Honda Foreman won't stay running

[Ohiosam]

I had a tractor that would act up. Run fine then stop like it was out of fuel. Sit for awhile and then run fine. Might be an hour or days before it stopped again. Turned out I had a piece of plastic from a fuel can spout in the tank. It would get sucked to the fuel line and starve the engine. Let it sit and it would move enough to let fuel flow again

 

[Isaacorps]

Most Sheetz have ethanol free 90 octane and it’s usually only about $1.00 more per gallon than regular. I run it in all my 2 stroke equipment

 

[triple_duece]

Foreman fuel pumps are famous for giving troubles. Both of my boys bikes have. Once it’s running it’s good. Sometimes won’t start.

 

[xbowguy]

Our self serve station on Union street has real gas too.

 

[Hedgelj]

Can someone explain to me the advantage of the ethanol free gasoline? I'm not super mechanically inclined and learning a lot of this on the fly so on the level of a preschooler would be beneficial.

 

[giles]

Ethanol fuel has no shelf life. Less than 30 days and it starts going bad. Offroad motors are not designed to be ran on the cooler burning fuel either.

Take some gasoline and throw it on a fire. You get a good puff. Take some ethanol fuel and throw it on on a fire and it less than spectacular.

 

[Jamie]

Ethanol breaks down rubber fuel lines in small equipment. Stihl dealer/authorized service person told me years ago to use ethanol free gasoline in all my 2-stroke equipment along with fuel stabilizer or drain the gas tank and carburetor for long term storage.

 

[Hedgelj]

Ethanol fuel has no shelf life. Less than 30 days and it starts going bad. Offroad motors are not designed to be ran on the cooler burning fuel either.

Take some gasoline and throw it on a fire. You get a good puff. Take some ethanol fuel and throw it on on a fire and it less than spectacular.

So even with Stabil still no good?

 

[giles]

So even with Stabil still no good?

I do not have a scientific answer for any of this. Just using my own experiences. Stabil helps for sure because that is what I use. Better or no good? I don't know because I don't have the option around me.

 

[Jamie]

Fuel stabilizer keeps any gasoline fresher longer, so it is always helpful, but it does not do anything to curtail the degradative effect of ethanol on fuel system parts that are not metal. At least that is the way I understand it. My 50:1 gas is all ethanol free with more than the minimum amount of Sta-Bil and my stuff almost always starts on the first pull no matter how long it sits. Totally worth the small added expense to me.

 

[Quantum673]

When ethanol became popular there were a lot of issues with rubber seals. Today’s rubbers are not prone to it though. Newer compounds in today’s rubbers from what I have been told. E85 is a completely different story though.

I meant to add that it seems that water absorption seems to be the biggest issue with Ethanol blended gasolines.