It's common knowledge that running (today’s) regular pump gas will ruin carb diaphragms. My question is; is there anything we can do to help prevent this from happening...fuel additive?? Perhaps just changing these diaphragms several times during he race season is all we can do??

brad

Yes, current fuels wreak havoc on the diaphragms. But this issue is somewhat regional, the east coast and midwest states use more Ethanol in the fuels than what we get out west. Here on the west coast we really don't have the problem and get a few seasons between rebuilds.

But that said .... This makes a VERY STRONG case for why So Many who use ZENOAHS (Lower Compression) engines have gone too using White gas .... AKA Camp Fuel.

Walmarts OZARK brand gets the best rating. You can run it 100% or mix it 50/50 with regular grade gas. Oil at 16-20/1 ratio.

I am currently testing a product by Sta-bil...it's a treatment for fuel that contains Ethanol...supposedly neutralizes the Ethanol...it's designed for marine outboards which seem to be very sensitive to this. For guys in Canada, it's available at Canadian Tire stores...most likely they sell it at outboard dealerships and Walmarts too.

I have been running it for a little bit now and will see if the diaphragms last longer...the Ethanol is only just starting to be a problem here up north, but last year when in Celina I ran my boats on the local gas there for 2 days and when I got back home, half of my carbs had to be rebuilt after having that gas sit in them for a few days. Diaphragms were all out of shape and the flaps on the pump side were no longer sitting flat on the body. Also noticed that the gaskets were all stuck to the carb's body and they all tore up when I took them apart...used to never have that problem in the past.

The new aqua colored Stabil Marine for ethanol is just regualar stabil with more corrosion inhibitors and more cleaners in it. Havn't tried it yet however I've done some reading on it. Havn't run out of my red stuff yet.

www.goldeagle.com/sta-bil/faqs...rine&ID=184

Ethanol is a waste in my book. I could get better mpgs in my truck without it. Higher ocatne like 93 is supposed to contain little to no ethanol, however for a 2-stroke the high octane isn't needed.

And I thought the Sta-bil was to neutralize the Ethanol!!! I guess it is to neutralize the CORROSION EFFECTS of the ethanol! Oh well, maybe it will help protect the diaphragms and pump...time will tell, but I'm not so optimistic anymore! lol Thanks for the update though.

Maybe it's worth switching to higher octane fuel if it contains less or no ethanol...I will try to find out if this is a fact for the gasoline around here..if so I will switch. I don't believe that the high octane is a problem for our motors. I know there are theories of possible detonation and excess heat etc, but I know for a fact of several guys that run the VP gas with no problem at all (I think that's like 100 octane)...their reasons being primarily that the gas doesn't smell as bad AND has no ethanol.

Good information here!

I found information that indicates Ontario will move to increase ethanol content.

The move addresses an election promise in which the Liberals pledged to make gasoline contain five per cent ethanol by 2007 and 10 per cent ethanol by 2010.

With this said, I'm going to look for the Gold Eagle (marine)Sta-Bil dkf suggests.

bradi

Brad, see my first post above...you can find the stuff and Canadian Tire stores.

I have used about 50 gallons of the Coleman fuel with no damage to the engines. Here we have 10 percent alcohol in our gasoline and it does do a number on the carb diaphragms!! I dont have fuel problems, just those water ingestion problems ha!!

mike sr

My solution has been to replace the pressure regulator diaphragm regularly. The pump diaphragm isn't as sensitive and doesn't need as frequent replacement. My partner, Mike Bontoft, removes the pressure regulator diaphragm after a days racing, wipes it off, and carefully stores it. If you buy the diaphragms in bulk, the cost of frequent replacement isn't very high.

Lohring Miller

I just bought 4 kits at the lawnmower shop for 3.99 each

mike sr