The Pressure Washer Lie

[Kaos]

Bought this pressure washer last May at Lowes.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_74754-348-20413_4294747249_4294937087_?productId=3113807&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_Gas%2BPressure%2BWashers_4294747249_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr%7C0%7C%7Cp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=

Used it once to clean the driveway and back porch.  Emptied the tank of what little gas was left.  Stored it in the garage.

Tried to crank it up three weeks ago and it wouldn't start.  Just sputtered. 

Lowes refused to give me a new one since I didn't have the original paper receipt and could only provide the credit card statement (which matched their records) from when I bought it.  Made me send it out to be fixed. 

Today the "shop" calls and tells me the carburetor is "all gummed up with stale gas."   And it's gonna be $130 to fix.  Plus blah, blah.  Total $160. 

I was offended and let them know directly.  He then changed his tune and said it was the government's fault.  They put all this ethanol in the gas and it causes all the seals to crack and ruins the carbs.  So which is it?  Gummed up or cracked? 

It's the stale gas.  Period.  It's the government's fault.   Weird.  I've got three lawnmowers, a weed eater, an edger, a leaf blower and all use gas that comes from the same fucking can. Some I've had for years.   How come they aren't dying from this stale gas? 

It's only been within the last three years that the gas has gotten stale, he says.  Older machines can handle it. 

So the lawnmower I bought last July, the one I bought well after the pressure washer, the one that cranks with the first gentle pull of the starter cord.... it's going to die of stale gas at any moment and require a repair that will cost half as much as I paid for the thing? 

He says he'd have to look at the lawnmower. 

So I got even more irate.  Told him to fix my fucking pressure washer or I'd have no choice but to settle it in court. 

He tells me he's not worried about my empty threats because if I'm too cheap to spend $130 to fix a machine I ruined with stale gas, I don't have enough money to hire a lawyer. 

Rage ensued.   It was not pretty. 

[Saniflush]

Did you go Kirby on him?

[AU_Tiger_2000]

He tells me he's not worried about my empty threats because if I'm too cheap to spend $130 to fix a machine I ruined with stale gas, I don't have enough money to hire a lawyer. 

That's kind of funny.

[chinook]

well, at least a tomato slice was spared.

[Kaos]

Did you go Kirby on him?

Made Kirby look like an episode of Barney the Purple Dinosaur. 

I loathe getting ripped off, but the problem is there's really no recourse for the average guy.  Lowes doesn't give a shit, don't need my business.  Repair guy doesn't give a shit, he says "stale gas destroyed carb" and unless I have video evidence to prove what I did to prevent it, he's the "expert" and I'm screwed.

So what do you do? 

As the guy at the shop told me. "Either pay to get it fixed or take it back like it is.  I'll tell your lawyer the same GD thing."

[Saniflush]

So what do you do? 

Save the receipt. 

[Yoda]

I run Stabil through all of my shit before storing will prevent shit from gumming up while just sitting. 

[Kaos]

Save the receipt.

Even a scanned copy wouldn't work. 

I don't save any receipt ever.  If it's important (or I think it might be) I scan it.  But the strips of paper?  Fuck no. 

The paper Lowes was going to make me sign when they WERE going to give me a new one -- before the manager showed up and took it out of the cart and acted a bitch about it -- said that if there was damage to the old one that wasn't a manufacturer's problem I'd be liable for all damages.   So I'd still be out another $160 when they billed me for it after stale gas guy blamed it all on Obama.

I put Stabil in my gas can when I fill it up.  And in the tank at the end of every "season."   In this case I actually emptied the tank because there was so little gas in there after I'd used it. 

I don't believe their stale gas shit anyway.  Everything else in my garage runs just fine. 

[Yoda]

I put Stabil in my gas can when I fill it up.  And in the tank at the end of every "season."   In this case I actually emptied the tank because there was so little gas in there after I'd used it. 

I don't believe their stale gas shit anyway.  Everything else in my garage runs just fine.

That being the case, you got screwed.  Only thing I can think of is you only used it once you probably use your other equipment more frequently.  I know with a four wheeler or motorcycle the carb will gum up if it's just left sitting.

[Kaos]

So I start looking around.  Find this:


Small-engine repair shops earn about 50 percent of their revenue by cleaning or replacing carburetors they claim are sidelined by old gas. Don't fall for it.  Use Carb Cleaner or rebuild it for 1/10th of what they'd usually charge.

It's on the Internet.  Must be true.

[Buzz Killington]

So I start looking around.  Find this:


Small-engine repair shops earn about 50 percent of their revenue by cleaning or replacing carburetors they claim are sidelined by old gas. Don't fall for it.  Use Carb Cleaner or rebuild it for 1/10th of what they'd usually charge.

It's on the Internet.  Must be true.

Only if it was from Wikipedia.

[JR4AU]

So I start looking around.  Find this:


Small-engine repair shops earn about 50 percent of their revenue by cleaning or replacing carburetors they claim are sidelined by old gas. Don't fall for it.  Use Carb Cleaner or rebuild it for 1/10th of what they'd usually charge.

It's on the Internet.  Must be true.

Don't know if it's true or not, but it's a good bet there's some validity to it.  If you're taking a small engine to a shop to be repaired, it's because you don't know how to do it.  They know that, and know you won't know shit from shinola about small engines most likely.  There's cheats and assholes in every vocation and profession.  Some more than others, especially when it's something the average joe isn't familiar with.   In such situations, I usually ask around to find out who has dealt with these things, and find out who they trust, and has provided them with the needed service for a fair price.  Picking random "small engine repair shops" (or any other thing you don't deal with regularly) is risky. 

[chinook]

some of the best money spent is taking small engine repair class at a local community college. 

if i remember, auburn had a small engine class offered by the school of agriculture. 

[GarMan]

With all of the crap that's going on with gasoline today, I don't doubt that the repair shop is telling you the truth.  It just sucks that your pressure washer doesn't handle it as well as your mower and other equipment.  You're just going to have to pay for the fix this time around. 

Chances are, the carb probably doesn't need an actual rebuild, but the passages and components in the carb are likely gummed up.  Most fuel has some degree of ethanol, and ethanol has water in it.  Stale gas with water causes all sorts of problems in a fuel system.  You may have emptied the tank last year, and you might have even run the thing until it eventually stalled from lack of fuel.  Unfortunately, there's still fuel in the carb that will go bad with the right mix of conditions. 

To prevent this problem in the future, you will need to use additives.  Stabil can help, but I have not had much luck with it.  I've upgraded to SeaFoam, and the stuff really seems to work.

Now, let's talk about your purchase.  You'd think that something Troy-Build wouldn't be a piece of shit, but the online reviews of this product seem to suck.  Unfortunately, you're screwed.  Pay for the repair...  Use SeaFoam going forward...  And, hope that it doesn't happen again.  If it does happen again, purchase a can of Gumout, and try to clean the carb yourself.  You don't really have many good options here. 

[JR4AU]

Bought this pressure washer last May at Lowes.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_74754-348-20413_4294747249_4294937087_?productId=3113807&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_Gas%2BPressure%2BWashers_4294747249_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr%7C0%7C%7Cp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=

Used it once to clean the driveway and back porch.  Emptied the tank of what little gas was left.  Stored it in the garage.

Tried to crank it up three weeks ago and it wouldn't start.  Just sputtered. 

Lowes refused to give me a new one since I didn't have the original paper receipt and could only provide the credit card statement (which matched their records) from when I bought it.  Made me send it out to be fixed. 

Today the "shop" calls and tells me the carburetor is "all gummed up with stale gas."   And it's gonna be $130 to fix.  Plus blah, blah.  Total $160. 

I was offended and let them know directly.  He then changed his tune and said it was the government's fault.  They put all this ethanol in the gas and it causes all the seals to crack and ruins the carbs.  So which is it?  Gummed up or cracked? 

It's the stale gas.  Period.  It's the government's fault.   Weird.  I've got three lawnmowers, a weed eater, an edger, a leaf blower and all use gas that comes from the same fucking can. Some I've had for years.   How come they aren't dying from this stale gas? 

It's only been within the last three years that the gas has gotten stale, he says.  Older machines can handle it. 

So the lawnmower I bought last July, the one I bought well after the pressure washer, the one that cranks with the first gentle pull of the starter cord.... it's going to die of stale gas at any moment and require a repair that will cost half as much as I paid for the thing? 

He says he'd have to look at the lawnmower. 

So I got even more irate.  Told him to fix my fucking pressure washer or I'd have no choice but to settle it in court. 

He tells me he's not worried about my empty threats because if I'm too cheap to spend $130 to fix a machine I ruined with stale gas, I don't have enough money to hire a lawyer. 

Rage ensued.   It was not pretty.

Didn't scroll down far enough to read the reviews on that link the first time, but seems just about every review by someone who had purchased it longer than 6 months prior to giving the review had a similar experience to you.  Didn't read them all, but plenty of "put it away for a few months, got it out, wouldn't start".  Seems you bought a piece of shit. 

[JR4AU]

Holy shit!  Reading more customer reviews.  I don't think I've ever seen a product put out by a big name in that particular biz found to be junk by so many. 

[Kaos]

Holy shit!  Reading more customer reviews.  I don't think I've ever seen a product put out by a big name in that particular biz found to be junk by so many.

It's going to be parked in the back of my truck at Lowes for a couple of weekends with enormous DO NOT BUY signs.  I'll sit on the tailgate and pass out free lemonade and cookies to get people to hear about what a ripoff it is.  We'll see how that works. 

[JR4AU]

It's going to be parked in the back of my truck at Lowes for a couple of weekends with enormous DO NOT BUY signs.  I'll sit on the tailgate and pass out free lemonade and cookies to get people to hear about what a ripoff it is.  We'll see how that works.

Lowe's seems to have screwed you a bit, yes, but Troy-Bilt made the piece of shit, and it's supposed to have a 2 year warranty.  From reading the reviews, it seems they don't honor that warranty either. 

[Kaos]

Lowe's seems to have screwed you a bit, yes, but Troy-Bilt made the piece of shit, and it's supposed to have a 2 year warranty.  From reading the reviews, it seems they don't honor that warranty either.

Lowes clerk was going to give me a new one because "they'd had a lot of problems."  Manager stopped him.  Needed paper receipt.  Not the credit card statement showing the purchase, which I had, and which corresponded with the information they had on file in their computer (clerk already confirmed that).  No, I had to have the original Lowes paper receipt.  I still had the fucking box, the manual, everything.  But she wanted that receipt that probably never made it to my truck even. 

She made me send it off to their service center.   I didn't pick, this is theirs in Jasper Florida. 

So yeah, it's a Troybilt piece of shit.  But Lowes gets to pay until I get bored. 

[JR4AU]

Lowes clerk was going to give me a new one because "they'd had a lot of problems."  Manager stopped him.  Needed paper receipt.  Not the credit card statement showing the purchase, which I had, and which corresponded with the information they had on file in their computer (clerk already confirmed that).  No, I had to have the original Lowes paper receipt.  I still had the fucking box, the manual, everything.  But she wanted that receipt that probably never made it to my truck even. 

She made me send it off to their service center.   I didn't pick, this is theirs in Jasper Florida. 

So yeah, it's a Troybilt piece of shit.  But Lowes gets to pay until I get bored.

I agree, Lowe's could have been better, but they'd have just given you another piece of shit.  Have you even tried contacting Troy-Bilt?