Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

(thread updated 12/15/13, same problem!)


I was negligent last year and never put my new 11.5HP Platinum Ariens into storage.  It sat with 1/2 tank of fuel from the dealer, was never used during that remarkable winter and now.... when I tried starting it not a thing happened.  The motor turned over without a sputter.

Having learned a few things from reading this board (thank you) I found the carb and cleaned out the not surprisingly clogged jet with a single strand of wire from lamp cord.  The bottom of the bowl was clean, I reused the bowl gaskets tightening things enough that it didn't leak.  I didn't want to overdo it.  It started immediatly

I then added 1/2 tank of fresh gas to the 1/2 tank of old gas that came with it, some Stabil, and inflated the tires to 18PSI.

Some questions:
1)  Should I check on or clean anything else? 

2)  Is there a service manual for the engine?  Just looking at it, I didn't know which cover to remove to find the carb and still don't know which cover the spark plug is hiding under.  I see generic instructions for operating the engine, but not for service.

3)  The inside of the bowl was uniform all around, and there's a tail of sorts molded into the exterior underside.  Does it matter which direction it's installed?  I know with the older carbs it does, but it didn't seem to matter with this one.

Of interest, I had an older 9526DLE stored next to it, under similar circumstances, and it started instantly. 

I personally would not mix good gas in with  bad gas.  I would drain all of the gas out of the tank and fill it with new gas and stabil.

i have a 1986 ariens 8 hp tecumseh that still starts first pull. the bowl has been off several times to clean the high speed jet ,retorqued some loose head bolts two seasons ago,and keep fresh gas with fuel conditioner  in it.the one most important thing iv'e learned with all my seasonal use gas powered engines is at the end of the season shut the fuel off and run the engine till it runs out of fuel.

mkd55 wrote:
Agree entirely with the above.  That's what I do.

I have no issues mixing old gas with new gas if the old fuel isn't too degraded.  However, if I do, I run the machine to burn the blend off right away then add more fresh fuel.

Alway drain the tank and run the carb dry for storage purposes. 

newtonian wrote:

I've got the same model that you have.  I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it is an 1150 series B&S polar force motor which means 11.5 ft/lbs of torque, NOT 11.5 hp.  Actual hp rating for this motor is in the 8.5 range, give or take.  This is still very good compared to many new 24" 2 stage machines that are using 179 & 208cc engines (around 5.5hp & 6.5hp).   At least the 250cc B&S Polar Force has ball bearings on the crankshaft main journals as opposed to sleeve bearings.  The latest Polar Force also has a cast iron cylinder sleeve...not sure if this is new or if it has always been there.  Perhaps Snowmann can verify when these extra features came into play on Polar Force motors. 

I found some gas in my area that does not have ethanol. That solves a lot of problems. I believe the web site is pure-gas.org. I buy 1 gallon at a time and put some stabil and seafoam in it immediately. Also shut the fuel off and let the carb run dry when done. A fuel filter wont stop gas from going bad and turning to varnish in the carb. Also that ethanol starts to separate and go bad immediately.

specialkkl wrote:
Go bad immediately?

Please.....  That's completely inaccurate and totally misleading.  

We've got ethanol in our gas and I've never had a problem with it,  even if I store it for six months or more over winter with no snake oil in it.   An air-tight container is all I use.   

Tell me how long it waits then. American petroleum institute recommends not storing longer than season to season. Shops love the ethanol for all the problems it causes.

specialkkl wrote:
As I've stated, I've never had a problem with ethanol fuel and you can rest assured that there are many millions of others who share the same experience as I. 

If the fuel was as bad as you say it is, the streets would be clogged with dead vehicles left, right and center as soon as they left the service station.  If you look around, you'll see that there are far more vehicles running just fine than there are dead ones on the side of the road whose demise was from ethanol poisoning.   When was the last time you saw a vehicle  disabled as a result of ethanol in the fuel? 

We've had ethanol in our fuel for many years just to deal with our long, cold winters.  We'd likely be in more difficulty without it rather than with it.  From my experience, any problems I've had with fuel, is water/debris in the gasoline bought directly from a service station.  Bad gas isn't necessarily caused by ethanol.  I'm not debating whether or not that ethanol in the fuel may have negative effects on various materials within some carbs and fuel systems.  However, I've never had a problem with that either. 

It appears to me that whenever anyone has a fuel related issue, the first thing they blame it on is ethanol in the fuel.  In reality, it's probably contaminated fuel. 

I don't know everything but I do know vehicles have the technology and are designed for ethanol fuel. Also most vehicles don't sit for a year with that fuel not being used. Ethanol causes problems with small engines that do no have the technology and sometimes were not designed to use ethanol. Dealer Friend makes a killing on ethanol related small engine problems . If any petroleum engineer out there can clarify with real expertise that would be great

specialkkl wrote:
Modern engine technology is to manage fuel delivery for combustion.  I've not yet heard of any vehicle technology that designed to preserve the chemical properites of ethanol/gasoline blends.

I own over 30 pieces of equipment with small engines.  From a 6 cylinder liquid cooled motorcycle, vintage two stroke twin Yamaha motorcyles, two riding mowers, numerous push mowers, trimmers, blower, outboard engines, chainsaws, three cylinder diesel generator, two liquid cooled ATVs, and many more assorted pieces of OPE.   I've owned, operated and worked on some of this equipment for over thirty years.  One would think that with the introduction of ethanol in our gasoline, one would notice a spike in carburetor/fuel related problems shortly after consumption and use of it.  That didn't happen.  Nothing has changed over the years.  Everything works just fine and some of the engines I own are getting close to 40 year old.

There's far too much mis-information concerning ethanol fuel blends.  It's nowhere near as bad as snake oil vendors would like us to believe.

Buy clean fuel, keep it in clean, air tight containers in a cool storage area and the fuel will last for months.  Don't keep fuel too long if it's going to be kept in a warm environment.  I think heat and prolonged exposure to air  are far more of a problem than ethanol.   Sloppy fuel management is probably more to blame for fuel degradation than the ethanol.