Questions on Sea Foam & type of fuel for 2 cycles.

[Seth1968]

Long story short, Sea Foam didn't help with a carb issue on a 2 cycle 49cc scooter. Then again, nor did a manual cleaning of the carb. I ended up finding a replacement carb from a guy in Medicine Hat, and that got it running. So, Anyone had any luck with Sea Foam in the tank to clean the carb?

Also, do you use non ethanol gas in your 2 cycle engines? I ask as the info on it seems to be a little contradictory.

[J-hop]

Long story short, Sea Foam didn't help with a carb issue on a 2 cycle 49cc scooter. Then again, nor did a manual cleaning of the carb. I ended up finding a replacement carb from a guy in Medicine Hat, and that got it running. So, Anyone had any luck with Sea Foam in the tank to clean the carb?

Also, do you use non ethanol gas in your 2 cycle engines? I ask as the info on it seems to be a little contradictory.

Never heard of cleaning a carb via fuel additives I would think they would have to be pretty concentrated to clean properly. You said you manually cleaned (which is what I've done). Have you investigated the jets?

I wouldn't run ethanol blended if it's sitting all winter

[Seth1968]

Thanks for the reply J-Hop.

I disassembled the whole carb, and sprayed everything including the passageways with Gum Out carb cleaner. I then blew it all out with compressed air. I repeated that process once more, except I left the carb cleaner in for a few hours. The carb problem remained, and that's when I found an almost new carb for $40, which worked flawlessly.

The scooter calls for regular unleaded, but doesn't mention anything about ethanol. Most of what I read say's not to use ethanol in small engines. For example:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/tools/reviews/a6640/can-boutique-fuel-save-small-engines-from-the-wear-and-tear-of-e10/

Since gas cost for the scooter is basically nothing, I'm thinking of telling wifey to use the the Co-Op Premium which is ethanol free.

[J-hop]

Yea I know a sometimes gunk gets caught in the jet and you think it's clean but it's not spraying properly.

The only reason I said no ethanol is a scooter is probably going to sit a lot and you run into moisture/phase separation problems:
http://www.mossmotors.com/SiteGraphics/Pages/ethanol.html

Edit: good read your article, it's a good thing I have a full Jerry can of bad ethanol free premium gas after replacing my mustangs gas tank. I have been slowly going through it with my mower

[r3ccOs]

Thanks for the reply J-Hop.

I disassembled the whole carb, and sprayed everything including the passageways with Gum Out carb cleaner. I then blew it all out with compressed air. I repeated that process once more, except I left the carb cleaner in for a few hours. The carb problem remained, and that's when I found an almost new carb for $40, which worked flawlessly.

The scooter calls for regular unleaded, but doesn't mention anything about ethanol. Most of what I read say's not to use ethanol in small engines. For example:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/tools/reviews/a6640/can-boutique-fuel-save-small-engines-from-the-wear-and-tear-of-e10/

Since gas cost for the scooter is basically nothing, I'm thinking of telling wifey to use the the Co-Op Premium which is ethanol free.

I'm in the same boat with a 720cc Rotax 2 stroke... Shell 91, maybe coop premium?? not much for options these days

and the reason why it sucks especially for boats, is that ethanol absorbs moisture and doesn't mix well with oil

[revelations]

With carbs, you sometimes have to manually clean the needles/passages with a very thin wire. Sounds like you got 80% of the way there.

[craigcd]

With carbs, you sometimes have to manually clean the needles/passages with a very thin wire. Sounds like you got 80% of the way there.

Agree, had a generator carb that I cleaned with spray and air 4-5 times. Small wire fixed the issue in the end.

[Seth1968]

What I'm not getting, is given that ethanol seems to be bad for 2 stroke engines, then why do the manuals for 2 stroke engines never say to use non-ethanol gas?

As far as the carb jets go, I knew about the wire trick, but the compressed air and carb cleaner blew right through the jets. In hindsight, it may have been a problem with the float or the electric choke. Either way, I was lucky to find an almost new carb for $40.00.

[revelations]

Yea for 40$ you’re far better off.

And im sure SOME 2stk engine manuals mention to avoid ethanol blends, but probably not many.