I have 0 experience maintaining and have next to no understanding of how any sort of engine works. So I apologize in advance for what is probably so basic I couldn't find any prior discussion of it. Picked this functioning blower off Craigslist recently and need to get her prepared for spring. There is a little bit of gas left in the tank. My first thought was to run it till it dies, fill gas tank with TrueFuel, let it run a little more, call it a season. The manual says add unleaded gasoline and TrueFuel is a gas/oil blend. There is a separate fill cap for the oil. So, is that ok to use? The tank only holds 2 quarts, I don't have a gas can, and with my luck there won't be snow next winter.
2) I assume that you are talking about the TruFuel for 2-cycle engines as being the gas/oil mix (either the 40:1 or 50:1), and you are intending to 'fog' the engine with oil/gas mix for the off-season.
That would be fine.
3) as far as the separate gas and oil fill caps . . . hold on a minute . . . The engine is a 4-cycle engine (right?) and the gas and the motor oil shall remain separate on a 4-cycle engine. So, just want to make sure you were not planning on adding the TruFuel to the oil fill. The Trufuel will go into your gas tank.
4) Might as well change the oil while you are prepping the engine, unless you know that it has been recently changed.
Thank much for the welcome. Wish I had found you guys before buying, but I think I did all right anyhow!
Yes, I was looking at the 50:1, although truth be told, I don't know whether the 40:1 would be more appropriate? Guessing not?
As for the engine, the manual/parts list describes the engine as 2-cycle. And truth be told, this is one of the places I'm getting tripped up. The manual says:
FILL OIL:
This snow thrower was shipped with a container of 5W30
motor oil. This oil must be added to the engine before
operating Remove the oiltill cap/dipstick and fill the crank
case to FULL line on dipstick (21 ounces)
So the VERY SAME MANUAL says that the engine is a 2 Cycle but then then goes on to say that you should remove the oi cap/dipstick and fill the crank case with the supplied 5W30 to FULL line on dipstick (21 ounces) ?
I looked up the manual for your snow blower, and I can see your confusion. In the parts section, they describe your engine as a 2-cycle engine (one where you would mix the gas with the oil), and in the operation section, they give instructions for the engine as if it were a 4-cycle engine - very confusing, and a sloppy job on the part of Sears. I guess you need to look up your engine model number and do a google search to determine whether it is 2 of 4 cycle, and then go from there.
Maybe a call to Sears will help straighten out the confusion, but more than likely, it will add to the confusion - which is why Sears is slowly going bankrupt.
FWIW, my craftsman has a B&S 13.5 GT 305cc OHV engine on it. The manual lists the replacement spark plug incorrectly. The plug they specify is for an Tecumseh L head.
Way too short reach and way to big shank and wrong threads, but, besides that it's perfect. :RantExplode:
Makes you wonder sometimes if following the manual is such a good idea.
Looks like I'm missing something here - probably more than something. Given it's a 4-cycle engine, I don't see why 2-cycle gas/oil mix would be used. Tru-Fuel has an ethanol free 4-cycle product I believe would be fine for storage - not the 2-cycle blend. I'd run it to empty as vfrex says he'll do, then fill with ethanol free and run it to get the remaining old gas from the lines. But, then I'd fill the tank back to full. One last point, if there's more than a tiny amount of gas left in the tank, siphon it instead of running it because you don't know if the gas is any good.
Similar to running an engine that burn oil. It'll send out some blue smoke, but it probably won't destroy the engine, but not good on a steady diet. Depends on what %age oil is mixed.
Yes, I would only run a 2-cycle oil/fuel mix for storage prep. I am running a 2-cycle mix on the Husqvarna ST224 that I recently bought . . . but don't tell anybody. :icon_smile_tongue: I don't use it much and may not have the time to prep it for the off-season.
I always use non-ethanol gas year round. Fill up tank with gas and Stabil gas stabilizer, run 5 minutes and put away for the summer. Try this website to find non-ethanol gas in your area.
I always use a gas stabilizer, even if you can use nonethanol gas, remember any gas will start to deteriorate after 30 days without it. If you can't find nonethanol I suppose it would be feasible to use something like TruFuel but it's going to be expensive.
So I ran the blower till it died on the gas it came with, filled tank with 4-cycle TruFuel, and tried to run the blower for a few minutes to get the stabilized fuel through the system. It sputters for a minute, never really gets into a rhythm, and dies. Any ideas?
It ran well enough until the tank was almost entirely empty, then sputtered and stalled (on the old gas).
Assuming I should siphon the designer stuff to get it out?
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