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Frank Fusco

Frank Fusco

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12,791
Location
Mountain Home, Arkansas
Can we suspend the no cussing rules for one day a week? Today would have been good. ;)
Rare for me, but I was really in a big time cussin' mood today. Was trying to clean up some of the January ice storm wood from my yard today using my new Stihl chain saw.
(imagine cuss part here) Well....the thing wouldn't start or run right. Fire a couple times, maybe idle then die.
Back to the store where I bought it. Guy poured out the fuel and said I was using wrong oil. Not so. I was using genuine Stihl oil with the gas mix carefully measured. He compared it with some of theirs. Theirs was blue, mine was green.
In walks another tech who didn't know what was going on but he immediately said "That gas smells strange." Finally we deduced that the gasoline I was using had ethanol in it. They use only ethanol free gas. The ethanol, apparently, contaminates the oil/fuel mix. And that was the source of my non-running problem. They put in some of their mix and saw ran great.
Now, I have to buy gas just for this saw. Why can anything be simple? :( I like simple.
 
And I was thinking about purchasing a Stihl string trimmer to replace my aging McCulloch. You can not purchase gas here without ethanol. It is illegal to sell gas without it here, or in any county that touches Tarrant (Fort Worth) and Dallas counties. So how would they handle that as a warranty problem? :dunno: :huh: I would be spitting nails if they told me that after buying one here. Guess I will just order the 50.00 worth of replacement parts instead. Jim.
 
I really don't want to jinx anything with my saws, but most if not all gas here has some percentage of ethanol and my mix/saws are running great.
I do know on both of my saws at the air filter there is a black plastic deal that you put one way for winter/cold weather running and turn it over for warm weather operations. Something probably with blocking/allowing air flow into cylinder for fuel air mixture. If that isn't in the correct position for the climate the saw will run erratically. :dunno::dunno:
 
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i agree full heartedly with vaughn on this one.. i have used stihl saws for years and between me and my brother we now have 6 that saw regular..havnt noticed any trouble with them and the gas thus far the newest one is 6 months old. and its still on milk yet:) the others are on meat and tators:) go have achat with your tech and give them a lesson on the puter while your there frank!
 
I find doing plumbing chores generates the highest rate of curse words per minute for me. Especially those that involve working under a sink.

I've got a new faucet to install in the kitchen, and a new RO filter to install today....
 
Vaughn McMillan said:
Frank, what percentage of ethanol is in your local fuel? Check out the third FAQ on this list:

http://www.stihlusa.com/faq.html

If it's 10% or less, you may need to talk to your Stihl tech.
Click to expand...

I get most of my gas from Murphy Oil, they are the company that is at most Wal-Mart stores. I had never even thought about ethanol being in their gas and don't know the percentage.
That FAQ is interesting.
But, my experience cannot be denied either. My saw wouldn't run. The gas/oil mixture looked different (and even smelled different) than a mix made with non-ethanol gas.
When the non-ethanol mix was put in the saw it ran like a champion.
I'll stick with non-e for a while, if there are no problems I'll chalk it up to the ethanol despite what the Stihl FAQs say.
I have e-mailed Murphy Oil to find out what, if any, percentage of ethanol is in their gasoline.
It's Sunday so I won't cuss, but I still feel a need to vent. I ain't happy with this situation. :(
 
Frank Fusco said:
I get most of my gas from Murphy Oil, they are the company that is at most Wal-Mart stores. I had never even thought about ethanol being in their gas and don't know the percentage.
That FAQ is interesting.
But, my experience cannot be denied either. My saw wouldn't run. The gas/oil mixture looked different (and even smelled different) than a mix made with non-ethanol gas.
When the non-ethanol mix was put in the saw it ran like a champion.
I'll stick with non-e for a while, if there are no problems I'll chalk it up to the ethanol despite what the Stihl FAQs say.
I have e-mailed Murphy Oil to find out what, if any, percentage of ethanol is in their gasoline.
It's Sunday so I won't cuss, but I still feel a need to vent. I ain't happy with this situation. :(
Click to expand...

Now the real story comes out. Frank, I've made a lot of money off of Murphy Oil in the last year and 5 months over contaminated fuel. The first was New Year's Eve '07 to '08. Water in the gas. The 2nd time was about 4 months ago with something in their diesel. After sitting for a few hours, it congealed into a blob that would float around in the fuel. Now the first time, Murphy just said fix what it needs and call us for a credit card. The second time, the customers had to pay and fight it out with them. But I didn't hear any of them come back and say they didn't get their money. We recommend our customers only use the top tier fuels. Jim.
 
Jim O'Dell said:
Now the real story comes out. Frank, I've made a lot of money off of Murphy Oil in the last year and 5 months over contaminated fuel. The first was New Year's Eve '07 to '08. Water in the gas. The 2nd time was about 4 months ago with something in their diesel. After sitting for a few hours, it congealed into a blob that would float around in the fuel. Now the first time, Murphy just said fix what it needs and call us for a credit card. The second time, the customers had to pay and fight it out with them. But I didn't hear any of them come back and say they didn't get their money. We recommend our customers only use the top tier fuels. Jim.
Click to expand...

It does get more and more interessinger. I spent some time yesterday (between picking up branches from the ice storm in my yard) perusing the 'net, using Google to find info on gasoline. Some sources said that all the major gasoline companies share transmission lines and, therefore, their gasolines are all identical. The differences in cleaning ability as seen in ads is just that, advertising only. That's what it said.
Later, I found the MSD for Murphy and it showed that their gasoline can be anywhere from 0% to 10% ethanol, it varies.
I dunno if blanket statements can be made. But, for my small engines, I'll be buying from another source from now on. We have a distributor in town that claims high-quality non-ethanol gasoline.
 
The schools that I have gone to on fuels say that there is indeed a difference in the quality and quantity of chemicals between the different brands. Then each oil company may store their own fuels. If not, if one gas station got fuel with water in it, then all of the locals would have it. I haven't seen that to be the case. Now there is the possibility that an individual station has a problem and contaminents get into their tanks which would make it a per station problem.
The fuel classes I have been to were not by the oil/gas companies, so they had nothing to gain or hide with the information they gave out. Jim.
 
Jim O'Dell said:
The schools that I have gone to on fuels say that there is indeed a difference in the quality and quantity of chemicals between the different brands. Then each oil company may store their own fuels. If not, if one gas station got fuel with water in it, then all of the locals would have it. I haven't seen that to be the case. Now there is the possibility that an individual station has a problem and contaminents get into their tanks which would make it a per station problem.
The fuel classes I have been to were not by the oil/gas companies, so they had nothing to gain or hide with the information they gave out. Jim.
Click to expand...

As I said, inneressing. I'll wait until I get responses from Murphy and Stihl. Should add to the interest.
 
I only run premium gasoline in my saws. I keep 2- 5 gallon cans handy, each clearly labeled. You don't want to run premium in your lawnmower unless it specifically says you can. Too much heat. I mix Stihl mix oil in a 2.5 gallon can.

I have heard that there is quite a difference between gasoline quality. Us miserly types tend to go for the cheap. However I found out that the more expensive fuels can often net you more miles per gallon than the cheap stuff, so it looks like a case of penny wise pound (dollar) foolish. A friend of mine now only uses Shell gas because of this. He claims he gets 2-3 more mpg than the local cheap brands in his truck.
 
I went and read on the forestry forum about this issue and there is a lot of talk about adding marine Sta-Bil to small engine fuels to deal with the ethenal problem. Another guy mentioned that some gas stations are selling gas with a lot more ethenal in their fuels than advertised. Go figure. Ethenol attracts moisture and if left in small engines over time will gum the carbs up.
 
Last spring when I was in the market for a new weed eater/edger, LOML wanted me to look at the gas powered ones so I wouldn't have to pull the power cords across the lawn all the time. This was when gas was over $4 a gallon and ethanol was being sold all over the place as a way to keep the cost down. The salesman at Lowes that I was talking to recommended vehemently against using gas with ethanol in it for the smaller engines as, according to him, it would eat up and wear out the gaskets in the engine requiring it to be rebuilt before the growing season was over.
 
I have a lot of trouble with something not engineered for what many in the country have no choice in. No problem with an older product that was out before ethanol was being used. But I can't buy gas without ethanol. Wish I could. Mileage would go back up. It's a known issue that alcohol attacks certain types of plastics. Some fuel pumps in older cars had a plastic check valve that the alcohol would eat up and allow the fuel pressure to bleed off back to the tank. Long crank before the engine got fuel pressure to start and run. But if I'm buying a current product, it should be built for all of us, or have a warning/not sold for ethanol fuel regions. Jim.
 
Agree with Jim.
As much as I am a fan of Stihl products, they are finicky when it comes to fuels.
Yesterday, I put in fresh mix made with non-ethanol gasoline. Chainsaw ran like a champion.
I also have two Stihl weedeaters. One is really a heavy duty brush cutter, other a lighter duty for grass trimming.
None of my three Stihls will run at all if I use an oil for the 50:1 mix other than Stihl brand. Dunno why. :dunno:
Suspect there is an additive that makes the difference.
I really don't mind much other than I feel like I'm a captive to purchasing their brand of oil instead of a competitors.
 
Frank Fusco said:
Agree with Jim.
As much as I am a fan of Stihl products, they are finicky when it comes to fuels.
Yesterday, I put in fresh mix made with non-ethanol gasoline. Chainsaw ran like a champion.
I also have two Stihl weedeaters. One is really a heavy duty brush cutter, other a lighter duty for grass trimming.
None of my three Stihls will run at all if I use an oil for the 50:1 mix other than Stihl brand. Dunno why. :dunno:
Suspect there is an additive that makes the difference...
Click to expand...

Frank,
I've used Homelite and Echo oils in my Stihl leaf blower, string trimmer and chainsaw, with no problems.

The Stihl oil does say it has a stabilizer in it, though, and the other brands don't say that.

BTW, all three Stihl product manuals recommend the use of mid grade or premium gas - not regular.
 
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