You may be right about the float bowls causing the jets to clog up. I'm also wondering
about gasohol as a contributing culprit. Maybe the Stabil type preservatives cannot
prevent this gas from deteriorating and leaving deposits on the
tiny jets in most small engine 4 strokes. I never had this kind of problem with the
two 2 strokes I owned, a British Seagull and a Chrysler. This is an issue the boating
and engine industry seems to be ducking. In the meantime, boat owners have to jump
through hoops to drain their carbs, switch gas often, add stablizers, etc., etc.

Sherwin D.

jamesgangnc wrote:

FWIW from my own personal experiences it is less about 2 stroke verses
4 stroke as it is about the design of the carburator(s). I find that
carbs that do not use a float bowl tolerate not running for extended
periods a lot better. Like my chain saw and weed wacker. Conversly I
find that carbs with a float bowl, particularly those that have the jet
orifices in or near the bottom of the float bowl, get gummed up when
the gas in the float bowl evaporates. Like my 4kw generator. I don't
find that stabilizer stops the evaporation of the gas in the float
bowl. I can't say one way or another if the stabilizer does anything
to reduce the deposits left when the gas does evaporate. It seems
unlikely. I can see how stabilizer could keep the extraneous solids in
suspension but not how it could make them evaporate with the gas. It
also seems worse on smaller engines presumably because they have
smaller jets in their carbs. What works best for me on those carbs is
to either run the gas out of the carb when I finish using it or drain
the float bowl.

sherwindu wrote:
What you are not telling us is what kind of engine you have. If it is a 2-stroke,
this kind of engine is much less sensitive to particles blocking the carburetor,
mainly because the oil in the gas helps to prevent this. After going through two
2-stroke engines over a 20 year period, I never had anything like the problems I'm
having
with this Yamaha 9.9 Four Stroke. I have had to tear down the carbs twice myself,
and have a mechanic do it once, all this season. It is now blocked again, so I
will
have to clean it this week. People giving comments about old gas not being a
problem should qualify what kind of engine (2 or 4 stroke) they are currently
using.

Sherwin D.

Harry Krause wrote:

jamesgangnc wrote:
The liquid gasoline expansion rate is almost 5 times higher than water.
In subjective language that is my "good deal".

There is a school of thought that you should fuel up in the morning
because you will get more gas by volume than you will in the afternoon.
I'm sceptical about that one because the gas in the underground tank
probably has a much smaller temperature range than an exposed tank.

John Wentworth wrote:
"James" wrote in message news:turIg.2213
Gas expands and contracts a good deal with temperature change and it
increases the moisture in you tank when it "breathes".
How much do you think gasoline expands and contracts with temperature
change?
1% ? 10% ? .01% ? How much is a "good deal"? Please be clear on the
coefficient of thermal expansion for liquid gasoline versus gasoline vapors.


This must be a discussion for those suffering from OCD.

In the last 16 years, I haven't paid the slightest bit of attention to
this sort of nonsense during my outboard boats' operating seasons, and I
haven't have one single problem in any way attributable to water in the
fuel. None. Zip. With my current outboard boat, I doubt if I've filled
the tank (170 gallons) more than twice. I usually fill to no more than
half a tank.