Fuel A Warning About 2-Cycle Oil

This is a warning against using cheap or old two-cycle oil. I tend to mix my gas with too much oil, so thankfully I haven't ever had an engine seize. But I have has this oil clog up carburetors. The fuel screens inside the carbs get filled with grayish deposits. The first oil was genuine Echo PowerBlend, but it was old. It clogged 4 or 5 carburetors before I figured out what was going on. I had to take them apart and clean them after switching to Ace branded oil. After I used up the Ace oil, I bought some Pro-Mix oil from Home Depot. It clogged a whopping 7 machines before I caught it! I have learned my lesson and am now using genuine Stihl oil. It may be expensive, but I don't expect it to cause problems.

This is my experience with 2-cycle oil. I hope it won't happen to you too. If you are using cheap oil, please consider switching to a better brand.

Very good post, purchasing cheaper off brand parts will cause problems.

I have always had good luck with Red Max 2-cycle oil. Never an issue.

Primer and Mark I have personally witnessed the same thing on 4 stroke trimmers, so it isn't an oil problem. the problem is the material that the filter is made of, corrodes leaving those deposits. The metal part of the the filter appears to be a compressed powder substance that comes apart or corrodes getting in the carb,

ILENGINE said:

Primer and Mark I have personally witnessed the same thing on 4 stroke trimmers, so it isn't an oil problem. the problem is the material that the filter is made of, corrodes leaving those deposits. The metal part of the the filter appears to be a compressed powder substance that comes apart or corrodes getting in the carb,

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Then why wouldn't the deposits accumulate after the filter too, and clog the needle valve? If the fuel screen comes apart and clogs the carb, it defeats its own purpose, which is to keep other foreign objects from getting in and clogging the carb. I had one blower whose fuel screen I cleaned 5 or 6 times. I then switched oils and never had to clean it again. Same with my other machines. If the deposits were pieces of the fuel screen, the blower's fuel screen would have been gone after two or three cleanings. After the last cleaning, it didn't look damaged or disintegrated in any way.

mechanic mark said:

Very good post, purchasing cheaper off brand parts will cause problems.

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That's not what I said. I said that cheap or old two-cycle oil could cause problems. I have no problem with off-brand parts, as long as the manufacturer has good customer ratings. I buy all nearly of my carb kits, fuel line, primer bulbs, and fuel filters direct from CHINA, and never have any issues with them. The rest of my parts are bought from the US, but they are rarely OEM. I buy OEM when I can't make or buy anything cheaper. There may have been 2 or 3 times when an aftermarket part caused me problems, but that's out of hundreds of parts and the occasional problem is well worth the savings. I spend under $7 to get the average 2-cycle machine running. That's for air filter, fuel lines, fuel filter and carb kit combined. Spark plugs are another $2, and starter rope is about 40 cents. You may call me silly for using cheap parts, but I think they're worth it.

Primer, it isn't the screen that is coming apart, since most use stainless material for the mesh, but the housing of the filter, which appears to be a powdered aluminum or something of that sort, flakes off and clogs not only the screen in the carb, but some filters also have an internal screen which also clogs. It appears to be a graphite looking material.

And like I said, I also see it on 4 cycle trimmers where you don't mix the oil with the gas. But haven't seen it with the filters in the same companies chainsaws, even though the filter is the same between the units. Appears to me anyway, to be more fuel related. Possible water contamination or ethanol acids or something.

I understand. You meant the filter in the tank, not the screen in the carb. All of these machines had new fuel filters. There were two different kinds, and I will post pictures of each one for you to see.

To each his own on 2-stroke oil, I will put my 2 cents on the oil I have used for 12 years in high powered 2-stroke snowmobile engines that run from 7500 to 8000 rpm with 140 to 190 hp. I also have used it my homelite trimmer and lawn boy mowers for the same time. I like that BM is basically vegetable oil with additives. Since I changed to Blue Marble my exhaust valves stay clean no sticky build up not the case with other full synthetic oil. I know someone giving a oil testimonial is kind of like trying to get someone into a cult but take it for what it is, one guys opinion.

Amazon.com: blue marble oil

Proline oils are good oils. Carbs clogging. Carb parts turning to powder. Lines turning to goo. Needles stuck and fuel all over floor. Needles just gone and fuel running out or not running into the carb at all. Diaphrams that melt. Rings seized from white or gray powder clogging them. Spark plugs half melted from white powder. And about a hundred other things has been common for several years now. Asian countries have had a problem with metals for quite some time as well as plastics, rubbers etc. The problems get ironed out after some time. The very best companies get made fools of in this exchange. Toro is a good example. The metal coatings have to be just so to protect them from the fuels used today. The old metals are to expensive to make parts from anymore. So coating them is the answer. But the coating has to be done right. Bad parts are common. Always have been. Some are a lot more common nowdays. Many folks are just adding fuel stabilizers to their OPE fuel. Some do not. Some have trouble in one area and none in another area. Whatever gets you through the night is all right.