After 6 months of this virus thing I find my vehicles are not getting the use they were at one time. I have six vehicles.(3 are motorcycles). I also have a gasoline fueled emergency generator. I decided to order some Sta-Bil to put in the tank on the ones that get little use. What can you tell my about it ? Does it keep the fuel from going bad ? For how long ? Any side effects ? All comments welcome. ...J.D.
I put it in my equipment for the winter for about the last ten years. No issues except for the Two strokes which I now buy non ethanol gas after replacing two carbs.
Fuel doesn’t exactly ‘go bad’. These ‘stabilisers’ mostly add back in/top up the more volatile elements of petroleum that are first to evaporate and which ignite most readily.
Yes, gas does start to break down, but usually after 6-8 months. Just make sure your vehicles are topped off prior to storage. And yes, ive been using Sta Bil for many years and had no issues after hibernation. Another product that is equally good is Seafoam.
In my climate, this is usually not a problem. I can leave fuel in the tank and even in the carburetor over the winter months. But now, with the lack of miles used I am a little more concerned. As stated, I have some on order. I still empty out my carburetors, but I have forgotten a couple of times. ...J.D.
Actually, STABIL-like products retard a process. Ethanol-ated petrol has the ability to pull water moisture from the air causing phase separation in the petrol. I think of it as something similar to ordering a black-n-tan beer, water sitting atop the petrol. Left long enough turns to a gummy solution that kills carbs and injectors. Personally, I prefer the StarTron treatment products, although I never had a problem with STABIL. The best solution is find Ethanol Free gas - harder to find however.
Ethanol-free fuel is not sold here for on road use. You can find it for.applications such as boating or other off road uses, but it.is not taxed, so it is illegal to use, and hard to get. I try to keep about 15'gal.US on hand for my generator. At 50% [4kw] load it is supposed to burn 7gal in 12 hours, so that still is not.much reserve. The bikes I just fill up every fall. Now I will be adding Sta-Bil. I have one project car that has fuel right now but is not road legal at this time. I try to start it up and run it about once a month. ...J.D.
Been using it forever. Never any problems. However, its like a vaccination, you never know if you would have caught the virus if you didn't get it. So, in the end: inconclusive. I buy it anyway.
I used Sta-Bil in my older bike and had great results. It even kept the carburetor from gumming up once. I prefer it to Sea Foam, which I didn't have good success with, although that product might be more for cleaning out your fuel system once the bike has been sitting idle for a while. Thanks MyEvilTwin for that discussion about how gas-ethanol blends suck in moisture over time. Alcohol loves it some H2O.
Back in the "stone age" we were injecting alcohol and water to reduce pinging. My father had a setup like that on his flathead Ford hot rod. Oh how far we have come. ...J.D.
