Fixed rough running Honda EU2000i
3 year old generator and like a fool I left gas in it too long. Went to fire it up two days before my trip and it was running terrible on normal and would die on eco-mode. Too late to take it in...
Forum Discussion
There are all sorts of products sold that claim to rebuild your smoking engine or get better mileage. Usually when you have varnish and deposits in the carb it then needs to come apart and be cleaned. I have experienced similar results with seafoam though. I have a 25 year old Honda roto tiller that I may drag out one time a year. It's treated like the redheaded step child so it just gets stuffed back in the shed and has never even had the fuel drained. I always laugh because it will usually fire up with a couple pulls.
This year it was surging and popping and would stall out. I was busy in the middle of cutting down trees so I dumped a lot of seafoam in it and pushed it off to the side and let it run wide open. It cleared out and runs just fine. I have worked at small engine shops and seen thousands of carburetors and will tell you Honda and Yamaha use better metal in their carbs. Through all the years of seeing Honda, Yam, B&S and others, when it comes to opening up a nasty carb with fuel damage you will have the best chance of survival with H aand Y. You will see the witness mark area where the stale fuel has actually corroded into the metal on some brands. It can happen to H and Y but not as easily as the others.
So it's not that you cant mess up a H or Y with stale fuel, it's just that the higher price you paid is giving you better materials so they do have a better chance of survival. Seafoam will not fix everything but it even surprised me when it fixed my Honda. If I was having problems with any generator and I was planning to head out on a big trip I wouldn't necessarily dump seafoam in it only to find out that a bigger flake of stale fuel reside has now plugged the carb. a week later. Op is a good example of where seafoam could help. When storing other equipment that I care about I like to drain the fuel system and flush with seafoam. If you dont want to drain the fuel and carb bowl, run it out of fuel and as it's stumbling and sputtering pour in seafoam so the system is purged of fuel and what remains has a heavy concentration of seafoam. Seafoam doesn't have to be used but you do want to drain the system.
Over the years one of the products to hit the small engine market was stabil, I used it and people seemed to have good results with it. It seems that as the fuel blends changed it may not be as effective. My buddy/mechanic who owns a John Deere dealership gave up on it as he was constantly seeing damaged carbs from people who swear they were using it all the time for storage. Honda recommends fuel stabilizers in the owners manual so you decide on how you want to store your equipment. People use it all the time so it may still be a good option and it would surely seem that the manufacturers have changed formulations over the years to keep up with the fuel changes.
For me, the best way to survive small engine storage is to drain the fuel and also flush with seafoam. Maybe it's overkill, but the main thing is to not have fuel laying in the carb or pump. On a carburetor engine the fuel bowl has to be vented to atmosphere so that is part of why it has problems with the fuel going stale. You will hear people say that their chainsaw or weed eater can sit all year and fire up and never gives them problems. A very big reason is because the carb doesn't have a fuel bowl, it is a diaphragm pump type carb that has no vent to atmosphere. It's fluttering pump diaphragm does have one side exposed to atmosphere but that is just the side opposite of the fuel that is in the carb. The movement of the piston in and out of the crankcase area creates a pulsing action which is ported to the diaphragm carb and one way rubber flapper valves which pump fuel along with a metering needle etc. It does not mean that you cant have fuel problems but they are more tolerant.
This enclosed fuel system allows operation at any angle so the chainsaw or weedeater can even operate upside down. The fuel line in the tank can flop around and still pick up fuel. Picture a bowl type carb on a generator like your toilet bowl. If tipped too far it wont work. So, even draining the fuel isn't a 100% guarantee of no problems as I have seen float mechanisms stick or the rubber needle seat leak but draining is the best option. It is rare but nothing is 100%. I dont drain or stabilize my 2 stroke equipment but do run it every year and fresh fuel it.
We fastened a notice to every piece of equipment that went out the door that said the fuel must not be over 45 days old. Iirc Honda says 30 days. That means use the fuel you have on hand and dont store it. Also, never store engines of any sort in places like basements or some garages. Basements often have condensation dripping off pipes and are a humid environment. I have seen motorcycles come out of basement storage with the engines rusted solid.
This year it was surging and popping and would stall out. I was busy in the middle of cutting down trees so I dumped a lot of seafoam in it and pushed it off to the side and let it run wide open. It cleared out and runs just fine. I have worked at small engine shops and seen thousands of carburetors and will tell you Honda and Yamaha use better metal in their carbs. Through all the years of seeing Honda, Yam, B&S and others, when it comes to opening up a nasty carb with fuel damage you will have the best chance of survival with H aand Y. You will see the witness mark area where the stale fuel has actually corroded into the metal on some brands. It can happen to H and Y but not as easily as the others.
So it's not that you cant mess up a H or Y with stale fuel, it's just that the higher price you paid is giving you better materials so they do have a better chance of survival. Seafoam will not fix everything but it even surprised me when it fixed my Honda. If I was having problems with any generator and I was planning to head out on a big trip I wouldn't necessarily dump seafoam in it only to find out that a bigger flake of stale fuel reside has now plugged the carb. a week later. Op is a good example of where seafoam could help. When storing other equipment that I care about I like to drain the fuel system and flush with seafoam. If you dont want to drain the fuel and carb bowl, run it out of fuel and as it's stumbling and sputtering pour in seafoam so the system is purged of fuel and what remains has a heavy concentration of seafoam. Seafoam doesn't have to be used but you do want to drain the system.
Over the years one of the products to hit the small engine market was stabil, I used it and people seemed to have good results with it. It seems that as the fuel blends changed it may not be as effective. My buddy/mechanic who owns a John Deere dealership gave up on it as he was constantly seeing damaged carbs from people who swear they were using it all the time for storage. Honda recommends fuel stabilizers in the owners manual so you decide on how you want to store your equipment. People use it all the time so it may still be a good option and it would surely seem that the manufacturers have changed formulations over the years to keep up with the fuel changes.
For me, the best way to survive small engine storage is to drain the fuel and also flush with seafoam. Maybe it's overkill, but the main thing is to not have fuel laying in the carb or pump. On a carburetor engine the fuel bowl has to be vented to atmosphere so that is part of why it has problems with the fuel going stale. You will hear people say that their chainsaw or weed eater can sit all year and fire up and never gives them problems. A very big reason is because the carb doesn't have a fuel bowl, it is a diaphragm pump type carb that has no vent to atmosphere. It's fluttering pump diaphragm does have one side exposed to atmosphere but that is just the side opposite of the fuel that is in the carb. The movement of the piston in and out of the crankcase area creates a pulsing action which is ported to the diaphragm carb and one way rubber flapper valves which pump fuel along with a metering needle etc. It does not mean that you cant have fuel problems but they are more tolerant.
This enclosed fuel system allows operation at any angle so the chainsaw or weedeater can even operate upside down. The fuel line in the tank can flop around and still pick up fuel. Picture a bowl type carb on a generator like your toilet bowl. If tipped too far it wont work. So, even draining the fuel isn't a 100% guarantee of no problems as I have seen float mechanisms stick or the rubber needle seat leak but draining is the best option. It is rare but nothing is 100%. I dont drain or stabilize my 2 stroke equipment but do run it every year and fresh fuel it.
We fastened a notice to every piece of equipment that went out the door that said the fuel must not be over 45 days old. Iirc Honda says 30 days. That means use the fuel you have on hand and dont store it. Also, never store engines of any sort in places like basements or some garages. Basements often have condensation dripping off pipes and are a humid environment. I have seen motorcycles come out of basement storage with the engines rusted solid.
