22 replies to this topic

[toonces]

What would cause this?  I have a roto-tiller from Yard Machines, aka MTD LLC of Cleveland, OH.  It has a huge, powerful 31cc 2-stroke (looks like the engine manufacturer is Zama, from China) that has recently dissolved the plastic hoses from the gas tank into the carb and the tank to the bubble primer.

 

What caused this?

 

 

[DuncanDad]

ethanol in the gas can do that.

[Stains_not_here_man]

Ethanol can

[toonces]

If it's ethanol, no clue how it would have got there.

 

What else ya got?

[Vagus]

God damned animals, leave the ethanol alone!!!

[TonyBrown]

If it's ethanol, no clue how it would have got there.

What else ya got?

ethanol is in almost all gas, how could it not get there??

[DuncanDad]

If it's ethanol, no clue how it would have got there.

 

What else ya got?

The gas at the pump will usually contain up to 10% ethanol unless you bought ethanol free gas.

This is why I buy the cans of premix from HomeDepot. Sure, it costs more per gallon but, I know it's mixed properly and has no ethanol.

[porter]

How old is the tiller? I think newer small engines are designed to be compatible with ethanol containing gas.

[Vagus]

Maybe them suns light?  The star makes this like electro.. electro ... #### it, its magnets man. And then the plastic gets ... gets ... that photolytic gots.  

[toonces]

How old is the tiller? I think newer small engines are designed to be compatible with ethanol containing gas.

Trying to find that out right now.  The MD and SN are faded out.

ethanol is in almost all gas, how could it not get there??

Been using the same gas for a long time.  I guess it's possible it just now failed.

[toonces]

Trying to find that out right now.  The MD and SN are faded out.

Been using the same gas for a long time.  I guess it's possible it just now failed.

Looks like it might be 2004

[toonces]

Looks like I can still get replacement parts...

[Patrick C.]

Are the hoses rigid plastic rather than some kind of elastomer? Seems odd, but either way my guess is they cheaped out on the material and didn’t use something that would hold up to gas, ethanol, and UV long term. You should make new hoses from whatever lines Vagus’s stomach.

[toonces]

Are the hoses rigid plastic rather than some kind of elastomer? Seems odd, but either way my guess is they cheaped out on the material and didn’t use something that would hold up to gas, ethanol, and UV long term. You should make new hoses from whatever lines Vagus’s stomach.

Not hard rigid plastic.  Looks like clear vinyl with the main gas line tinted green and the primer being clear or slightly yellow.

 

My initial thought was to try to get clear vinyl from the local hardware store.  But then, saw the main gas line is just press fitted into the tank.  And trying to find metric sized vinyl tube might be tough.

[dondewey]

The hoses on my shitty weedwacker from 2012 did the same thing. Lasted about 5 years

[Car ChuckRam]

Just buy some regular rubber hose, and cut it to length.  The press fitting should be a barb that unthreads from the tank.  If it’s molded, you might be out of luck. 

 

Parts are so cheap now, I don’t bother with non ethanol for my 2 stroke tools. 

[LowcountryBrewer]

Just buy some regular rubber hose, and cut it to length. The press fitting should be a barb that unthreads from the tank. If it’s molded, you might be out of luck.

Parts are so cheap now, I don’t bother with non ethanol for my 2 stroke tools.

Gas is so cheap now, why not use non-ethanol?

[toonces]

Gas is so cheap now, why not use non-ethanol?

Finding non-ethanol in New Mexico is near to impossible.

[djinkc]

This is why I have zero 2-stroke engines for yard work.  When the mower dies (4-stroke) I'll get an electric and be done with it.  Ethanol belongs in things other than gasoline

[TonyBrown]

Ethanol is awful especially for marine applications