To drain or not?

How many of us have expeience starting problems after putting our engine out of use for some period?
Sure I am not the only one.

Issue addresed to a mechanic from a local lawnmower shop and he replied that contaminated oil leftover clogs carb after gas is long evaporated so I should run my engine dry at the end of the session (as per glow practice).

Collective wisdom is most welcome.
Thank U and happy flying.

Do you drain your gas tank on your car when you park it? I never drain and have never had a problem.

aarestor said:

Do you drain your gas tank on your car when you park it? I never drain and have never had a problem.

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1. Is your car carburated?
2. Do U use your car seasonally?

bbblue said:

1. Is your car carburated?
2. Do U use your car seasonally?

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Anyone with a classic car in the garage....the problem is the battery.

I use good fuel without ethanol. I use good 2 stroke oil in it. I leave the tank with whatever is left over from the last flight.

bbblue said:

How many of us have expeience starting problems after putting our engine out of use for some period?
Sure I am not the only one.

Issue addresed to a mechanic from a local lawnmower shop and he replied that contaminated oil leftover clogs carb after gas is long evaporated so I should run my engine dry at the end of the session (as per glow practice).

Collective wisdom is most welcome.
Thank U and happy flying.

Click to expand...

I don't run my engine dry any longer. I use ethanol free fuel, and have had no issues since stopping the run it dry after each flying session. Bonus it fires up/ pops off with just a few flips, rather than a dozen when it was dry. I do pump the tank dry

If your not flying on regular basis, say fly a day, an then go a month before flying again, I'd rethink running it dry each time, also if your not using the ethanol free fuel, I've heard leaving enough fuel in tank to keep fuel line in fuel, will help keep your tygon flexible longer

aarestor said:

Do you drain your gas tank on your car when you park it? I never drain and have never had a problem.

Click to expand...

Agree, when I first started on gas and was phasing out the glow I ran them dry and after a few months had hard clunk lines and hardened carb gaskets, etc. so engines were extremely difficult to start and tune. Since then I leave a small amount of fuel in the tank and don't run the carb dry. no problems at all.

30cc and smaller engines seem to really suffer from what bbblue is describing but larger engines I've never had a problem unless an engine is on the shelf for a few months. Then it takes a little running to get the carb happy again.

My flying intervals span much longer than month past 2 years...sadly enough.

P.S. I own 2X DLE 55s. Both express the same behaviour after long storage. Never stored dry.

That stinks, I guess sometimes life get's in the way. Running carb dry don't help with your starting however.

It does, but I am working on it...
If running dry wont help that leads to the marine outboard practice to turn on the engine from time to time (for those that dont winterize).
Hard thing to follow but it seems mandatory in order to avoid an on-site painful arm ... almost.

I think this is one of those things where individual results my vary. A lot depends on your oil, the formulation of your gas, length of time stored, and environment you stored it in.

I used to run the gas out of mine every time. I store mine in my family room, and I was afraid of the smell. Finally about a year and a half ago I just got too lazy to run it out, but I still drain the tank. The only difference I noted was it does pop on the prime a little faster since it doesn't have to fill the line. I never had any carb problems from either. I have a now 10 year old Da 50 that the carb has been gone through a total of once since new. The original owner always ran pump premium with Red Line and always ran the fuel out. When I got it, I did the same. Like I said before individual results may vary.

On the classic car note, if you leave fuel in one here for more than a few months without Stabil it will run like crap and smell worse. Our summer time formulation around here sucks, and doesn't last.