The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk fuel to use

New to this.

removed and cleaned all fuel lines and tank. I do not know if the motor is the 235 or 262.. Do I need to treat the fuel with lead additives or anything else. I figured i would use some stabil since it might be a while before I use the entire tank.

Stabil is always good. You shouldn't need the lead additive.

For what its worth I fill my tank in the autumn and put the truck away for about 6 months. I run it up to operating temperature about once a month during that time. I have not used Sta-Bil.

Gasoline comes in different formulations in different geographic locations and at different times of the year.

Some of the formulations are less stable than others. It is prudent to use something like Sta-Bil if the gas is not going to be used in two or more months.

Run the engine for at least 10-15 minutes after you have added the Sta-Bil.

I have read that for folks that do not use their trucks much starting and running it for short period of time is actually worse that letting it sit. The reason being that starting and running it creates condensation internally and without longer running times at increased RPM's it will not allow the draft tube/PCV systems to properly expel the water.

This will allow the condensation to build up in the engine/ exhaust and cause issues over time.

I would recommend Tim's advice and use Stabil then allow a run time of 10-15 minutes to make sure it is in the fuel bowls of your carb(s).

So these engines can use regular pump gas?

Yes

Agreed. I've read that if all you have available is E10 or E15 you can add gas line anti freeze periodically to prevent phase separation.

Not sure I'm biting on the seperation part. Someone will have to explain further on that for me.

Adding more alcohol(gas line antifreeze) won't help w/ alcohol fuel. Aviation fuel (100LL)has no alcohol in it, keeps forever, costs a little more, but safe.

http://www.fuel-testers.com/expiration_of_ethanol_gas.html

http://www.fuel-testers.com/ethanol_engine_precautions.html

Water will be absorbed into the gasohol because the gas tanks are not sealed in our old trucks.

http://www.historicvehicle.org/News.../10/31/Prevention-Gasohol-Fuel-Additives

I don't know what gas line anti freeze is but it's job is to absorb water in the fuel to prevent freezing in the gas lines. As I stated I've read that it's been successfully used to prevent phase separation. If the poster of that information was wrong I apologize for muddying the water but I've also not seen anything that says it doesn't work either.

I believe gas line antifreeze is mostly methanol [with anti-corrosive additives], different critter than ethanol .... to the question, there's no problems using E10 or 15 in stovebolts, not sure you'd want to be using AVgas, even 100LL still has lead additive, which doesn't sound "safe" to me, and any dyed fuel is illegal on the road here [av, marine, or farm gas]

Bill

This discussion has prompted me to do a bit more research on fuel line anti freeze products. It seems most are isopropal alcohol and work by absorbing a small amount of water, putting it into solution. I expect you're adding more alcohol to allow the fuel solution to absorb a bit more water before it does separate. Looks like more of a bandaid that a long term 'fix' for phase separation. My apologies to anyone I may have mislead.

I started using non-ethanol gas about a year ago. What brand of stuff do you recommend to absorb any water remaining in my tank and burn off with the gas? I figure I'll use it every tank full for a while.

The documents in the link implied that "phased" gas (water) could not be reabsorbed.

100% agreed. E10 has been around for a long time, some places even had it back when these truck were new.

Lonnie - you won't eliminate water from your tank - aside from the condensation you may be picking up from the service station tanks, your vented tank always has ambient humidity [in FLA?] and if the tank is not absolutely full, there will always be condensation happening in there, most of the reason many old tanks are so corroded inside .... best way to maintain gas quality is to use the gas, don't store it - drive the truck

Bill

That's what my Dad always told me (50 yrs ago) but I sometimes let it sit for a while with a low tank. Let's see - 97% humidity in Central Florida; half tank of gas. 500-1,000 miles a year. I guess I'm breaking all the rules.

Didn't know if some of the snakeoil products would blend the water sitting in the bottom of the tank with gas so that it will burn off.

In our part of the country we use Iso-heat. It is isopropal alcohol. Anyone who lives in this part of the country knows all about gas line freeze ups. I should take care of you issues also Lonnie. Don

Back in the day when I drove a stovebolt as my daily driver I would sometimes experience carburetor iceup in the venturi. Usually when it was 40-50 degrees outside. If I used the isopropal alcohol it would take care of the problem. The symptoms were pushing the gas pedal further down, and going slower, and slower until the engine quit. The engine heat would melt the ice in about 10-15 minutes. As a rule, I have hardened seats installed on heads of engines that I rebuild because of todays unleaded gasoline.

Not necessary unless you work the engine really hard for extended periods. I'd heard of several problems caused by hardened seats coming loose and I've not heard of read of a single problem from not installing them. Personal choice I guess but I've put tens of thousands of miles on pre-unleaded engines, using unleaded fuel with no issues at all.

I agree with that Tiny. I believe back that (back when) i ran into that question, it was determined that with normal driving, one would loose 10% of the valve/seat life. Not a big enough reason to just do it because the leaded gas wasn't available in my book. I figured to go through the expense as needed.