"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
...
SteveB wrote:
"Robert11" wrote in message
..

I took my Honda to the shop because it wouldn't run. I know about
engines, and couldn't make it run. The guy told me NOT to leave the
gas in there for any length of time, or it changes completely, and is
not very combustible.
I now either empty it out, or let it run dry before stowing.

Steve

I don't think you will go wrong empting it out, but your Honda rep is
wrong, at least partly wrong. It takes considerable time for gas to go bad.
It is a standard chemical reaction that starts slow and builds speed using
free radicals in the process. Stabilizer just controls the free radicals.
However there is a different reaction that can cause gas to go bad in a short
time. If it is allowed to evaporate (and some older mowers did allow a lot of
this) then it would go bad quickly from the evaporation of the liter
components (stabilizer will not help this at all).

I have had my Troy-Bilt 30 inch walk-behind for about 9 years and have never
burned anything in it but Amoco (now BP) ultimate gasoline. For those
unfamiliar this gas is as clear as a glass of water. I never drain, I never
treat, and I never pull more than once (possibly twice the first time in the
spring). I figure this costs me an extra 5 or 6 bucks a year over regular
unleaded.

I acknowledge that this is purely anecdotal, but I figure that the stuff that
turns to gunk is the stuff that is not refined out of normal gas.