Chainsaw wont start!

[SBMF 2015]

I've got a cheap lawnmower that I intended to beat to death when I first bought the SD ranch and needed to clean it up in 2006 and the damn thing won't die. I leave cheap gas in it over the winter and I've changed the oil three times, and it fires right up every spring with one or two pulls.

Does your cheap gas have ethanol in it? I've always been told that's what kills 2 cycle sleeves/pistons.
All the cheap gas here is at least 10%E

 

[Twisted]

Don't throw those parts away, you could sell them on ebay for enough to buy a good Stihl.

 

[Mrcopier]

Yes it is the gas with ethanol in it. Here at lake fork many gas stores sell non ethanol fuel for boats and everyone buys their gas there for all small engines it make all the difference in the world

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Use non ethanol "rec gas" in everything I own that's gas powered (4 wheeler, lawnmower, chainsaw, welder, air compressor, etc) other than the car and haven't had problems with things sitting for months and months and still running.

The ethanol eats many types of plastics and rubber over time and ruins things like fuel lines, carb diaphragms, intake boots, etc.

 

[Dave]

My quad mechanic told me nothing but non ethanol gas. He says that most of the issues he has to deal with are from people using ethanol gas.

 

[Travlr]

Does your cheap gas have ethanol in it? I've always been told that's what kills 2 cycle sleeves/pistons.
All the cheap gas here is at least 10%E

I fill the gas can in the spring when I can't put off cutting the grass any longer, and it's the same gas I filled it with in the fall because I don't use the whole can of gas. I have no idea. Pump gas.
I don't trust a lot of the "expert" advice I hear, especially about maintaining vehicles. I had a new car ('95 Cutlass) that had a power steering pump leak and I took it in to be repaired under warranty. They wanted me to buy a new belt because the original had "cracks" and I was curious to see how far the cracked belt would go before failing so I told them to put the old belt back on. I sold the car @ 95K miles and replaced that belt before I sold it, still cracked and doing what serpentine belts do. I change oil at recommended times and grease zerks when I buy tires, and other wise ignore the car unless something breaks... and nothing breaks very often. I buy totaled vehicles and repair them and then drive them like I would any car/truck and have never had problems.
In the last ten years I had a wheel bearing go out on a 2000 3/4 ton GMC that I bought with 148K miles and sold @ 170K. I've replaced windshields more than anything else.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Put some E10 gas in a jar with various small engine carb parts, fuel lines, impulse hoses, intake boots, etc then get back to us about how the "experts" are wrong. Some of those materials will dissolve or get soft and gummy causing all sorts of issues. It's not some myth it's a widely known and proven scientific fact.

Claiming to drive a pickup to 170k miles only replacing a wheel bearing in 22k miles of ownership isn't much of an accomplishment. Haha

 

[Travlr]

Put some E10 gas in a jar with various small engine carb parts, fuel lines, impulse hoses, intake boots, etc then get back to us about how the "experts" are wrong. Some of those materials will dissolve or get soft and gummy causing all sorts of issues. It's not some myth it's a widely known and proven scientific fact.

Claiming to drive a pickup to 170k miles only replacing a wheel bearing in 22k miles of ownership isn't much of an accomplishment. Haha

Sorry the point went over your head. Pretty obviously I have driven other vehicles for many more miles in those ten years and... didn't list any problems with any of them because they didn't have any problems. The Taco I rebuilt after resurrecting it from the graveyard of totaling by an insurance company, repaired in my own driveway for less than $500 (probably under 300) hasn't had any issues either. Or the one I resurrected before that.

Have you tried the parts-in-a-jar experiment yourself?

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I have indeed watched E10 gas dissolve and soften rubber before my very eyes the gas in the jar was black and full of rubber sediment on the bottom. I've witnessed it make the diaphragm in a carb turn to jelly more than once. I've dug the deterioted rubber linings of fuel hoses out of plenty of pumps and carbs in my shop.

There is a reason that there are different rubbers rated for straight gas, E10, E85, etc. It isn't some marketing ploy to sell different rubber there are actual differences.

 

[Travlr]

I have indeed watched E10 gas dissolve and soften rubber before my very eyes the gas in the jar was black and full of rubber sediment on the bottom. I've witnessed it make the diaphragm in a carb turn to jelly more than once. I've dug the deterioted rubber linings of fuel hoses out of plenty of pumps and carbs in my shop.

There is a reason that there are different rubbers rated for straight gas, E10, E85, etc. It isn't some marketing ploy to sell different rubber there are actual differences.

Okay, so I'm not a professional mechanic. But I've worked in the parts industry for NAPA, O'Reilly, and three GM dealerships, in all kinds of capacities including specializing in supplying techs with what they've needed when no one else can find it.
And I've heard a lot of stuff from experts that I questioned.
So I've made a point to test what I hear.
Not everything I hear, but a lot of it, for about fifty years.
I've run spark plugs for 160K miles after buying a vehicle at 40K with what I was pretty sure were original plugs. So 200K on the plugs and I sold the vehicle with those plugs still in it and running fine. I can't remember changing spark plugs since except one time when a mechanic claimed it would fix a problem and it didn't (loose vacuum hose). I've run air filters for decades and batteries double their claimed lifespan. I've never, ever changed antifreeze or transmission fluid in any vehicle I've ever owned. I've heard people say brake fluid needs to be changed. Yeah, no, I've never done it.
And I've watched carefully while I'm neglecting my cars to see what happens to vehicles that are getting regular, or overboard, maintenance.
And I understand that different rubbers deteriorate around different fuels. My lawnmower has super powers and it must be channeling the Eveready Rabbit, because it just keeps going, and going, and going. I've been wishing it would die so I can get a battery powered model, but I'm invested in seeing how long the damn thing will last. Eighteen and a half years and counting...

 

[Hippie Rancher]

Okay, so I'm not a professional mechanic. But I've worked in the parts industry for NAPA, O'Reilly, and three GM dealerships, in all kinds of capacities including specializing in supplying techs with what they've needed when no one else can find it.
And I've heard a lot of stuff from experts that I questioned.
So I've made a point to test what I hear.
Not everything I hear, but a lot of it, for about fifty years.
I've run spark plugs for 160K miles after buying a vehicle at 40K with what I was pretty sure were original plugs. So 200K on the plugs and I sold the vehicle with those plugs still in it and running fine. I can't remember changing spark plugs since except one time when a mechanic claimed it would fix a problem and it didn't (loose vacuum hose). I've run air filters for decades and batteries double their claimed lifespan. I've never, ever changed antifreeze or transmission fluid in any vehicle I've ever owned. I've heard people say brake fluid needs to be changed. Yeah, no, I've never done it.
And I've watched carefully while I'm neglecting my cars to see what happens to vehicles that are getting regular, or overboard, maintenance.
And I understand that different rubbers deteriorate around different fuels. My lawnmower has super powers and it must be channeling the Eveready Rabbit, because it just keeps going, and going, and going. I've been wishing it would die so I can get a battery powered model, but I'm invested in seeing how long the damn thing will last. Eighteen and a half years and counting...

I have an old beater of a toaster like that, got the thing as a wedding gift in 1982. still working, ugly, burns at any level above the lightest setting but just won't die.

 

[Ouachita]

Travlr,
Has most of your experience with ethanol laced gas been in dry climates?

 

[Travlr]

Travlr,
Has most of your experience with ethanol laced gas been in dry climates?

It was made mandatory in '05, so since then, yeah. Before that, probably.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

And while you have had good success running everything past its maintaince intervals I've rebuilt engines that ingested so much dust from a trashed air filter that it has gouged the cylinder walls. I've been stranded away from home at -30 when that old battery just wasn't enough to start the vehicle. I've been on the side of the road in a snow storm when that cracked serpentine belt said it was done. I've rebuilt more than a few diesel where the coolant and additives broke down and caused electrolysis and pinholes the block. I've seen the strap on a spark plug so melted that that it would no longer fire and the unburned gas washed the oil off the cylinder walls and score them up.

Just because you've had "good success" by not doing any maintenance doesn't mean that is how it goes for everybody.

My question to customers is what's cheaper a diesel rebuild or a couple air filters along the way? What's cheaper replace the belt when it's at home or on the side of the road needing a tow? What's cheaper a new battery or being stranded someplace?

 

[Hippie Rancher]

oops wrong place

 

[Travlr]

And while you have had good success running everything past its maintaince intervals I've rebuilt engines that ingested so much dust from a trashed air filter that it has gouged the cylinder walls. I've been stranded away from home at -30 when that old battery just wasn't enough to start the vehicle. I've been on the side of the road in a snow storm when that cracked serpentine belt said it was done. I've rebuilt more than a few diesel where the coolant and additives broke down and caused electrolysis and pinholes the block. I've seen the strap on a spark plug so melted that that it would no longer fire and the unburned gas washed the oil off the cylinder walls and score them up.

Just because you've had "good success" by not doing any maintenance doesn't mean that is how it goes for everybody.

My question to customers is what's cheaper a diesel rebuild or a couple air filters along the way? What's cheaper replace the belt when it's at home or on the side of the road needing a tow? What's cheaper a new battery or being stranded someplace?

Yeah... and I get that kind of argument. But that's why I've been testing it for fifty years, to see how valid it is. Is it possible that I'm the one guy in the world that has everything last forever? I kind of doubt it, but I suppose. And I've never owned a diesel so maybe your experience with those is different? My experiences are my own and I'm not about to claim them as average or to be expected. They are just my own and I'm relating them as my own.

I will say this. If I were looking for a vehicle and found two that were identical except for one never having a wrench on it and the other having everything under the sun replaced, I'd be more inclined to buy the one with no history of being worked on. But that's my choice to have and may not be anyone else's choice.

 

[CJ John]

I have a friend that business is small motors. He told me that the reason you're weed eaters and lawn mowers and chainsaws don't work after sitting. It's because of all the bad gasoline. He said that most of the carburetors now are made out of plastic, or have a lot of plastic parts in them, so you can't rebuild the carburetor you just throw it away and buy a new one. He says almost every failure is because of the carburetor getting gummed up from bad gas.
It seemed, like every couple of years I was replacing weed eaters or some small motor.
He told me if I burned synthetic fuel in it from the day that I buy it that they'll start first or second pull every time.
That was about seven years ago. And he was right !!!
I have not had one issue with any small motor since I started burning synthetic. Even my chainsaw starts on the first or second pull.
It's expensive, but it's better than buying a new weed eater, blower, etc every two years.

I have a Husqvarna dealer near me that sells Aviation fuel --- either straight for lawn mowers --- or with oil added for chain saws. My saw will start after sitting a year!! They explained that AV gas has no/minimal additives because if the plane has sat in a hangar for a year and you get it out on the runway ---- you CAN'T have it falter because of fuel deposits !!! And they were right !!!

 

[jltrent]

It must be that time of year as yesterday had 14 chainsaws dropped off and I don't advertise. Eight of them are already fixed with a MS271 and an MS260 going to need a pressure test as appears an air leak.