Originally Posted by Fatherof4
Yeah, I had put ethanol in it a few times. Learned that lesson the hard way.

It's called a compression release, that little lever on the engine head.
And yes, it's ethanol poisoning, and it will probably require a new carburetor. I doubt if a carb kit will fix it. That's still not going to eliminate all the problems of ethanol poison however. You have likely scarred the cylinder walls, cracked a piston, seized rings or burnt valves.
Ethanol has zero lubrication and the friction heat can cause irreversible damage in just a few minutes. Most people simply don't comprehend the amount of damage that can be done, to small air cooled engines, with only a tiny bit of ethanol.


I hate making a good first impression. There’s no way I can keep that shit up.