Topped off my tank in May and added the proper ratio of Techron to it, now she is about to be put away for winter and I've only gone through half the tank....

My question is, is it still okay to add fuel stabilizer at this point? I know you don't get unlimited fuel life using it and the gas is already going on 7 months old. Also seems like dumping too many different things in there may not be a good idea either.... its an engine, not a blender. Any suggestions/advice would be well received. Thank you in advance!!

 

All I would do is fill the tank.

 

As would I. Although, if possible, I'd burn through more of the fuel that's in there first. Either way, it's extremely unlikely you'll have any problems come springtime. Fire it up then, and burn through a few tanks of fuel. All should be fine.

Live well,

SJW

 

Drive it more.

 

LOL, I think the focal point here is "Topped off my tank in May" considering its middle November!!!!!!

 

I'm doing something different this winter with my car and the fuel situation . With about half a tank full of gas that has ethanol blend I topped off the tank with 100% non ethanol fuel . By doing this I figure to have about 5% or less ethanol in the tank hopefully lessening any stale fuel separation problems . I still drive the car on occasion during the winter , there is always a dry and warm day or two , will have to wait to see the result of this .

 

Stabil caused an issue, said no one ever...

Use it last time out so it gets into entire fuel system and you will have no issues.

 

I filled my RV with gas and it sat for almost 16 months with that gasoline in it. When I started it up it ran just fine. I did add the Lucas "Ethanol Stabilizer" in the gasoline before filling it last time and the engine ran fairly smooth on all 10 cylinders. It is hard to identify a single cylinder misfiring on a V-10. The very best treatments are all "useless" unless you do like mentioned above by FostersPerformance and run the engine a while to get the chemical treatment throughout the fuel system.

I always park my Cars with a Full Tank of gasoline to prevent condensation inside the fuel tank. Being a Private Pilot we were always told to leave the aircraft Full of fuel to prevent condensation.

A good Ethanol Treatment or Stabilizer should protect the Corvette over the winter months unless you live in Syracuse NY where they have two seasons, "Winter and the 4th of July".....

 

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate all the help and info. This community always comes through

 

THIS. This is the right answer. No need for elixirs, rituals or potion$ of unknown make-up. Just fill it....take it out in the spring and run the wee out of it.



The results will be exactly identical to what you'd get if you just filled the tank and parked it.



Same with the filling it. No issues....ever.



Folks, I've typed this all before. But who the "F" am I? Well, I'm a guy with seasonal Corvettes that have been stored for years and years. Also got a boat that sits all winter. Also a couple snowmobiles that sit all summer. And snowblowers. And mowers...etc. "Big deal....I have that stuff too!". Yep. I hear ya. I probably got nothing on you there....

I've also been a vehicle fleet manager of several fleets each, w/over 200 pieces of equipment for the past 25 years or so. These have all been at ski resorts so I've had snowmobiles snow cats, snow blowers etc, that sit, all summer. Not one or two snowmobiles...~40 of 'em. Not 1 snow cat....15 of 'em. ALSO, we have trucks, UTV's, heavy equipment etc....that sit all winter! And not 1 UTV...not 1 Rock hauling truck...not 1 pick up truck.....a BUNCH of 'em! I've managed 4 different fleets of this type and size over the past ~25 years, which represents the multi-seasonal storage of HUNDREDS, if not over a thousand vehicles...."never had a problem yet!"
...By simply topping them off at the end of their respective seasons...and getting 'em out the start of the next season.

What about the "degradation" of gasoline over the winter? How about the "evaporation of light ends"? IDK know if that is a real thing, but it's tossed about on these forums as though it's a legitimate concern. A few years ago, I changed the oil and filled my tank in my '92 in November, parked it in the garage and covered it for the winter...standard practice. The following May, I pulled the cover off, fired it up, drove it down Parley's canyon into SLC, straight to Rocky Mtn Raceway (our local drag track), and ran a 13.73@101 (at 4200' elevation)....fastest time the car has ever run! Fastest time the car has ever run, folks.

So...I've not dumped in Techron. Stabil. Lucas. Seafoam. Motor honey. MM oil. Diesel fuel. Kerosene. Heet. BG. Etc. etc. etc. etc. Not in my fleet(s), not in my 'Vettes, boats, snomos, blowers, mowers, on and on and on....Fastest time the car has ever run. What am *I* missing? I'm a guy who has some experience storing vehicles, seasonally. Fill it up and worry about other things in life that are actually worth worrying about.

 

Those additives are snake oil.

fresh gas as often as you can.

non ethanol for the small engine stuff

 

I winterize over 300 boats a year.... In NY state.

To each his own on treatments.. the fuel has been better over the past few years,, but from 2010ish to a few years ago i can show pics of horror stories of what phase separation and issues with lines and what not caused....But who am i?

Not causing a pissing match on who knows what. But a bottle of staybil costs what? And downside is what??

 

IDK who you are...but I do know that I started with this alternating fleet(s) storage in 1993. I also know that I bought my first boat in 1986 and have owned (and stored 'em) ever since. In the 80's-the late '90's, that was in Maine & Mass. '97 on was in UT. Maybe the gas in UT was dramatically better than that found in NY in 2010? Or were those boats topped off for the winter? What does "issues with lines" even mean and what's it got to do with winter storage? I have NO DOUBT, that you or anyone can find horror story pics of fuel systems. Google/images. What is the history of that particular fuel system in the pic, though? We don't know.

The down side of Stabil is that it's a waste of money, waste of time, and I see zero proof that it does....anything or anything better than any other potion-in-a-can. That you used it, and "haven't had a problem yet!" proves nothing (to me) when I've done 100's if not 1000's of summer and winter storages NOT using and and....."haven't had a problem yet!". That logic is the same as leesvet's in THIS THREAD/POST (not surprisingly, about additives, too) where he tried to "prove" that PROLONG works b/c his engine had lasted over 200k. "What's the down side?" "Haven't had a problem yet!"....but at the time, I had an engine with over 60k miles more than leesvet did, never used PROLONG and "Hadn't had a problem yet!" What did leesvet prove?? IS Prolong, necessary? Will it help? Does it do...anything? That he "hadn't had a problem yet" is proof of precisely nothing. So how in the world am I going to advise someone in good faith to go waste their money on Stabil or any other crap like it?? I'm not. Fill the tank -it works and we know WHY it works. That's my advice.



PS: I'm on boats you had fuel system issues with; if you have pics of boats that had f-ed up fuel systems, caused by 6 mo's storage....with known history/maintenance, etc....I'd be interested in hearing about 'em.
.

 

Like I said, not causing crap here.....but been doing 200+ a year for the 26 years I've been a marine tech. FL and NY. The issues I've seen and have pictures of are 1st hand. Mostly carbed engines ( of which most people don't even see anymore)...The fuel has gotten better over the years, but when the 10% hit hard, there were tons of issues. Tons. The past few years have definitely been better though. Haven't had a separation issue for a few years now.
My only point here is it costs a few dollars to pretty much guarantee to not have a problem. If someone complains about 5 bucks for any vehicle let alone a vette, then have at it. Not gonna argue with them, Nor am I arguing with you either. So I hope I didn't offend you, and we can all just offer our advice to one another and let the person on the other end do what they want.

 

I'm not offended at all....and I don't feel that you're starting crap...at all. Neither am I though I possibly "look/sound" like I am. I'm simply trying 'drill deeper' to get to a root.

I guess I'm saying, that I'm open to hearing more. "Back it up". You introduced a product for a problem (that I don't see in winter storage), then dropped a "teaser" about f'ed up fuel systems in boats....what was the cause/effect there? I'm interested/listening....tell us about it? Otherwise, are examples of f'ed up boats that you've seen relevant? I'm sure that you and I both know how most people take care of their boats (not that well), so w/o more info I guess I'm hearing that you've seen some ugly ****....I hear that...but I don't know what to make of it w/o more specific info/history on that particular story. It's just some boat that you saw w/a f'ed up fuel system...they're out there, so that's all we know at this point. I'm listening, if you have more details on these gunked up boats.

EDIT: I will totally agree with you that a carb'ed boat can have serious issues in the carb from storage; gas evaporates from the bowls and leaves a residue that can/does clog passages up. I drain my bowls in the fall. Stabil MAY be able to help here...but I'd drain the bowls anyway, so...

With regard to recommending something b/c "it's only 5 bucks"...well to ME, that's not a recommendation at all. Not a good one. That could go on for infinity. I'd love to hear from a chemist who can tell me what is in Stabil, HOW it will chemically fix an actual problem that fuel is having? O.K. Bring it. Know what I mean? I'm open. Prove it. SHOW ME. Convince me why I should by $5 bottles on my $500,000.00 snow cats? Otherwise, do we even know what we're doing/dumping in? Or why? i'm sorry, but "$5 bux a can" isn't a very compelling position for me, either.

 

Is this a discussion on Corvette storage or boat storage ?

 

We both know our stuff.. no doubt. I go through about 40 gallons of the marine staybil a year. Each boat gets it before they are driven out and pulled from the water. This has been common practice for me for my entire career. But it was never that bad before or after the 2010ish area I speak of. At least not where it was a major problem for everyone. At The marina we just finished our 200 for the year...fuel issues are where a marine mechanic needs to be familiar with as this is the majority of boat issues.

I can dig up the pics if you want, would just take a few days of going through my stacks of discs. But the biggest ones besides separation were,
-float bowls full of jello. Was crazy, it looked like fuel but was a shinny jello. Multiple times with this.
-fuel tanks degrading and falling apart and leaking fuel.These were fiberglass tanks which obviously dosent affect cars. But I personally had to do the estimate which totaled the boats out as replacing the tanks would cost too much
-fuel lines expanding, collapsing, swelling, and specking, getting hard, getting soft... This was and still is an issue with rubber fuel lines made before 2008 (once again in the marine world) These lines swell on inside and collapse. The specking is also an ongoing issue. This is where bit by bit the fuel line falls apart internally. Your fuel filter always has black dust in it. Some lines also had a liner in them that would fall apart and once again be in the filter all the time.
-anti siphon valves, floats, diaphragms, injectors, etc stuck due to residue left over in fuel that evaporated. Even in cases where fuel was still present the fuel was sticky (no pic for that).

Marine is tough due to the fact that the ethanol attract moisture and up until a few years ago the tanks were vented normally. This caused many issues with phase separation. Once water was in the tank it would just grow from there.. staybil(or k100 or any of the top brands) would prevent this and has..

I am also the service manager for my marina (and parts and warranty due to no help). So I understand the snake oil thing. I don't promote anything at all unless I can back it up. Not even seen it once type of stuff.

My own stuff (except my daily driver)? Staybil in non ethanol fuel ( I bought before the winter blend comes around) and a full tank. One bottle does it for my engines a year.. My customers its built into the job, but i dont mind the 5 bucks a year i spend to add to all my stuff.. its ounces to gallons so its not like its expensive....... Every major engine manufacturer will push this info to us and its not like they own additive makers..On my end that would be Mercury, Yamaha, BRP, Volvo Penta, Honda and Suzuki.

I dont work for staybil so I'm not trying to sell you anything lol.. so I'm not trying to convince anyone.. if you dont need or want it thats up to you. Funny I was just at the marine show at Mohegan Sun the past 2 days and stabil, k100 manufacturer, and 2 other fuel companies were there. If you go to startronic and or staybil I believe there is data and more info right on their sites.

 

Copy all of that. It didn't really answer anything that I was looking for, but it SOUNDS like what you're mostly running into are the results of water in the gas. In a boat. It also sounds like you MAY be running into "hose" issues related to E10 or E15? Hoses swelling from ethanol? And failed 'glass gas tanks from the same?

Is this right? If so, I have a couple thoughts:
1. IDK how any product, installed once a year, is going to help issues related to ethanol? The ethanol would still be there the entire summer, every tank you run through. (?). It's not like the stuff is designed to "treat your fuel SYSTEM"....it's designed to treat the fuel that's sitting during storage.
2. My boat ('92 Mastercraft PS190) is 29 years old and the entire fuel system from the filler neck to the carb base is original. Why isn't my 'glass tank leaking? Hoses swelled? etc. etc. This isn't "proof"...this is a legitimate question. I run E10/15...what ever is handy. I'm not partial to any fuel and in fact, run 85 octane in the thing. It's never had a drop of anything but the cheapest pump gas I can get in it.
3. If you're seeing gummed up carbs, tanks filters and lines there is a contaminate in the gas/tank...and if it's in the carb, the owner hasn't kept his water separator in shape. It needs to be drained, flushed and dried out and the filter changed.
4, Keep in mind, we don't have evaporative issues in an EFI car since the fuel system is not vented, like a carb and boat tank is.
5. If customer's boats are coming in w/water in the tanks...which it sounds like your "problem" boats are, well....that IS an actual problem that needs attention (diag and repair). Whether you do that w/a chemical treatment (that works) or you flush/clean the system is a personal choice....but that is a VERY different situation than bubba joe putting his EFI car, away for the winter.


Have you ever taken a boat in, confirmed a clean, water-free tank/system, drained the carb and then assessed the same boat, in the spring?

 

Way too much to type on phone.
All of what you said is correct. Bottom line is the e10 will and can do damage. Now we're are in different climates as well. So is Utah different from NY? No clue, never been there but heard its beautiful.
Yes fuel issues can be from other factors as well, be it an issue that wasn't fully resolved and cascaded from there (water in fuel). If you call ANY marina in NYS I guarantee you they sell treated fuel and ethanol free super. Staybil is literally in the fuel already. This directly comes from once again 2010ish.... There were multiple bulletins from all the manufacturers warning us to not let the fuel sit. Then boom, everything started to get better. And that's when the fuel now comes treated.
Your ski boat has a poly tank(or aluminum) , not fiberglass. These are not affected..Cruisers had them. Big ones. And the ethanol (a cleaner) stripped the styrene out of the fiberglass causing them to leak and fall apart. This is the other issue with the e10 obviously. It cleans your tank which is a good thing unless you don't filter out on the engine side (which is most lazy do it yourselfer Bubba boat owners - not you, just in general.)
And if your boat is a 92 and the rubber lines are ok,, great.. but any fuel line built before 08 (they are date coded) are replaced (rubber lines). They just were not tolerant to the fuel, even though they were supposed to be. Too many issues, and for the most part its quick to do.
A required tool from Mercury is a ethanol % tester. Anything over 10% is a no no. 15% and warranty voided. The marine industry is the reason e85 is not available on the water.
So like I said I'm the boat side here in this discussion. 1st hand. Cars are different. So its my experience im sharing. But again, were talking pennies to the dollar for zero drawbacks. So to each his own.
So this is where I buy you your drink of choice my friend!

 

Good discussion...thanks for sticking w/it!

Some day, perhaps we can buy each other a drink.