Reducing exhaust smell on a small 2 stroke

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john_ertw

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My fater recently acquired a 1992 Toro CCR Powerlite snowblower with a Tecumseh HSK600 engine (3hp, 2 stroke). It starts on the first pull (if you prime it properly) and seems to run strong.

With the previous owner's oil gas mix it would smoke on start up, but I beleive that owner mixed his gas with extra oil as opposed to Toro's 50:1 recommendation. I'm not sure what brand was used.

We started using Amsoil Saber Professional mixed to 50:1 (we were a little affraid to use Amsoil's 100:1 suggestion as this is the first 2 cycle engine we have owned). There is no more visible smoke on start up or during running, but the Amsoil hasn't done much in terms of reducing exhaust smell.

Is there anything we can do to reduce the exhaust smell?

I'm thinking that reducing the ratio of the Amsoil may help. Is running Amsoil leaner than the engine manufacturer's 50:1 recommendation safe on a 16 year old engine that has some carbon buildup (visible through the spark plug hole)? We were thinking of bumping it up to 60:1 when the current mix is used up, but I wonder if it's too small of a change to have any effect.

Any other suggestions?
 
I think what you are smelling is the environmentally unfriendly attribute of a 2-stroke engine, unburned hydrocarbons. There is a possibility that something is wrong that will make it run too rich. Check the plug after a good hot run to see if it is black. Perhaps the carb needs cleaned. It is 16 years old. make sure the choke is opening all the way. BTW they are jetted to run in cold weather (relatively rich) Some 2 stroke oils are less offensive than others, but they all smell. I usually stick with manuf. ratios so I cant help there.
 
Many of our customers have reported a much more pleasant smell after switching to the synthetic 2-cycle oil that Stihl sells.
It comes in white bottles, and is designed to run at 50-1. Do not change the ratio.

You are in Canada, so go to this site and put in your postal code, it will show you the closest dealer.

http://www.stihl.ca/dealerLocator.asp
 
60:1 won't hurt it. 50:1 can be a bit oil rich with Saber, but usually doesn't stink too bad.

Indeed as suggested, it may need a tune. If tuning the carb doesn't help, maybe get a little castor oil in the blend. It smells good.
 
I use this in all my 2 stroke engines (a 2002 KDX220 dirt bike, a McCulloch chainsaw and a Weed Eater weed whipper) to cut down on unsightly smoke. I mix at 50:1 from the same jerry can for all these engines. No long term reliability problems with any of this equipment so far. I have about 150 hours on the original top end of the bike (a bit much I know), maybe 5 hours on the chain saw and probably 15 hours on the Weed Eater.

http://www.redlineoil.com/products_motoroil.asp?productID=23&subCategoryID=3&categoryID=3
 
Yep, the higher dollar 2-cycle oils will cut down on exhaust smoke, but you are still going to wreak like you spritzed yourself with gasoline after each use. Like said, it's the nature of 2 cycle engines. You still spit tons of unburned gasoline out the exhaust regardless of the 2 cycle oil mixed in.

Joel
 
Stihl syn oil is made from the castor bean, no need to add anything to make it smell better. It will also clean the carbon from the top of the piston, although the Amsoil Power Foam will do it faster.

All 1992 2 cycle engines will run rich compared to today's engines, that's when the CARB tiers were being implimented.
 
Originally Posted By: hate2work

Stihl syn oil is made from the castor bean...


I did not know that! Thanks.

I add some Castor to my bike engine premix. Just for fun.
 
Originally Posted By: hate2work

Stihl syn oil is made from the castor bean, no need to add anything to make it smell better. It will also clean the carbon from the top of the piston, although the Amsoil Power Foam will do it faster.

All 1992 2 cycle engines will run rich compared to today's engines, that's when the CARB tiers were being implimented.


Uhhh, castor oil is an organic oil and therefore can't be synthetic. Stihl Ultra is labeled as full synthetic, so it can't be castor based.
 
whistle.gif
Shh....shush....shhhh
 
I wouldn't use castor based oils in cold temps. Maxima 927 -Caution Not intended for use in oil injection systems. When blending with alcohol it normally requires more oil. Care must be exercised when blending with low specific gravity (below 0.730) race gasoline and in temperatures below 35ºF as separation may occur.
 
Originally Posted By: hate2work

Stihl syn oil is made from the castor bean, no need to add anything to make it smell better.

err, no it isn't, as the boys have said above, it's a synthetic.
It's actually blended by Castrol (supposedly in Italy the Stihl boys tell me) for Stihl and is ester based.

Quote:
It will also clean the carbon from the top of the piston, although the Amsoil Power Foam will do it faster.



How can it clean out carbon deposits ??
Using it, or most any synthetic ester two stroke oil, particularly JASO FC or better FD oils will reduce/almost eliminate carbon build up if the engine is tuned correctly but i seriously doubt it can clean.
 
I changed the spark plug a few days ago. When we first purchased the machine, the old plug had a good amount of black wet oil buildup on it. We finished the previous owner's tank of gas and ran 2 or 3 tanks using Amsoil Saber at 50:1 before getting around to actually changing the plug. At that point the buildup on the plug changed to a white/grey colour and it was really apparent that a new plug was in order.

I'm wondering if the old plug was possibly occasionally missing and causing extra unburnt fuel to be exhausted. Also the previous owner's oil/gas mix was so oily that an oil residue was leaking out of the exhaust. I'm hoping that will go away now that we are mixing it properly.

Unfortunately when we ran the machine after changing the plug it was too windy to get a real feel of if the exhaust smell changed. Actually maybe the trick is to only use it when there is a wind to carry away the exhaust!
 
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