Best cleaner for small engines

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I did not have much luck searching, but i am sure this has been discussed before. Could you guys give me your thoughts or direct me to a thread where this has already been discussed. I have a few lawn mowers, snow blowers, rototillers and so on that are older than me and could use some fuel cleaner. What would be the best product to use? Thanks.
 
Try some Star Tron, seen it work first hand on my blower when it started stumbling under load. Couple of tank fulls is all it took, now I add a couple cap fulls every time I fill it up.
 
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Berrymans Chemtool. I've successfully used it on my snowblower that had slight carb troubles even after cleaning. 1/4 of a can in the tank and ran it for 20 minutes; smoothed right out and has been working great all season.
 
air-cooled, side valve engines shall always run a tad rich and have carbon deposits on the top of the piston (or combustion chamber) no matter how meticulous you try to keep it clean. Compounded with carburettor system, these "crude" engines will never run clean no matter how hard you tried.

Don't waste time on gas additives. Simply (a) run fresh gasoline very time, and (b) schedule to pull the head and scrape the carbon every 100~200hrs.

Q.
 
Originally Posted by Delta
Berrymans Chemtool. I've successfully used it on my snowblower that had slight carb troubles even after cleaning. 1/4 of a can in the tank and ran it for 20 minutes; smoothed right out and has been working great all season.

I was told to use this by someone else but cant seem to find it in canada and its super expensive to order online
frown.gif
 
Originally Posted by das_peikko
The best cleaner is to take the carburetor off the engine and disassemble it. Spray it with carb cleaner and poke it with wires.

I was hoping to avoid that
smile.gif
never taken a carb apart before, i would probably put something back togeather wrong.
 
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Originally Posted by Quest
air-cooled, side valve engines shall always run a tad rich and have carbon deposits on the top of the piston (or combustion chamber) no matter how meticulous you try to keep it clean. Compounded with carburettor system, these "crude" engines will never run clean no matter how hard you tried.

Don't waste time on gas additives. Simply (a) run fresh gasoline very time, and (b) schedule to pull the head and scrape the carbon every 100~200hrs.

Q.

Its not really the carbon in the engine i was wanting to clean but the carbs. These have all sat for full seasons year after year with the carbs full of gas. I always use fresh premium gas when i am using them, but the lawn mowers and rototillers sit for 8-9 months and the snow blower sits unused for 6 months every year with gas in the carbs. That gumms them up a bit right?
 
Originally Posted by Duffyjr
Try some Star Tron, seen it work first hand on my blower when it started stumbling under load. Couple of tank fulls is all it took, now I add a couple cap fulls every time I fill it up.

Thanks, found it online for $30/bottle. Ill see if i can find it locally
 
Originally Posted by Festiva_Man
I was hoping to avoid that
smile.gif
never taken a carb apart before, i would probably put something back togeather wrong.


You'd be surprised by how simple they are and how few parts they have. You'd also be surprised by how simple they work.
 
Originally Posted by Quest
air-cooled, side valve engines shall always run a tad rich and have carbon deposits on the top of the piston (or combustion chamber) no matter how meticulous you try to keep it clean. Compounded with carburettor system, these "crude" engines will never run clean no matter how hard you tried.

Don't waste time on gas additives. Simply (a) run fresh gasoline very time, and (b) schedule to pull the head and scrape the carbon every 100~200hrs.

Q.
You might get 1/8th of that run time before main jet gets clogged. I've heard that even TCW-3 can help stabilize the fuel and also keep the carbon deposits to a minimum.

Originally Posted by das_peikko
Originally Posted by Festiva_Man
I was hoping to avoid that
smile.gif
never taken a carb apart before, i would probably put something back togeather wrong.


You'd be surprised by how simple they are and how few parts they have. You'd also be surprised by how simple they work.
Main jet is usually a single fastener to remove the bowl, and then the jet screws into the bowl. Easy as pie, you dad didn't teach you how to do it because it was not an issue before they started irishing up our gasoline.
 
Originally Posted by Delta
Berrymans Chemtool. I've successfully used it on my snowblower that had slight carb troubles even after cleaning. 1/4 of a can in the tank and ran it for 20 minutes; smoothed right out and has been working great all season.


That's all I use in small engine carbs, varnish is the issue with most and nothing removes it better from my experience. The carbs on every one of my OPE has been treated a small dose every full tank and not issues in 13 years. No carb has been off the engine or adjusted in any way.
 
I put 10-12 ozs of MMO in my 4gal gas can year round. When I put it away I give it a big gulp extra MMO in the mower gas tank and keep it full. Starts right up in the spring.
 
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Chem-Tool is mostly acetone and lacquer thinner. Paint store stuff.. Cut with regular gas ,so it wont melt any plastics. I took advantage of a BOGO at Autozone last yr. Good for cleaning out a clogged carb. on a curb find.. My mowers don't need it if I keep the tanks full with the carb run dry. Its the little 2 stroke carbs on the Mantis and the weed wackers. that need it in the fuel to prevent varnish.
 
What about the white frosty corrosion that blocks orifices and passageways? You're not going to get that out with any kind of cleaner; you have to physically poke those with wire and that means disassembly.
 
Originally Posted by das_peikko
What about the white frosty corrosion that blocks orifices and passageways? You're not going to get that out with any kind of cleaner; you have to physically poke those with wire and that means disassembly.

I don't recall dealing with that in any OPE I ever owned. Stuff I found and fixed had it on occasion and disassembly and cleaning was the only fix. I think tweaking the gas with something like B12, Techron, or MMO can prevent it from happening. All my OPE gas gets tweaked with Stabil and MMO.
 
Originally Posted by demarpaint
I don't recall dealing with that in any OPE I ever owned. Stuff I found and fixed had it on occasion and disassembly and cleaning was the only fix. I think tweaking the gas with something like B12, Techron, or MMO can prevent it from happening. All my OPE gas gets tweaked with Stabil and MMO.


What's worse is having that white frosty corrosion blocking the ports behind a welch plug; I've had that happen.
 
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