misfire. Should I drain the gas and start with new? Any suggestions?

John depending on how long the gas has been sitting in there it could have gone bad. If itsd been in there 6 months or more I'd dump it.

[jmroy]

I'd try letting it run for a while, I've had year old gas work just fine and have surprisingly gotten things to run on probably five year old gas. Now that you have almost four gallons in there it's hard to just throw it away.

[hilltop]

Out with the old - In with the new.
That way you can start to track if there are real problems.

I used to work with an old farmer who was religious about putting his equipment to bed for the winter - he was the only person I've ever known who without fail, emptied every tank and ran the carbs dry on anything that wasn't going to see service till the spring.

[JOHN SCHUTTE]

Thanks Guys for the suggestions! Hilltop, you make a very good point on starting with new to see if there is another problem. Could this gas be used in another application, like a 2 cycle gas mix for a weed eater? Considering the cost of gas, I would like to get my moneys worth out out of it.

[gcbailey]

I've had old gas that I've mixed some octane boost and MMO and used it for other purposes.

[Iluvtruks0]

I agree with Hilltop. As much as gas is, I hate to waiste it but Ive had trouble out of 4 month old gas.

I also will drain the tank and carb when I know it wont be used for a while(like my trac-vac) just so I know when I get back on it, I shouldnt be having to clean out the carb, drain tanks, or unclog fuel lines and filters.

[Matt G.]

That'd be even worse for a weedeater than a 4-cycle engine, most likely. Find an antique farm tractor to put it in, as they'll handle pretty horrible gas as they were designed for fuel with a much lower octane rating than what is sold today.

[JOHN SCHUTTE]

Thanks again Everyone! I ended up draining the fuel out. It did not smell bad, but was the worst looking gas I have ever seen. Looked like someone "relieved" themself in the tank. Filled it up and it ran great for a few seconds. Then it went back to missing and no power. I found a short rubber fuel line from the carb to a steel line that was leaking/sucking air and a PCV line that was cracked. After replacing them, same senario. During the process of starting and shutting it off many times I picked up on an odd noise. On the last few revolutions when shutting down I would hear a "TINK". Start it back up, runs great for a few seconds, and then "TINK, TINK" and back to running rough. Does this sound like a bad/broken flywheel key affecting the timing?