31-03-2018, 07:57 AM
I too am sceptical about the "stale fuel" statement. I think it must be stale fuel plus something (more than time) else.
My little outboard - 2 stroke, used one week a year, so the fuel is 51 weeks old - starts second pull.
My big outboard, ditto, wouldn't go unless everything dried the previous year and fresh fuel put in.
The Cambridge lives in an unheated garage, is used maybe every three months at present, always starts.
By the time it has come up the village, there is more water than fuel in the carb due to condensation in the slab tank.
So far, the Tourer, kept in the home garage, starts and runs ok at irregular intervals. Using a torch, there is a layer of flaky rust over the bottom of the tank, the product of which accumulates as a fine dust in the pump and float bowl which need cleaning from time to time.
The lawnmower (4 stroke) which lives outside and hasn't been used since November, started second pull.
So that is 1 to 4 against the stale fuel. What is Factor X that we are missing?
Simon
My little outboard - 2 stroke, used one week a year, so the fuel is 51 weeks old - starts second pull.
My big outboard, ditto, wouldn't go unless everything dried the previous year and fresh fuel put in.
The Cambridge lives in an unheated garage, is used maybe every three months at present, always starts.
By the time it has come up the village, there is more water than fuel in the carb due to condensation in the slab tank.
So far, the Tourer, kept in the home garage, starts and runs ok at irregular intervals. Using a torch, there is a layer of flaky rust over the bottom of the tank, the product of which accumulates as a fine dust in the pump and float bowl which need cleaning from time to time.
The lawnmower (4 stroke) which lives outside and hasn't been used since November, started second pull.
So that is 1 to 4 against the stale fuel. What is Factor X that we are missing?
Simon