Honda Lite Fuel Stabilizer

Whats the best fuel stabilizer for this auger. Getting ready to put it away in storage till next season.

Drain the tank then run the engine till it dies.
As it starts to sputter (running out of fuel) choke the engine till it stops on its own.

Quote:

---

Drain the tank then run the engine till it dies.
As it starts to sputter (running out of fuel) choke the engine till it stops on its own.

---

Don’t do this… Have done in the past and any non metal gaskets or o-rings in the carb dry out and you will have a gas leaking auger. Get a little bit of good non-oxygenated gas a little shot of seafoam. I usually will start mine a few times thru out the warm months.

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

Drain the tank then run the engine till it dies.
As it starts to sputter (running out of fuel) choke the engine till it stops on its own.

---

Don’t do this… Have done in the past and any non metal gaskets or o-rings in the carb dry out and you will have a gas leaking auger. Get a little bit of good non-oxygenated gas a little shot of seafoam. I usually will start mine a few times thru out the warm months.

---

I have to disagree.

I have drained the fuel and run dry chainsaws, brush cutters, blowers, hedge trimmers, and many other types of seasonal power equipment for 20 years without having this “gasket leaking” issue even once.

Leaving gas in the machine causes more problems because as the fuel evaporates, it leaves behind residue and varnish. This isn’t much of an issue in larger machines where there is enough fuel to keep the carb “wet” and therefore act as a solvent to prevent this varnish from forming.

But in small machines, leaving fuel in them is just an invitation to problems. Yes, it’s fine if you have the discipline to start the machine and run it every 2-3 weeks during the off season and at the same time top up the fuel. Very few people can stick to this routine, however.

Drain the fuel, run it dry, and if you’re super-anal pull the spark plug (AFTER the engine’s cool, obviously) and put in a shot of storage oil. Pull cord to distribute the oil.

Fill it up next season and she’ll fire right off. Just took my chainsaw out of hibernation last weekend after being stored since November. Added fuel and she fired off in 3 pulls.

Grouse

You can do it either way. Running dry COULD cause the seals to dry rot, but I don’t think you really have to worry about it for the 6 months it will be sitting.

Option 2… Go to the hardware store and buy a can of chainsaw gas with fuel stabilizer built in. Its $5.99. Drain your auger and dump it in then run it for a bit to get the new gas in. Then run it every few weeks and you will be fine. If you know for a fact that the gas you are getting has no ethanol in it what so ever, then you can use that and some seafoam instead.

Mine is sitting with a tiny bit of treated gas in it (enough to fill the carb line and a little bit into the tank, and I’ll run it at least once a month until ice season.

When I was at the Strikemaster service center recently and asked Jason C. what he recommended. His suggestion to me was to store the Honda wet with non-oxy gas in the tank.

Quote:

---

When I was at the Strikemaster service center recently and asked Jason C. what he recommended. His suggestion to me was to store the Honda wet with non-oxy gas in the tank.

---

Exactly what I was told as I picked up parts to fix a leaking carb.

A leaking carb can be caused by many things in addition to leaking gaskets or seals.

The first thing I check is for varnish or oil deposits (in the case of a 2-stroke) left behind by evaporating fuel. The fuel varnish and residue causes the float valve to stick open or causes the needle in the main jet to bind before seating, so fuel overflows the float bowl and leaks out the carb. This can give the appearance of a bad float bowl gasket because of the way the fuel runs.

As you point out, seals can also be a cause. I’m just offering up the other possibilities so if anyone experiences problems, they perform a deep carb clean to remove varnish before buying and replacing carb parts.

Grouse

I put mine away today. I use Stabil and 91 octane and then followed the owners manual. I’ve used Stabil for 10 years with good results. Most all modern gas operated equipment manufacturers suggest storing them with a partially filled tank of treated gas. AS far as Seafoam or Stabil, that argument still is still a debate on this Web sight.

I contacted the local service center here in Colorado and he told me to store it dry do to amount of alcohol content in the gas around here. Alcohol will eat away all the lines.

Try to locate some of this… http://www.stihlusa.com/products/technology/stihl-motomix/

If you do not want to store it dry, it may be your only option.

Hmmmm. Honda is a 4 stroke engine not 2 stroke.

Quote:

---

Hmmmm. Honda is a 4 stroke engine not 2 stroke.

---

Yup, do not put this in………..non ox, sea foam, good night

Ahh sorry! I didn’t even catch that. I even re-read the post and didnt see it until I looked at the title again.

If you can’t get non oxy then you are SOL. Here is a link that shows some stations with non oxy. http://pure-gas.org/?stateprov=CO

Quote:

---

I put mine away today. I use Stabil and 91 octane and then followed the owners manual. I’ve used Stabil for 10 years with good results. Most all modern gas operated equipment manufacturers suggest storing them with a partially filled tank of treated gas. AS far as Seafoam or Stabil, that argument still is still a debate on this Web sight.

---

the debate over use this and don’t look back: Gas and Diesel

StarTron

I used Seafoam and Stabil — this is best for storing
Plus has many other advances

Seafoam is good for cleaning — I do not use stabil any more