Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 1/26/2015 3:42 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Mon, 26 Jan 2015 15:08:18 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:


I just dragged the old Honda EU-2000 out of the barn, just in case we
lose power in this storm. It hasn't been used or even run for three
years. When I put it away after it's last use the fuel tank was full.
I added a few ounces of Stabil to the tank and stored it away.

It took about 5 pulls, then fired right up. Runs nice and smooth.

Of course, the only way to tell if Stabil really works would be to
store it for the same period of time with a full tank but *without*
adding Stabil.

This is the second time it fired up easily after a long storage. The
first time was about 6 years. Used Stabil then also.

Snake oil or not, I think I'll keep using Stabil.

===

That's good news. A couple of questions:

Did you run the fuel out of the carb before storing?

Did you use non-ethanol fuel?



Answers:

No.
No.

I don't believe in running the carb out of fuel before storage. In my
mind it allows deposits to harden and "varnish" to form.

As I mentioned in another post to Greg, my experience with lawnmower
engines is they almost always have float or carb problems if drained,
even if it was just for the winter months. I just add Stabil, let the
engine run for a while and shut it down. Of course sitting for 6
years is extreme but the little Honda fired up and ran fine on the 6
year old gas.

I've never had any work done on the Honda. I changed the oil once (as
recommended after break-in). Haven't changed it since and I've never
stored it dry (no gas). I check the oil level occasionally and it's
fine. The Hondas automatically shut down if the oil level is low anyway.




The fuel in the carb evaporated years ago. Seafoam is a great product, too.