oldschool1962 Report post Posted January 3, 2011 (edited) This past summer I ran into some issues surrounding my lawn and garden equipment and the Ethanol mixed fuels. The little carbs, on both two and four stroke engines, became rather gummed up and basically useless. Basically the corn has a tendency to create serious issues with gumming and some major cleaning is required. This got me thinking lately about the use of a decent cleaner in not only my FFH but the wife's Prius. Normally and when we owned non-hybrid vehicles, I would use these every 5000 miles or for every oil change. But since the hybrid doesn't perform like any non hybrid and oil change intervals are 10.000 miles, should I start using the 5000 mile rule? Now for the quick update on the replacement vehicle. We just crossed over the 10,000 mile mark and not a single symptom, issue or otherwise that presented itself in the first car has come up. I finally figured our the BLIS malfunction was caused by RF interference and this came to mind when I was driving past the munitions recoverey range on the way to swim practice. Happens every time I hit a certain section of the facility and also when I get near a truck with a two way radio so I figure it can't be anything else. I talked about a buck or skip in the old car when I would hover around the 45mph mark. This car has been so smooth I don't ever realize that the car transitions back and forth. Mileage has been horrible but also has been the weather and....... I was having too much fun showing some of the folks that this is not a whimpy hybrid for a while there. Getting back into a more conservative driving rhythm is bringing things back into line and the weather is improving too. The only thing I can report now is that when I use the Navigation, the destination will not clear out of the system when we reach it....even after the car has been tunrned off. Not a big issue at all since we don't use the Nav too often so when I get in for the 15k check-up I'll follow up with my Service Manager. Other than that this car has been a pleasure to own and drive. I also did ask about update and upgrades to Sync....I was told to look for something come May available from the Syncmyride site. Later. Edited January 3, 2011 by oldschool1962 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VonoreTn Report post Posted January 3, 2011 Hi Oldschool, good to hear from you. We've got 28K on our FFH now, without any issues, other than the tire I had to replace when my Wife accidentally pinched the right front tire on a sharp curb at parking speed, but that doesn't count, as I told her, that comes out of the sh__happens fund, could have just as easily happened to me. Our nav instruction does quit as expected, usually when we get within a hundred feet of our destination. Says our destination is ahead on the right or left. We use the way point a lot, like if we want a rest stop, we find the next one under destination, set it as a way point, then it reminds us when it's coming up, without impacting the final destination. This is the second winter the fuel economy dropped, not sure why the FFH doesn't like the cold. Seems to do best in the summer with full AC on. Part of the drop is as we travel more we are going a little faster, maybe 5 over in a 70 now, I did slow down to 65 for a stretch on our last 1000 mile trip from Austin and the FFH estimator showed the average go back up to a solid 40 mpg, so it is partially our faster pace on the last trip. I use a fuel injector cleaner about every 5K miles, always have, and I have never had a fuel injector issue, even on our 2000 Explorer at 187K miles. Be sure it says injector cleaner, not just a gas treatment. It's a bargain considering what a dealer will charge you if you even mention the word fuel injector to the service manager, based on what friends tell me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VonoreTn Report post Posted January 3, 2011 Regarding the lawnmower 2 stroke engine and gas issue, as a hobby, I fix neighbors 2 and 4 stroke small engines. Usually I don't need to buy any parts, just clean out the carb, blow out all the holes, take out the mixture screws, blow them out, run solvent through them (I have a solvent tank with a pump), pull the top and bottom off the little carbs (often Zama's and Walbros) and check for bad seals or clogged ports. I sand blast the plug, check the spark, and lately I have had several of the cylinder heads come loose on 2 strokes. Actually, they are not just heads, they are the entire cylinder. There are only 2 bolts holding them on, and they won't run with a loose head. Now and then there is one that just won't respond to anything but that is rare. While these new 2 stroke engines have been incredibly thrifted in their design, the good news is they are much easier to take apart then the older ones with more sophisticated designs. I think the best way to deal with these engines for fuel clogging is go out in your garage in the middle of winter, and start every one of them and run them for a minute. That cleans them out, and it's faster than draining all the fuel and running them dry. Also, you can probably find one station within 10 miles of you that has pure gas, no alcohol. It's almost required, since many older engines were not designed for any alcohol, like their rubber hoses won't take it. So take a 5 gallon can and fill it up there, and you will have less gas line issues. I would still start them all up mid off season though. And don't put too much oil in the gas of 2 strokes. Follow the recommendations in your manual for how much oil. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
