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Showing results for tags 'winterized fuel'.
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Speed...Yup, ethanol could be the culprit on the H-D, though two months would be short time for any damage...The needle could be stuck in its seat. Light tapping with a screwdriver handle at the float bowl will usually loosen the float needle. Quick story: My vintage Honda XR350R dirt bike set for over a year with no Stabil in the tank and "winter" (likely MTBE additive) fuel in the tank. The dual carburetors each had clogged, with the primary carb's pilot jet low enough to be submerged in the fuel bowl. The engine would not idle nor would it respond to mixture adjustments. I dropped the primary bowl with the carb in place and sprayed carburetor cleaner directly upward through the pilot jet. The jet would not clear out. I eventually removed both carburetors (not a simple task) and rebuilt them with $20 (apiece) overhaul gasket kits from Honda, rather pricey for nothing more than O-rings and neoprene gaskets. The pilot jet on the primary carburetor was so impacted with encrusted ethanol fuel that it was impossible to clean out. No amount of soaking in caustic carburetor cleaner would help, either...You cannot "drill" through plugged jets, the brass will yield and cause the hole to elongate, which increases fuel flow and modifies the fuel mixture. A new pilot jet (Keihin) and thorough carburetor rebuild and staging later, I learned not to leave "modern" ethanol or winterized fuel in the carburetor bowls. I run the engine to stall with the petcocks turned off and the bike upright. Stabil does work within reason, though fuel quickly loses its volatility when stored. In my experience, three months is the maximum age for fuel performance, and that's already a loss in performance. I like to run the bikes down low on fuel before storing, add Stabil or equivalent, then run out the fuel in the bowls. Motorcycles and ATVs/UTVs, even Jeep 4x4s, often get stored for lengthy periods. The additives in contemporary gasoline can raise havoc during long storage... Moses
