New PW with Honda 190 engine - Ethanol treatment?

Joined
Jun 10, 2004
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608
Location
SW Illinois.
Just picked up a new PW with a Honda GC190 engine. I have a couple of observations and a couple of questions that come to mind.

1. There were no less than 5 stickers/hangers and pack-ins about using a certain brand of ethanol treatment. Including a very large hanger about a 10.00 rebate for the purchase of it within so long along with a PW.

2. I see a lot of 'ethanol treatments' from places like Sta-bil, Star Tron, Ethanol shield and even Supertech. Preferable choice here? Since I am completely in the dark about this, I wanted to pose it here.

3. I'm hoping the GC190 is a decent engine? I plan to put either PYB 10w30 or PP, if I have enough leftover in a few bottles. I think either of those oils will be perfectly fine - it's a PW not a car engine LOL.

4. It will be drained of gas and water, stored inside a heated garage during the cold months.
 
I put 5W30 synthetic Quaker State in my sis's Honda 160. Actually, you'll wear out a mower engine faster than a car/truck engine in my opinion.
 
Ethanol treatments all have one thing in common- they do not remove Ethanol from the gasoline.

Dry-gas (usually Methanol) is a somewhat useful Ethanol gas treatment, as it is miscible with both Octane molecules and Ethanol, and helps moderate the water+Ethanol phase separation that occurs whenever E10 (or more) gas that sits over time.

But the water is still in there, because Ethanol is extremely hygroscopic.

My recommendation is to just put Stabil in your gasoline while you're using it, and follow your own Step 4. I drain mine completely and run it dry while I'm not using it. I have been doing this for over a decade to Winterize my OPE, and I haven't had a crapped-up carb since I started this regimen. For some engines (snow blower in particular) I added a drain valve to speed up the process. All my engines start up on 1-3 pulls when I drag them out again and gas them up, assuming I give the gas a few minutes to work its way down first.
 
The GC series is Honda's consumer grade engine. It won't last as long as as a GX series engine in commercial service, but most Honda OPE equipment is junked before even the GC engines are worn out. They are good motors, IMO.

I think the reason they put all those gas stabilizer tags on PW's is that they so often are put away with gas in them and not used for years. As long as you don't let gas sit around for more than a few months, you probably don't need to add anything to E10. If I have untreated E10 that's been sitting more than a month or so, I will just pour it in the tank of the car to use it up and buy some fresh gas. We do have a farm co-op nearby that sells E0 so I like to use that if I can get that way. I normally don't add Stabil to any OPE gas, except for the 5 gallon can of gas I keep over the winter for the generator and to the last tank of gas I add to a machine before it's put away for the winter. I usually top them off with E0 with Stabil instead of emptying at that point.
 
I have a GCV190 (similar engine, just vertically mounted) on my pressure washer. I just turn off the fuel valve and let it run out of gas so the carburetor is dry after each use. The pressure washer isn't used all that often, and when turning off the fuel valve it only runs for another minute or so. This has kept the carburetor clean especially after long term storage. I do mix Stabil Marine 360 in my fuel cans also, but I think running the carburetor dry after each use has more of an impact. I do the same in all of my sporadically used equipment, and it really helps keep the carburetors clean. Otherwise I'd be messing with carburetors every time I wanted to use them since all grades of fuel here have ethanol.
 
Originally Posted by jeepman3071
I have a GCV190 (similar engine, just vertically mounted) on my pressure washer. I just turn off the fuel valve and let it run out of gas so the carburetor is dry after each use. The pressure washer isn't used all that often, and when turning off the fuel valve it only runs for another minute or so. This has kept the carburetor clean especially after long term storage. I do mix Stabil Marine 360 in my fuel cans also, but I think running the carburetor dry after each use has more of an impact. I do the same in all of my sporadically used equipment, and it really helps keep the carburetors clean. Otherwise I'd be messing with carburetors every time I wanted to use them since all grades of fuel here have ethanol.


+ 1. I use my PW once a year for about 8 hours total. No issues using this procedure. Starts up immediately.
 
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I've torn down a few of those darned tiny Honda carbs lately and was amazed at the damage to the bowl was in just one season. It ate nearly all the plating off the aluminum carb bowl. Here's a pic if it works. Of course it sat with ethanol gas all winter. With that in mind you can see why you want to try to avoid that stuff if you can or at least minimize it? The big lesson I'd kill the engine with a shutoff valve so it doesn't sit full of ethanol especially long term. The Toro had an OEM fuel shutoff but the owner didn't use it. He will now. I'd try to leave that carb dry no matter what gas you're using.
What I see plugging these dudes up are the tiny holes on the sides of the vertical tube above the main jet. It's not the jet that plugs usually but rather those tiny air holes on the sides of the tube. How they expect them to stay open is beyond me. I bet the one I unplugged got plugged by the debris inhaled from the dissolved plating of that float bowl.
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