Kickers and use

colbysmith

colbysmith

Active member
Ok, just kind of a dumb question. If not using a kicker for a day or more, is it better to run it out of gas by shutting off the fuel supply so as to drain the carb, or to use the cut off switch? As I break my new 4 stroke 6 hp in, I've been just disconnecting the fuel line to run all the fuel out of it when I'm done for the day and curious if that's really helping to keep the carb clean. Colby
 
I am no expert. When I had my Mercury 9.9 HP installed on the Gheenoe I was told to attach the scupper at the end of the day, disconnect the gas line and run freshwater through the engine as the engine used up the fuel left in the carb. The engine runs quite a while on the little bit of fuel left in the carb. Doing that and using fresh non ethanol gas that little motor has been very reliable and starts generally on the first pull.
 
I'm using good non-ethanol fuel. If I were using the kicker every day, I'd probably just shut it down with the kill switch. But I'm thinking if the fuel isn't left in the carb for more than a day, then I shouldn't have any problem with deposits, etc. But maybe this is overkill. Also used just in fresh water...for now. Colby
 
You should certainly have no worries leaving fuel in for a few weeks between starts. More than a month and I'd probably run the fuel out with the motor, though many kickers have a drain at the bottom of the carb. Running it out after every day or two would be a waste of gas and overkill.
 
I regularly leave gas in all of my 2 and 4-cycle engines for up to a year.

I think the key is that I use a little Seafoam (google it) in the gas on every fill-up, and a bunch at the end of the season.

Never have any problems.
 
I turn off the fuel and let it run dry. There will still be some fuel left in the carb bowl however. If it's only a few weeks, no issue. If it's long term storage/non-use, I drain it. Most carbs have a brass screw at the bottom of the carb bowls for just that reason. Gas will evaporate and over time, leave a varnish in your carb.

I also add a good fuel stabilizer, especially at the end of the season. I follow the ratio for long term storage, like winter, and run this fuel mix through all my engines; boat, VWs, lawn mower, power washer....
 
I do almost exactly as localboy. If I am going to run it in a week, just shut it down. For example when cruising, I may or may not use the dinghy motor and generator every day--but will within the week.

If longer than a week, run it out of gas. If more than 2 weeks, drain the carbs in the main, kicker and generator.

I try and run unleaded gas, use Startron, Stabil, and I was using Sea Foam, if the fuel will be sitting for any time. but some have convinced me to use Ring Free instead... If I am filling up in a week or so, then I don't use the additives.
 
On my Tohatsu kicker, we: 1) use storage level blue Stabil in the fuel, 2) run the engine dry of fuel after every use, 3) start up the kicker once every month except for the off-season, which for us in New England is nearly 6 months. I was out today on my boat, and after 6 months, the kicker started right up and ran perfectly.

Rich
 
Ok, got this today from the Tohatsu guru guy:
Thank you for your email. With frequent use and ethanol-free fuel, you should not need to drain the carburetor after each days use. It won't hurt anything to do this, however. It is always recommended to use fuel stabilizer and treatment, regardless of whether the fuel is ethanol free. Daily use, or 3-4 times per week, should be adequate to prevent long term issues with your carburetor. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

FWIW, I do stabilize the fuel, and only plan on using fresh fuel (less than several months old). Running it out of fuel really isn't wasteful, as I usually pull the fuel line off when I'm just about done using it, so I still get the "mileage" out of it. ;-) Right now I've been running it almost daily just to break in the motor. However after that, it will only be used for trolling, or if the Main ever conks out. That and to run every now and then just to run. So once it's broke in, or I'm not using it daily, sounds like then I should drain the fuel.
 
I disconnect the line from the kicker when flushing after a day's fishing and let it run til she dies. No problems. If I'm not going to use the boat for a week or more, I drain the carbs on the main. It's just too easy to not do it. Cheap insurance against carb problems.
 
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