Several things could have caused your problem.
The head gasket could have been leaking a bit which caused the head to melt in that area.
The head could have been warped which lead to the gasket failure and melting.
Loose head bolt.
Cooling fins full of crud which started the overheating and lead to the above.
If fuel or timing related these engines tend to rattle, (preignition) quite noticeably.
Back to your fuel question. In stock form these engines are pretty low compression. That means they don't require high octane fuel. 87 should be fine.
I prefer to run ethanol free fuel in my small engines. 93 premium was the only thing available for awhile. Then the local gas stations changed to 91 premium. Next a new station opened up with 89 ethanol free to cater to the boat community. Recently a new Quick Trip opened with 87 ethanol free "recreational" fuel. That's what I'm currently using. I have had no fuel related issues with any of these options.
I know others on the site don't have access to ethanol free fuel. They each have their own methods for dealing with the ethanol.
Good luck.
The head gasket could have been leaking a bit which caused the head to melt in that area.
The head could have been warped which lead to the gasket failure and melting.
Loose head bolt.
Cooling fins full of crud which started the overheating and lead to the above.
If fuel or timing related these engines tend to rattle, (preignition) quite noticeably.
Back to your fuel question. In stock form these engines are pretty low compression. That means they don't require high octane fuel. 87 should be fine.
I prefer to run ethanol free fuel in my small engines. 93 premium was the only thing available for awhile. Then the local gas stations changed to 91 premium. Next a new station opened up with 89 ethanol free to cater to the boat community. Recently a new Quick Trip opened with 87 ethanol free "recreational" fuel. That's what I'm currently using. I have had no fuel related issues with any of these options.
I know others on the site don't have access to ethanol free fuel. They each have their own methods for dealing with the ethanol.
Good luck.
