The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk gasoline treatment

If you store your truck over the winter, starting and warming up every couple of weeks - do you still add fuel preservative? And while we are on fuel, what octane do you normally run?

It won't hurt.Who knows what were getting today at the pumps???

I usually add some Sta-Bil to mine. As far as what I run, 87 octane unleaded, no need for anything higher. What I run is 10% ethanol, but all the gas sold locally is 10% here.

Ditto on the Sta-Bil. I use it on everything from lawn mowers to old trucks. Sea Foam is good too.

I like SeaFoam - and resisting the temptation to turn the key unless I can drive around until it reaches full operating temp.

I try to keep the gas tank full in the winter, the empty space collects moisture in the day and condenses at night,this water runs to the bottom of the tank. I usually ad some gas treatment , which is alcohol to mix with the water and allow it to be burned.

I like the STA-BIL and have used it for many year's I always use it in everything that isn't started often .You should also start engine's at least every two weeks .Get the transmission and rear end up to operating temps to keep seals from leaking.Drive it if possible.Octane in fuel lowers the older it gets I use the 91 in most everything anyway mowers , chain saw's to my race car's.I have no carbon build up from this also.

+1 on stabil. I put it in my generators I use for hurricane season, I try to run them every month but sometimes that doesn't always happen... Always crank right up if I put the treatement in. It's funny, one of the hardest two things to obtain after a hurricane is fuel treatment and gas cans! Weird but true.

I use Sta-Bil in my gas cans at home too. Some times my gas is 4-6 months old before I use it all. My lawn mowers and snow blowers are always in Sta-Bil and ready to park for the season (as far as gas goes).

I put Sat-Bil in my mowers but not my '38. I drive it year around unless there's snow/ice on the road so stale gas in it isn't usually a problem.

I also use Sta-bil, have for about 15 years. And as far as fuel octane, I use mid-grade which here is about 87 octane.

Also, here is an interesting article on storing a vehicle. http://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/Long_Term_Vehicle_Storage

"To avoid engine bearing damage due to acid in the engine oil, change the engine oil and oil filter. Drive or run the vehicle until the engine is fully warmed up. This will remove moisture from the exhaust system, circulate the new engine oil, and remove any moisture that has accumulated in the crankcase due to cold engine operation after start up. If not practical to drive the vehicle, then allow the engine to run until fully warmed up, then 1 (one) hour more. After shutting off the engine at the end of this procedure, do not start the engine again until the vehicle will be driven and the engine oil is brought up to normal operating temperature. Starting and stopping the engine without bringing the engine oil to normal operating temperature will cause moisture to contaminate the engine oil."

I read a similar article about 4 years ago. Since then I fill up the gas tank, add the fuel stabilizer, drive the vehicle, change the oil, hook up the battery trickle charger, add some dryer sheets inside the vehicle - under the hood and on the floor (keeps mice out), put the car / truck cover on it and leave it as is until next spring. I no longer periodically start the vehicle.

I will say though that before I read the article I also started the engine about once a month and let it idle until it reached operating temp, then shut it off and covered the vehicle back up. I never experienced any problems... but the article made sense to me, so I changed my storage routine, for what it's worth.

Hope this helps.

Another vote for sta-bil and I use a battery tender on everything I can to avoid that dead battery frustration when you are ready to ride/drive.

Hank

Snake oil.

Trade ya' some good chartered moonshine for some of that snake oil.

Members:
Just read a great article in this Months Vintage Truck about this very topic. Good read, Just wanted to share.

There is a website called www.pure-gas.org and they have a state by state breakdown of where to buy ethanol free gas. If you find one in your area you can submit it to them, and they will add it to the list once they verify it. There are 90+ stations in Texas that are ethanol free. And over 2800 nation wide according to the site.

Talk about it with your local gas station to see how to make it more accesible!!

MrCrapps, I don't know where you are at in Texas, but I am a gasoline distributor and I pull out of San Antonio and some out of Austin. There isn't a rack in either city that has clear gasoline any more. I don't like it and I paid a premium for clear gas as long as it was available, but its just not available any more. As for the website, a lot of it is out of date, and there are dealers out there that fail to post the E10 stickers and no one has figured out just who enforces it. I operate a business that was started by my father in the 30's but there a lot of dealers out there who rent and have total disregard for regulations.

That's really sad. That stuff is such a scam.

I know it's available in Edmund , Oklahoma. I was there last weekend, and there were 2 stations that were advertising Ethanol Free on the same street. One was a Texaco, and the other a Valero.

Aviation fuel and Race fuel are the only Ethanol Free fuel I can find in Central Texas !