Mechanic in a Bottle
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I may be the only one still using gasoline powered yard equipment but in case you still are you should know about this stuff.
Won’t start? Drain gas and put a few ounces of MIB in the tank. Pull the rope many times to draw it in to the carburetor. Let it sit - a day, a week, whatever. Add gas and start engine.
Runs but rough or only on 1/2 choke? Drain gas, put in some fresh gas and a few oz. of MIB, go cut the grass or blow the snow or whatever. Smooths the engine right out!
The gas you drained out? Put it in your car to get rid of it. Car engines don’t care.
Diagnostic charge at the local mower shop is about $100. A bottle of MIB is about $8 at Home Depot. First product of its type that I’ve had actually work.
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Interesting. We had inherited a neighbor's old lawn mower that had five year old gas sitting in it. I managed to get it started but it wouldn't keep running unless I had it fully choked. We put in some Seafoam and things improved but I decided I didn't really need a gas mower, so I gave it away to some landscapers.
Here's a comparison of Mechanic in a Bottle and Seafoam:
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I’ve used Seafoam. Seafoam will work if you can get the engine running but it takes a tank or two of gas to work.
MIB can get the engine running (my idiot snowblower) and when added to gas cleans things up more quickly.
That chart corresponds with my experience.
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Good to know. We did have the ethanol problem in our Toro snowblower the second year we had it. Since then we’ve been careful to run it dry or drain it. And we’ve been adding Seafoam to the gas in the storage container. Still, sounds like keeping a bottle of MIB would be a good idea.
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Another tip is to find a place that sells ethanol free gas. It’s made a big difference.
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We tried to find a station with ethanol free gas a few years ago. Nearest one was like 20 miles away
. A neighbor buys it in quart botttles at Menards. $7 a pop. It’s actually worked pretty well for him. We haven’t had much snow the last few years and I don’t think he’s used more than two bottles in a season.
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Boat owners use it, and I find it at stations near the lake. Last time I bought it I paid about $4/gallon, compared to the $2.30/gal I pay at Costco for regular.
