Posted on 10/07/2016 12:39:24 PM PDT by Rebelbase
No link at source. Question:
Regarding long term storage of gasoline are there any stabilizer alternatives other than Stabil?
What was used prior to Stabil?
Does non-ethanol Gasoline keep longer than the ethanol type?
Google has a mess of stuff that mostly circled back to Stabil.
Thank-you for helping.
“..How much Seafoam per gallon of gas?...”
I use about one ounce/gallon for unmixed gas and two ounces for 2-stroke mixed gas. I also use non-ethanol gas for all my small engines and my outboard. Ethanol is the death knell to small engines IMHO.
I’ve also used the blue-colored, marine-grade StayBil for storing non-ethanol gas for longer storage as well.
Right now it’s a 1/2 dozen 6 gallon plastic cans.
I have a 55 gallon blue plastic barrel. Would that be suitable for an emergency storage situation? Ideally it should be metal, correct?
When we stored our Honda S2000 for a few years, after changing the oil, we filled the tank with non-ethanol fuel that we found at a local boat marina and Stabil. Had a friend enter the storage space and ran the engine about once a month. Placed rags in the exhaust pipes so that open valves could not get fresh air into the cylinders.
Coming out of storage, we again changed the oil, and filter. No problems,other than sticky throttle linkage.
Our diesel boat engine was always stored with a full tank with a bioside added. A full tank keeps the freeze thaw cycle from condensation making water and algea.
Pull off the spark plug.
Blow out the cylinder with “something”.
Last time I forgot to drain my mower, I put a shot of Hoppes #9 gun cleaner inside it and put the plug back on. Started up with a vengeance.
The military uses plastic. I use military surplus Scepter cans, but they’re hard to get in the US and expensive in Canata. The blue barrels are designed for water storage, so I’d stay with that. But, you can also get older steel Jerry cans at Majors Surplus, Sportsman’s Guide, and other places.
It tells you on the container.
If you are preparing for a long term emergency situation, like powering a generator, maybe you should look into using wood gas. Do you have a good supply of wood?
Blow out the cylinder and plug with carburetor cleaner. Leave a little in the cylinder and start it up.
Drain all the old gas. Replace with fresh gas. Try and start it. If it will not start then:
Shut off the fuel petcock. Record how many turns the low and hi speed needles are from being seated. Tear down and clean the carburetor. Adjust the lo and hi speed needles to their original positions. Put it all back together. Turn on the fuel petcock.
Give it a try.
I like the idea of closing down the exhaust pipes to keep fresh air from entering...... good suggestion. I also am inclined to agree with the idea of keeping the tank full so that condensation isn’t an issue.
For what it’s worth, I have 2 experiences to share, both involving alcohol free, 100% gasoline:
I had a 52 Chevy pickup parked for 3 years. With the old gas in it, she started right up, did not miss, did not seem to lack power. This is common for old farm trucks.
The second experience is 30 gallons of gas was treated with stabil and stored for 12 (twelve) years. Gasoline was put in a 1958 2 cyl John Deere 440 construction grade loader tractor, it started, and ran very poor. This gas was then mixed 50-50 with fresh new gas, the tractor ran excellent.
From my experiences, plain gas stores very well for long periods. E10 and greater does not store very well at all, maybe a year or better with Stabil, and count on in ruining carbs over the winter without stabil.
I use ethanol free gas in my chainsaw. The riding mower seems fine with it but I do put Seafoam in it over the winter (and start it once a week).
Thanks!
Preferably for long term storage use ethanol free gas with a stabilizer.
If ethanol free gas is unavailable and the quantities are not that great, you can strip the ethanol out of the gas.
Use a high octane gas, because when the ethanol is removed, the octane level is lowered.
Ethanol has a greater affinity for water than gasoline. It only takes 13 ounces of water in 5 gallons of gas to remove all the ethanol from E10 gas.
Add the water. Shake it up. Let it settle and there will now be 3 layers. The lowest layer is water. Just above it is an alcohol/water layer. Alcohol free gasoline is the top layer.
After the ethanol and water is removed, then add the fuel stabilizer, not before.
I stored a 72 Comet GT for 20 years and had forgotten to drain the gas tank. It had turned to jello.
Jellied/Varnished gas has to be one of the nastiest smells on Earth.
I had something similar happen with an old car sitting for 20 years in the garage. The "jello" gas was nasty smelling and gooey. I took the tank to a radiator repair shop and they dropped the tank into a boiling solution for two weeks to remove all the goo. I then coated the interior anti-rust preservative to make the tank useful again.
Just as good as carb cleaner. Smells much better.
I wouldn’t try starting it. Try to drain as much gas as you can, even the carburetor float bowl if possible. The less old gas you have in it, the less varnish will develop.
Easy for me to say, but I will anyway: I always add stabilizer to the fuel for all of my small engines, and for the ones that I don’t use much, I do drain them after use. Part of the draining is to leave a tiny bit of fuel in the tank, start the engine, and let it run until it dies (runs out of gas). If you have more than a tiny bit of fuel in the tank, you’ll quickly learn just how efficient gasoline is, as the engine will seem to run forever.
Buy a new carburetor.
PR-G. Works great. PR-D diesel. Amazon
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