# Fuel system cleaning



## Maylar (Nov 25, 2017)

I was a bad boy last year and neglected to drain the fuel from my Ariens 28 Deluxe. The winter is just around the corner and I want to be sure the fuel system and carb are sparkling clean before starting it up this year.

What is the accepted method for doing this?

Ariens 28+ Deluxe 921037 AX291

Thanks

Dave C


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## vinnycom (Nov 6, 2017)

depends on carb/motor on the blower. if it starts and runs fine then maybe leave well enough alone.
u could run some fuel treatment in gas tank and if youre handy take out carb and do a thorough clean


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## CO Snow (Dec 8, 2011)

Use non-ethanol fuel and there is nothing to remember. There are quite a few locations in CT that sell E0: https://www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=CT


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## Dave C (Jan 26, 2015)

None of them are within an hour of me.

Dave C (Maylar)


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## leonz (Dec 12, 2014)

Drain out the old gas and buy high octane fuel and use Seafoam fuel treatment to treat it the new gas. You wont need to mess with it too much but you can always use the Seafoam engine cleaner spray and just follow the directions on the can.

I would check the oil and add oil of needed then start the engine and let it run until the old gas is gone and then drain the oil out and pour in the new oil to replace it and then just check the V belt or V belts and if the rubber from the V belt crumbles in you hand when you grip one or both of them replace the V belt and wait for the snow to come. If your dealer sells the Kevlar V belts all the better as they are much more shock load resistant.


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## aldfam4 (Dec 25, 2016)

empty your gas tank on the snow blower, add fresh fuel and about an ounce of Sea Foam, run for about 20 - 30 minutes, your good to go!!!


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

i would siphon out old gas including using the drain on the carb bowl. I also go an extra step from those mentioned above and spray carb cleaner up the pick up tube with the bowl off. have learned the hard way to do this especially if the old gas smells nasty.

then I put in fresh Chevron gas with stabilizer and a little seafoam. then run it for about 20-30 minutes. 

also, we change the oil every year. one of the best things you can do for a small engine.

then you should be golden.


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

Some good advance here, drain the gas from the fuel tank AND the fuel bowl at the carburetor, add just a little fuel in you have a plastic tank, fill it if it has a metal gas tank, using gas that both a fuel stabilizer such as Stabil, and Seafoam, a cleaner, has been added, Berryman's B12 as a cleaner is also suppose to be good though not as recommended on here as Seafoam is. Run it for 20 minutes was good advice. Then wait for snow adding fresh gas to it. If you want to drain it again after running for 20 miinutes, fine, put it in your car, but use fresh gas when the snow starts falling. I don't like to keep gas past 60 days and prefer to use it in my car after 30 days then get fresh gas again.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

High octane isn't really going to help. Fresh fuel and a cleaner, seafoam if you have it or my favorite Lucas fuel injector cleaner if you're going to buy something. Drain or siphon all you can out. Start it and let it suck up the rest till it dies and fill it back up with the fresh fuel and MEASURED amount of cleaner and let it run for 10-20 minutes. Try to remember to use marine Stabil in the gas at the end of the season. Marine stabil works better than regular stabil with the E10 fuels.

Most big box stores and auto parts stores have it on hand.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lucas-Upper-Cylinder-Lubricant-and-Injector-Cleaner-5-25-FL-OZ/16777816


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## CO Snow (Dec 8, 2011)

Dave C said:


> None of them are within an hour of me.
> 
> Dave C (Maylar)


Don’t forget to check adjacent states.


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## GoBlowSnow (Sep 4, 2015)

I'm betting that if you just fire the thing up, it'll run well enough and not do any damage. For fuel stabilization (right after you fill the fuel cans) I recommend STABIL-360. Go read about it.


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## Tony P. (Jan 9, 2017)

Dave, welcome to the forum. I'd say the best advice is to do minimal repair work unless you have a problem. Clearly drain the tank and add new fuel with Sea Foam.

Beyond that, did you do the rest of your annual maintenance and storage routine. If not, do it now - particularly changing the oil.


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## J-Cooz (Nov 7, 2017)

A lot of premium fuels don't have ethanol. Shell V power is one of them. 

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

J-Cooz said:


> A lot of premium fuels don't have ethanol. Shell V power is one of them.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk



That’s not true. Some Shell stations may have ethanol-free V-Power fuel but many stations have ethanol added, even to their premium fuels, including Shell V-Power.

Bottom line—if it doesn’t explicitly claim to be ethanol-free you can’t count on it being ethanol-free.


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## barney (Nov 21, 2017)

BeansBaxter said:


> That’s not true. Some Shell stations may have ethanol-free V-Power fuel but many stations have ethanol added, even to their premium fuels, including Shell V-Power.
> 
> Bottom line—if it doesn’t explicitly claim to be ethanol-free you can’t count on it being ethanol-free.


In Canada Shell sells an ethanol free gas advertised on their website as VPower NITRO 91 octane. Everything else has ethanol.

I can find no other big brand gas station in the Atlantic region, and in my case Newfoundland, as selling ethanol free. I've looked into it.

The only concern I have about the Shell VPower NITRO 91 Octane is that it is an expensive premium fuel and doubt many people actually buy it which may mean it does not get cycled out of the gas station's tanks very often; so it's possible it may be way older than the much more popular cheap ethanol gas.

Can one tell by looking at and/or smelling gasoline whether it is fresh or old? I know old ethanol gas probably gets cloudy and stratified but what does old ethanol free gas look/smell like?


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

barney said:


> In Canada Shell sells an ethanol free gas advertised on their website as VPower NITRO 91 octane. Everything else has ethanol.


Thanks for pointing that out. I should have specified that my post was applicable to the United States. It's also a good example of the other point I made—if it's ethanol-free, they will advertise that fact.



barney said:


> Can one tell by looking at and/or smelling gasoline whether it is fresh or old?


Unless it's severely deteriorated, there's not a simple way to tell if it's fresh or old. The good news is that high-quality gasoline should last at least a year in proper storage conditions such as the one at a gas station. If you're really concerned about it, you could ask your station owner about the turnover of the tank contents.


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## J-Cooz (Nov 7, 2017)

BeansBaxter said:


> That’s not true. Some Shell stations may have ethanol-free V-Power fuel but many stations have ethanol added, even to their premium fuels, including Shell V-Power.
> 
> Bottom line—if it doesn’t explicitly claim to be ethanol-free you can’t count on it being ethanol-free.


In Canada all V-Power is ethanol free. Maybe the US is different. 

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

At least in the area I'm driving in Minnesota and Wisconsin all grades contain ethanol unless specifically labeled on the pump they don't. Getting premium of any brand in this area is no guarantee of getting pure gas. Pretty sure in winter it's even mandated that they carry fuels with ethanol due to emissions. I'm lucky I can find pure gas at two stations close to me in WI. 

This is what I found for Minnesota:  "Minnesota is a national leader in ethanol policy and development. We were the first state to mandate the use of ethanol in our fuel supply and today state law requires that all gasoline sold in Minnesota contain 10 percent biofuel - the biofuel being exclusively ethanol."


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## sciphi (May 5, 2014)

A large dose of Stabil and some Marvel Mystery Oil into 5 gallons of gas from a busy station into an EPA/sealed gas can seems to work for me. I have two warehouse club stores near me, so I get gas from either one. Tear apart the carb if it's running rough.


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## GoBlowSnow (Sep 4, 2015)

Just start it up already and tell us how it runs so we can put this thing to bed


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## 10953 (Sep 4, 2017)

BeansBaxter said:


> That’s not true. Some Shell stations may have ethanol-free V-Power fuel but many stations have ethanol added, even to their premium fuels, including Shell V-Power.
> 
> Bottom line—if it doesn’t explicitly claim to be ethanol-free you can’t count on it being ethanol-free.


how true your words are, with shell it depends on the state, mass and jersey use stinking CA carb emissions laws so we get stuck with ethanol 

i go old school when i can't get avgas, stabil 360 and marvel mystery oil , i've never had a fuel related issue with anything.


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## 10953 (Sep 4, 2017)

GoBlowSnow said:


> Just start it up already and tell us how it runs so we can put this thing to bed


i agree long past time to put it to sleep. way to many rehashes of rehashes over gas issues . 

the answer is simple. today's gasolines do not compare to or store like gas of days long gone. end result is add stabil in everything from a station that will sit around for any time past 30 days. READ the owner's manual. 

how about a mod doing putting on a lock for us??


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## deezlfan (Nov 8, 2017)

Just start it up and suck whatever crap is in the bottom of the tank into the carb so you can move on to asking advice on removing the carb and getting all that schitt back out.


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## Dave C (Jan 26, 2015)

GoBlowSnow said:


> Just start it up already and tell us how it runs so we can put this thing to bed


Roger that. Sorry it took so long...

Drained the tank and carb bowl, changed the oil, aired up the tires. Filled it with fresh gas treated with Stabil 360 and Sea Foam. She started right up. Ran for 10 minutes without skipping a beat. Have had 2 small storms here since and she's been flawless.

Thanks for the advice guys.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

Dave C said:


> Roger that. Sorry it took so long...
> 
> Drained the tank and carb bowl, changed the oil, aired up the tires. Filled it with fresh gas treated with Stabil 360 and Sea Foam. She started right up. Ran for 10 minutes without skipping a beat. Have had 2 small storms here since and she's been flawless.
> 
> Thanks for the advice guys.


the new air in the tires did the trick :smile_big:

"good nite nurse."


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