I have a '94 Yamaha G14 4-stroke gas golf cart for bombing 'round the yard. (Don't golf - I seem to gravitate to sports that require 2 balls at once !
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In the winter it gets parked and have never treated the fuel for storage. I pulled it out yesterday to clean it up for the summer but it wouldn't start. Checked a few of the more obvious things and found it wasn't getting fuel to the engine. Pulled the carb and this simply blew my mind.
The 'goo" was Jello-like, with an appearance of forming crystals and the bowl was etched ! This is a new situation. In the future I'll have to drain the fuel tank and bowl for winter storage. Ethanol blended fuel - YUP
The carb manufacturer is somewhat ironic !
Additionally: 2 years ago someone gave me a Honda powered power-washer that they couldn't get to start. (They were not mechanically inclined - didn't even occur to them to pull the carb) Exactly the same carb-bowl conditions - but worse. The bowl was 1/2 full of the "jello" with had etched that bowl, as well. Started immediately and ran perfectly after a cleaning. !