RE: Old gas in lawn mower

whippetwrun · Sep 28, 2003, 07:05 PM

arggghhhh, forgot to run the lawn mower until it was empty last November. Now it won t start and I was hoping to cut the grass before our trip this weekend. Since I don t know where to safely dump the old gas, I decided to try to cut the lawn with our old push reel mower from our old home.

Of course, the big difference is we lived on about .18 flat acres of which the majority was gardens which is why we never had a motorized mower. Now we have about .35 sloping acres and barely any gardens. I quit after a third of it was done. DH said,and I do quote this, " Well, at least, you got in some good exercise."

I am scanning the yellow pages for a mower repair shop to deal with the mower and some psychiatric help for myself for attempting the push reel mower.[&:]

Of course the problem may not be the gas, it may be the spark plug, since I forgot to pull that as well . . . I am tired to deal with it now.

birol · Apr 14, 2003, 04:38 PM

whippetwrunGood luck, old gas in a tank is not an easy thing to deal with ......

Garrett · Apr 14, 2003, 05:06 PM

whippetwrunDrain the old gas out of the tank and refill with fresh. Take out the spark plug and clean it. Spray some WD40 in the spark plug hole. It acts like starting fluid but with not quite so much bang. Put the plug back in quickly and then try to start the mower. This will usually work, but you may need to do the WD40 thing two or three times to work the rest of the old gas out of the carburator.

MtnCamper · Apr 14, 2003, 07:05 PM

whippetwrunUsually a sediment bowl on the bottom of the on/off flow switch. (7/16 wrench?) Take it off and let it fill with the gas in the tank, then try to start it as normal. It ll probably start. Water condenses in the sediment bowl and will prevent the start up. If it works, you saved enough to go camping.

tlhdoc · Apr 14, 2003, 09:31 PM

whippetwrunWe put Stable in the gas in the mower and snow blower. That way we don t have to worry.

ShirleyT · Apr 14, 2003, 10:06 PM

whippetwrunI left gas in my mower as well last year. I had to mow last week, didn t drain the old gas and didn t have a problem. But then again my mower got used right before Thanksgiving so maybe the gas wasn t too old to do any harm.

whippetwrun · Apr 15, 2003, 02:58 PM

whippetwrunthanks for the advice! One question - where can I safely dump old gas?

I m going to give it a try next week.

Also Tracy, what is Stable? Where do I find it?

popupcop · Apr 15, 2003, 10:44 PM

whippetwrunI use Sta-bil in my small engine gas tanks too. I always add the prescribed amount to my five gallon gas can when I fill it. Engines start every time with no carburetor gumming.

I wonder if you could mix the old gasoline with quite a bit of new gasoline to freshen it up...I don t know how well it would work...How about it mechanics?

gsm x2 · Apr 16, 2003, 02:20 AM

whippetwrun

Quotethanks for the advice! One question - where can I safely dump old gas?

OK, someone is going to hate this answer, but for the little bit that comes out of a gas tank, put it in a metal container, take it away from the house and other sources of ignition on a sunny day and let it evaporate.

gsm x2

birol · Apr 16, 2003, 08:12 AM

whippetwrunAt the end of every season, I make sure that my mowing continues as long as there is gas in the tank. When the mower runs out of gas, then mowing is finished, I try to to put little amounts towards the end of the season of course .....An idea for the next year ....

wynot · Apr 16, 2003, 01:16 PM

whippetwrunA lot more blame goes against old gas than is really valid.

The biggest thing when putting a lawn mower, etc. away for the winter is to make sure the engine gets run out of gas, less necessary for the tank to be empty. Some engines have fuel shutoffs in the fuel line, turn them off with the engine running and let it run out.

Old gas generally will still burn quite nicely, it s the gumming in the carb that tends to cause problems. The first things that I would do if confronted with this, is to pull the spark plug and squirt some lighter fluid into the cylinder, put it together and try to start it. This should pull some gas through if it s going to come.

Sta-Bil is worth using, especially if you don t use a lot of gas in a season. I burn about 2.5 gallons per mowing, so I don t have that problem - mine is how to keep enough gas on hand, and start keeping less toward late fall, and still have enough to be able to plow 2 feet of snow.

If you do drain the old gas out of the mower, I would run it through a paper towel filter into a clean container, and use it mixed with fresh, whether in your lawn mower or car. But definitely filter it, lawnmower gas is notoriously filthy from dust, grit, and other debris.

wynot · Apr 16, 2003, 01:25 PM

popupcop

QuoteI wonder if you could mix the old gasoline with quite a bit of new gasoline to freshen it up...I don t know how well it would work...How about it mechanics?

It works, the fresh gasoline helps to dissolve the gums and varnish that come from evaporated gas. Can t mix it too well in the fuel bowl of a carb though.

whippetwrun · Apr 16, 2003, 01:26 PM

wynotKershner - can I bring it with me to Newport News for a little hands on help? [

] Just kidding!

I am waiting until next week to tackle it . . . after the trip. It may end up in the shop though - I may as well get the blade sharpened.

Or maybe we can sneak a few goats in past the Homeowners Assoc. to keep the yard trimmed up.[8D]

Thanks again for all the tips!

gsm x2 - I d do the evaporation thing, but have no " safe" place to let it sit (2 kids under 7 and 2 not so bright dogs).

whippetwrun · Apr 16, 2003, 09:43 PM

whippetwrunI got it running! Pulled the spark plug used wd40 to clean it up. It sputtered the first 2 yanks then kicked in on the third! The old gas worked fine. The plug looked clean when I checked first it but I was wrong.

Only thing is now I have no excuse not to finish the lawn before leaving Friday! Unless. . . it rains. . .

Gamecock Camper · Apr 16, 2003, 11:40 PM

whippetwrunI agree with what others have said about the gas not usually being the problem. The gas in the carb and plug can get " gummed up" .... and that is usually where the problem is. A mechanic once told me that at the end of the season (last mow) use a premium octane gas as well as pull the plug and run the gas out of the mower / carb. The gas that you pour into the tank for the first mow in the next season will still be the old gas, but over time gasoline loses its octane level. Gas should be good for 2 years, but products like Sta-bil are good too.

Glad to hear you got your mower running though.

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