Quality of 4-cycle Trufuel

[TomB]

Today I was running a Power Washer most of the day. I had bought a quart can of the fuel, hauled the Power Washer out of the basement (it had not run in 5 or 6 years), dumped the fuel in, pulled the rope, and it started on about the third pull. (Buying just a quart of fuel was because I did not expect it to run and that was all I wanted to spend before I gave up and threw it out.) So once it ran and stopped I headed to the big box store to buy a gallon. Arrived home filled the tank and pulled the rope many times but it would not start. Well there is a 1-800 for service so I called it, then waited about an hour while some woman told me to stay on the line because they were busier then normal. While I waited I arranged a deck chair and my toe on the washer frame in a manner that I could just keep pulling the rope. Eventually I was connected to a service technician who (1) located my account (2) said that an old power washer would not be in the system but he knew I had registered it (3) asked what kind it was and immediately connected me to the Troy Built service tape recording (4) That recording asked several questions which I answered with a '2' or '3' Then it told me contact the engine company (one of four in group 1 or 1 of 3 on group 2. Finally it provide in quick succession the1-800 numbers without warning to have a paper ready. Then it just ended, no choice to repeat anything just dead air time.

I started the process over by dialing 1-800 for service then continued pulling the cord while the lady explained we are busier than normal. While I was still on wait the pulling succeeded and the motor started and ran. After a while I noticed that the hose connections were getting loose and I had to stop the machine to tighten things. After that it was just as hard to start as before. Then it ran out of gas again and I tried to start it again. This time I gave up for the day.

The engine is a Briggs and Stration 'Ready Start' with no adjustments, no choke, or no throttle to put in the middle when starting. When pulling the rope sometimes it catches and stops, sometimes it seems to catch and pull back (hard enough to hurt my fingers) but if I'm thinking 'I will pull through anything' I can feel the catch but it pulls and sometimes seems to hit.

Throughout the evening I've been thinking through what happened and wondering if I have a gallon of bad gas. Does anybody know if this canned gas has a lifetime (I buy it so I can leave it on the shelf over the winter) but if sits on the store for several years can if go dead. There is no 'use by' date on the cans nor is there a decipherable manufacturing date. Any other thought about what can cause a previously easy starting motor to go bad?

Tom

[Steggy]

Does anybody know if this canned gas has a lifetime (I buy it so I can leave it on the shelf over the winter) but if sits on the store for several years can if go dead.

According to the manufacturer, an unopened can has a five year shelf life. Once opened, the shelf life is two years. Trufuel has no ethanol in its blend, so it is not hygroscopic. It is, however, subject to the same deterioration pattern as any other gasoline-based fuel.

I consider Trufuel to be a colossal waste of money when it comes to modern small four-cycle engines. At nearly eight dollars US per can, the product offers nothing other than shelf life and slightly greater energy content as compared to the E-10 fuel sold at service stations. That's effectively 32 dollars per gallon for a product with no significant benefits over and above what can be gotten with $2.50 gallon pump gas.

[warmstrong1955]

I've been using Sta Bil for years, in E10 gasoline, up until this year. They built a new gas station and they sell ethanol free gas there.

Stuff I don't use often, like the chipper, and my gen sets, I shut the gas off, and run them till they shut down every time I use them. Other stuff, I do that at the end of the season.
FYI, you shouldn't run a two-stroke engine out of fuel. They will run lean and you can damage them.

I used to be constantly taking apart carburetors, and kitting them now & then, but since I started with the Sta Bil, no more. Ethanol is tough on a lot of plastics & rubbers. And, the gas can be stored for a couple years. I've had no problems with 2 year old gas.
I like having plenty around, when the power goes out, especially in the winter. It goes out, usually an hour, but sometime for 4 hours or more. It can get pretty cold in the house & the shop when it's below zero
Welcome to northern Nevada.

Bill

[ALCOSTEAM]

I am a firm believer in the Trufuel products or I should say alcohol free gas and bio free diesel. I WILL NOT allow a drop of anything ethanol to touch the fuel tanks of any of my small engines, two or four cycle. If we had a gas station locally that had non ethanol fuel I would be buying it there but with that not an option I pay the price to not have problems.
The ease of starting using non crap fuel is such a great thing to achieve. Engines that took 15-20 pulls and maybe even some ether are one or two pulls with non ethanol fuel. No more tearing down carburetors and cleaning corrosion caused by the water attracted by the ethanol fuel.

Currently by law a gas station does not even have to list their fuel as ethanol if its under 10%, then they can list it as 10% up to 14.9% alcohol. Since it takes 2x as much alcohol to do the same thing as clean gasoline you are getting scammed everytime you "fill up" . Its why cars get better mileage on clean gasoline.
Luckily around where I live we have several places that offer bio-free diesel fuel and its the only diesel fuel I will buy now. You hardly ever heard of anyone having fuel problems before the bio garbage came about and now its wide spread. Businesses and farmers routinely dispose of hundreds of gallons of contaminated fuel. If you even think you might have an issue large doses of biocide and fuel treatments don't help much and they tend to be detrimental to some fuel systems. Its far better to stay clean and bio free.

When I hear racers and other "top notch" mechanic type guys on the tv or radio blah blah blahing about how great ethanol is and how its not harmful you know they are getting paid or something to put out such hogwash. When I know and can physically see the effects and harm it does to a small engine to have someone tell me its not the ethanol you just have to write them off as another goof ball.

Something I have noticed of recent on new small engines is they have a label recommending a fuel additive to counter the effects of ethanol.


As for your power washer if you have run ethanol in it you might have to get the fuel system and carb cleaned out. On one of my small engines it took 3 or 4 tanks of use of Trufuel to get it back to one pull starts. One of my small generators it only took one time of using ethanol fuel to ruin the carb and several attempts at cleaning the carb out were fruitless. Luckily for under 20 bucks I got an exact replacement carb from ebay and all is well.

[Steggy]

A possible source of gasoline without ethanol is the local airport. All aviation gasolines (avgas) are blended without ethanol. As it turns out, many airports will sell avgas to anyone with a proper gas can, as long as one declares the fuel is for non-highway use. Common forms of avgas are 91/96UL, which is an unleaded fuel with a 91 motor octane rating, and 100LL, which is leaded and has a 100 octane rating. The 91/96UL fuel can be run in small four-cycle engines. However, be prepared to pay more for it than you would for pump gas.

As for Trufuel, that is the gasoline equivalent of snake oil.

[stephenc]

The local airport will happily sell you av gas , but it has to in an actual proper gas can as mentioned above .
Ours only has 96 or 100 octane , the last time I bought the 96 it was $3.59 a gallon when regular pump gas was around $2.80
I didn't ask what the 100 was .

In the fall when the local parts store puts the quart cans of true fuel on clearance for $2.00. I'll buy one to fill the chainsaw up with for storage .
But to be honest I mostly do it because the metal cans are handy to have for other things once the gas is gone .

[ALCOSTEAM]

I pick up waste oil at the local airport, next time I am there I will ask about buying fuel. They probably won't like selling one or two gallons and then it won't last as long as the good stuff in the metal cans.

[Steggy]

Ours only has 96 or 100 octane...

The "96" is 91/96UL. The double octane numbers in avgas refer to the performance under lean cruise conditions (the 91, in this case) and under rich takeoff conditions, which is the 96 number. The lower number is comparable to the octane rating of motor fuel sold at the pump.

The 100 octane fuel, referred to as 100LL, has tetraethyl lead in small quantities. It is a replacement for the older 100/130 avgas that was the standard for many years. Minus the tetraethyl lead, 100LL has a 94 octane rating, about the same as "premium" motor fuel. You can run 100LL in a small engine, but likely will be disappointed with the results, not to mention the price.

I pick up waste oil at the local airport, next time I am there I will ask about buying fuel. They probably won't like selling one or two gallons and then it won't last as long as the good stuff in the metal cans.

Avgas is formulated differently than motor fuel and is much more stable. Also, avgas has a lower average vapor pressure, which makes it more resistant to vapor lock. Chemistry is more tightly controlled, making for a better fuel, albeit a more costly one.

[ALCOSTEAM]

just checked the pure-gas website and found a newly added place only about 20 minutes away. i will have to check it out.

[stephenc]

Learn something new everyday .

When I was a kid we used to get av gas delivered to the farm because it was the only way to get leaded gasoline . At the time it didn't cost much more then gasoline did at the pump .

[steamin10]

Coleman lantern fuel. Other wise known as white gas. Naptha based, and hot running.

We used it for all the 2 cycle small outboard engines and lanterns. The outboards always ran trolling speeds very smooth, and always started easy. Going to pump gas was a diferent deal.

I did not think of Avgas. I have a local airport less than a mile from me.

[TomB]

I ended up using the pressure washer for several days. I used the TruFuel because I could not fine ethanol free fuel. It turned out pulls to start was an interesting trend:
1) Got washer out of cellar for the first time in 5 or 6 years and added 32 os of TruFuel. Started after 3 or 4 pulls
2) Got a gallon of TruFuel after first 32 oz was burnt. It took about 300 pulls to stat the machine (75 per hour times 4 hours - similar way was used for other estimates.)
3) Shut it off to tighten hoses. Restarted in about 35 pulls.
4) The next morning it started in less than 10 minutes - perhaps 15 pulls
5) After a mid morning break - started in about 10 pulls
6 thru 10) within 10 or less pulls and trended downward to starting with 1 to 3 pulls.

I think there was some crud that was released by the first can of TruFuel then it took lots of pulls to eventually wash it out.

As for the economics of TruFuel I know its a rip-off. Over the three days I went through 2 1/2 gallons at $19.50/gal. I had not thought about Coleman fuel. It probably was locally available but it would have taken a 1/2 hour drive to get it. I left Binghamton to drive to VT yesterday. As I filled up at a Stewarts about half way between I noticed the pump had 'no ethanol high test'. It was the first time I've ever seen it, but it is no where near my two base areas. I read about people adding stabilizer to regular gas but I don't know what stabilize is or where to get it. I once had my ATV dealer sell me an additive but after I used it I could not get more. I had a golf partner that wholesaled diesel/regular fuel additives that were supposedly miraculous but he could only sell it by the barrel. So given my ignorance I paid the price for TruFuel

Thanks for all the replies.