Ethanol Worries In Small Engines

Benjamin Mallisham's lawn mower repair shop in Tuscaloosa is booming with business lately. Mallisham says about 40% of the broken engines he's repairing have ethanol damage.

"When you put that ethanol in here, it eats up the insides or rusts them out. All the rubber gaskets and parts - it eats those up," explains Benjamin Mallisham Sr.

Mallisham says the ethanol component of most regular gas reacts with small engine parts, rusting them over time and clogging valves. Damaged engines look like they've been stripped and they sound like they're skipping.

"They're starving for gas because the little needle holes in them are stopped up with the gel that happens when that stuff breaks down. It stops them up so it can't run," says Mallisham.

Mallisham says there's only one easy solution he's found: buy a gas stabilizer and add it to your gas tank. He warns draining the gas tank between uses won't help.

"People will tell you you can take the gas out of them and it won't happen, but it's the residue that does the damage," says Mallisham.

Lawn mower owners can also look for a gas that's ethanol free, but lately that's hard - and expensive - to find.