Fuel and rubber

Bought a mower in 2005 with a BS engine.....don't know if that has anything to do with it or not as most engines have to do what I am about to say somehow. Recently it has been running rough and I've been chasing a ghost. I've been looking in the wrong places. In short there was nothing wrong with the engine per se. The problem was the rubber hose between the OHV valve cover and the fuel pump. The hose had deteriorated to the point where cracks were in it in several places which allowed ambient air to dilute the pressure pulses from the crankcase to the fuel pump to pump the fuel. New hose and engine runs fine. Most of my problems with gasoline engines the past few years have been with hose degradation, both rubber and on 2 stroker small engine, plastic. Might do you you to have a peek at yours.

First off. If you are doing any repairs I would advise you to use Tygon hose. The newer black hoses are more ethinol tollerent. First thing is use Hi-test gas in all of your small engines. Also buy a bottle of Startron. It breaks down the ethinol molecular structure.

use tygon stuff only for testing only what i found out, it will melt if left on. i will only use it for test and most customers will chew your but if you use it otherwise. gas weed trimmers all i was using it for,but since i quit mess with those, that solved the issue. good luck with stuff all i can say

common problem with age, anything over 5 years switch it out.

Yes to some of that. There was a buch of aftermarket junk couple of years ago.

All rubber hoses deteriorate with age. Usually easy to replace. Don't believe any of the crap that ethanol is responsible.

I've had good luck with Tygon. Note, the capitalized word as it is not the generic
'see thru' line you see a lot. Get the brand name and it lasts longer than rubber, especially the rubber from the Far East, that lasts one season for me.

Side benefit, if you use the correct size clamps it seals really well.

Yup !

The crap about ethanol is just that. Crap..

When ethanol laced gasoline first came onto the market it caught a lot of manufacturers from auto to small power equipment off guard. They did not know how it would effect a fuel system. So a lot of problems arose. Since then the auto and most of the small equipment manufactures have solved the problems by making new products that resist ethanol fuels.

One that is still lagging behind is Stihl. Cant figure out why their new products now call for you to buy a new carb every three years. Echo does not do that and their gas powered equipment carries a five year warranty. While Stihl only offers a two year unless you are fool enough to get suckered into buying their brand of oil. If Stihl oil is JASO FD rated like Echo oils. Why would Stihl only give me a two year warranty for using Echo oils?

Tygon fuel line will turn hard and deteriorate quickly. It is OK get get you out of a bind. Not not for long term use.

Check into it. Anyone selling or installing Non EPA certified fuel line for a small engine can face years in prison and receive thousands of dollars in fines.. Same for them if they sell or even loan you the tools needed to adjust small engine carbs.

Ethanol IS a problem. But the problem appears to depend on where you live and the specific blends you get, what you are mixing it with and, most importantly, how old the equipment you are working with is. In our area, using low grade ethanol fuels in a 2 cycle mix WILL give problems over time. How long? Again, it depends. Fresh mix used up quickly offers less chance that mix that is used slowly and stored with out a cap on the can. If you start using it in older equiment, say a 1970's chainsaw, you can guarantee issues with the fuel system.

This isn't anything new. This has been going on for 20 years or more now in my area. If you happen to live where your blends don't give issues, you're going to think this is all lies by idiots. It's not. It's fact. Fuel up your mid 70's Pioneer P50 with and ethanol blend and you'll need Channel Locks to get the cap off and new fuel lines to replace the gummy worms you now have.

Well, E hasn't been around here all that long and what we have tests around 5% for those whom I asked and were in the know. However, It's
been here long enough to develop a trend and I am no longer a skeptic. It does cause me problems. Period!

So my current activities are to run premium in all my small engines starting today and continue to use my snake oil. We'll see how it goes.

Got to the auto parts store today and bought some replacement carb fuel line. In bold print was stamped PVC and it was nice and slick. Oughtta work.