I was hoping the board could help me better understand what might be going on with my lawnmower. I prefer to use ethanol free fuel to avoid future headaches and the lawnmower runs great on the canned ethanol free fuel they sell at Lowes & Home Depot. However this stuff isn't cheap and I thought I would simply get it cheaper at the Buc-ee's down the road, however when I use the Buc-ee's ethanol fuel the engine sputters and and dies. It's like it's too rich or something. I know it sounds crazy but the machine definitely knows the difference and prefers the expensive stuff from the can. Any idea what's going on?

I think Buccees ethanol free gas is 93 octane. I am not sure if that would affect a small engine or not. Try using a lower octane ethanol free gas.

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when I use the Buc-ee's ethanol fuel the engine sputters and and dies.

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I assume you mean ethanol-free, not 85% ethanol

And sorry, I don't really know what the problem might be. Running mid- or low-grade as mentioned above might help. Higher octane is great for high performance engines or computer-controlled engines. But it is harder to ignite than lower octane, so a simple engine might not like it.

Are you premixing the Bucees fuel with oil? The ethanol free stuff you buy in a can is usually premixed at 40:1 or 50:1.

Correct, ethanol free fuel, my error. I have revised the original post.

No mixing, my mower runs on straight gasoline. No oil needed.

True Fuel also has non mixed. Straight true fuel.
92 Octane.

I don't cut the grass very well when I'm ethanol free.

Poor some in a jar and see if there is any separation.

I'm able to purchase Ethanol free gas that's 87 octane (I live in Tennessee). I use it all the time in my Kubota zero turn with no issues.

Sgt. Hartman said:

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I think Buccees ethanol free gas is 93 octane. I am not sure if that would affect a small engine or not. Try using a lower octane ethanol free gas.

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The Bucees in Katy has 93 on the pumps nearest I10 and 87 octane on the pumps closer to the store/carwash. It maybe the other way around, but they've got both.

czechy91 said:

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... when I use the Buc-ee's ethanol fuel the engine sputters and and dies.
...
Any idea what's going on?

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It sounds like you may have dropped some dirt or other trash into the mower's fuel tank, and it was ingested by the carb.

Many lawnmowers today are using plastic carburetors with super-small jets that plug really easily.

I'm not saying the dirt came from the station itself, but it could have been hanging out in your portable gas can. Using a funnel with a strainer in it seems to help, I've found.

A few month's ago I bought a $60 craigslist 20" push lawnmower to mow ditches with, and it has one of those plastic carbs. I plugged it the first damn time I used it! Some advise to drill the jet out slightly bigger than it ships, but I haven't done that yet.

Been running buccees 93 ethanol free for several years in the zero turn with no issues. My guess is you have a plugged fuel filter. Have you emptied and gone back to tru fuel this would rule out fuel filter but will be hard to get the other out of the lines. Would try a new fuel filter then would pull the spark plugs next to see if they are fouled.

Perfect! I'll seek out the lower octane stuff. TY!

Mower works great when I use other gas, it just doesn't run on Buc-ee's ethanol free stuff but I think I was using the high octane stuff...

Yeah, I run 87/89 pure gasoline same as Toddy here in TN. No issues.

It sounds to me like you probably put water in your tank instead of gasoline. Did you carefully label the container you kept it in? If so, go back and read the label. If it says "water" you'll know what happened.

czechy91 said:

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Mower works great when I use other gas, it just doesn't run on Buc-ee's ethanol free stuff but I think I was using the high octane stuff...

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It shouldn't matter especially if your tru fuel is 92 and Buccee's is 93 shouldn't be enough of a difference. I think you got something else going on that is contributing to the issue. Obviously easy fix is just go back to other fuel but it would bother me to know why, I wouldn't be able to leave it alone. Admittedly this tendency sometimes gets me into trouble.

i've used bucees and walmart ethanol free in my lawnmowers with zero issues. also use 40:1 tru fuel with no issues either.

Saw someone do a test a few months ago about filling gas cans. The results were you get a hose full of what the last guy was pumping. So worst case scenario is that was E85, but more likely it was regular 87 octane E10. When you go to the station, put a gallon in the truck first and then fill the gas can for best results.

That is certainly a possibility.

I think the most likely cause has been covered: contaminated fuel.

Empty the gas can, empty the gas tank, empty the carb. Refill with very clean fuel, maybe add a treatment like chemtool, and try again

Damn...I never even considered that. I've been fighting an issue with my mower half the summer that I've finally figured out was probably just bad gas.

I had gotten ~2 gallons of ethanol free from Murphy Express at the beginning of the summer and my mower ran fine. Half way through the summer, it started sputtering/racing for a few mows until it finally just wouldn't start. Tried cleaning the carb in various ways without actually removing it from the mower. I ended up replacing the carburetor when I finally took the time to take it off since it was ridiculously cheap on Amazon ($18) and it started running like a champ.

But I was using TruFuel from HD on the initial start up and next couple mows. On Sunday, I experimented with using just a little bit of the old gas just to use it up and, sure enough, the mower started sputtering again.

I didn't realize how easy it was to drain the fuel tank until I took the mower apart to replace the carburetor. Dumping the old gas should have been my first step but I had no reason to think the gas had 'gone bad'.

Stabil.

Apparently switching from E-Free to E-85 back and forth, the ethanol gas will create a sludge in bottom of tank that will eventually find your carb jets.

Deerdude said:

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Apparently switching from E-Free to E-85 back and forth, the ethanol gas will create a sludge in bottom of tank that will eventually find your carb jets.

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I don't see that at all. Switching shouldn't matter

And E-85 is 85% ethanol, and I don't think anyone recommends E85 for small engines.

For small engines, ethanol free, or normal gas with Sta-bil. Drain the carb after every use, don't leave gas in over winter.

The sludge you reference is ethanol attracting water from the atmosphere. Same thing happens with plain gasoline, just not as much.

Well I had a Yamaha HPDI on a Pescadores down in Rockport. I was trying to run E-Free gas and having continuous fuel probs. The mechanic said that someone was using ethanol gas in it and that the sludge floating around in the tank because of the back as Mx forth, was creating the pump problems.

I just know that in my gasol be toys, if E-Free is used consistently, I have no problems. Mixing the two creates many problems, for whatever reason,

New mower solves all your problems.

Just saying.

techno-ag said:

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New mower solves all your problems.

Just saying.

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Lawn guy as well.

Mechanics range from good to bad. What this one told you makes no logical sense to me.

CanyonAg77 said:

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Mechanics range from good to bad. What this one told you makes no logical sense to me.

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I'm no mechanic but he showed me the "blob" in the fuel tank that he said came from ethanol gas.
I dunno. I do know that after several stepper pumps, I had tank removed and cleaned and the problem stopped, and gas looked clean in tank.
Who knows?

Ethanol can attract water, leading to a "blob".

IT's the "switching back and forth" that is nonsense

CanyonAg77 said:

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Ethanol can attract water, leading to a "blob".

IT's the "switching back and forth" that is nonsense

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I disagree. If a person runs E-Free gasoline most of the time but occasionally adds ethanol fuel, you will not get full benefits of E-Free fuel. Adding any E fuel will contaminate the tank and you can expect the problems of ethanol fuel.

This is the likely answer... had water and crap in the bottom of his "empty" gas can.