Joel Sanderson
Member
My dad buys premium gasoline without ethanol for his farm. (The stuff costs more than diesel even after getting the tax back!) This spring I was doing some work for him, and I filled both my '44 A and my '47 D with his gas. Not long after that, my A began missing and acting up, especially under load. It smoked too, which it never had before. I tried adjusting the carburetor, but nothing fixed it. I pulled the spark plugs, and they were oily and fouled, so I changed them. It still missed and sputtered. It was so bad I hardly made it up the hill on our road going to the field. I actually stopped and pulled over to let it catch its breath. Never had that happen before. So the next day I took the mag cover off and cleaned the points. No change. By then I was down to about 1/3 of a tank, so I filled it with E-10 from the gas station (which is what I had been using). It continued to run poorly under load for about twenty minutes, and then it began to get better. It made it up the hill fine, without a miss. Then I chopped a field of weeds, which took quite a bit of power, and it missed only a few times, though in the past it never would have missed a beat doing that kind of work. I haven't filled it on up with E-10 to see if that cures it, but you can be sure I will next fill up.
I also filled my D with that expensive gasoline. It's been missing more that usual too, but it's not as bad. It has a battery and coil ignition, so maybe it's not as sensitive. Still, it's been missing more than usual, and while I was working it under load, discing, it missed a few times, which surprised me.
I also have a stationary engine that runs a line shaft in my shop. It was made in 1898, has an 8" bore and 14" stroke, 2-cycle. When I was setting it up 18 years ago I tried different fuels and mixtures. I found it ran better with the ethanol than with straight gas too. Its happy mixture is 3/5ths E-10 and 2/5ths kerosene. That's an odd duck though. It even likes water in its gas, so maybe it's not a good example of what an engine should burn.
Anyone else have experiences similar to mine, where old engines run better on E-10?
I also filled my D with that expensive gasoline. It's been missing more that usual too, but it's not as bad. It has a battery and coil ignition, so maybe it's not as sensitive. Still, it's been missing more than usual, and while I was working it under load, discing, it missed a few times, which surprised me.
I also have a stationary engine that runs a line shaft in my shop. It was made in 1898, has an 8" bore and 14" stroke, 2-cycle. When I was setting it up 18 years ago I tried different fuels and mixtures. I found it ran better with the ethanol than with straight gas too. Its happy mixture is 3/5ths E-10 and 2/5ths kerosene. That's an odd duck though. It even likes water in its gas, so maybe it's not a good example of what an engine should burn.
Anyone else have experiences similar to mine, where old engines run better on E-10?