Can anything really be done to keep gas from goin bad in a few months???

I kit quite a few carbs for people on old rides and about half the time the gas is plum nasty,though they say it's probably less than a year old....Do any of the treatments really help or do we just need to run em dry every every few months? Some good advice would be awesome!!! Thanks...

 

Use Sta-bil fuel preservative. It works very well. Available every where.

 

Like Fred said, use Sta-bil, the blue stuff. Without it gas is only good for 30 days.

 

X3 on the Sta-Bil

And if it's todays gas put some Lucas Ethanol Treatment in it too.

 

Real gas is the answer.

Driving accross country this summer I was suprised to see how many places advertised with a sign out front "Real Gas Available Here".

 

I add Sta-bil to my 2-300 gallon tanks on the farm, I know the new "gas-a-hole" is crapo, but I have some that's been in storage in a properly vented ( I have a custom 2nd atmosphere vent system ) poly storage tank for over 1.5 years ( I fill one, a 5 gallon can at a time, & pull from the other ), & anything I fill out of it runs as normal... I do mix it a bit on the strong side, so the gas is redish colored

 

I use the Red Sta-bil on all my Cars that sit
and My Generator & lawn Mower
and I have No Problem Starting them for
quit a Long time some times 3 months
my Generator I start once a Year with the Same Gas

 

I put it in my F100 every year around December, run it long enough to make sure it's in the carb, and it fires up right off the bat in April.

I've never tried it for any longer time period than that, but my Grandpa put some in his wood-hauling truck two years ago and parked it. About a month ago, we needed it to jerk a stump out of his yard, and after putting a fresh battery in it, it fired up after some cranking. Sputtered a little until the truck warmed up, but after pulling the stump, I drove it around the farm for a while and it was running fine.

He said he put twice as much as was called for in the tank. Don't know if putting extra in actually helps anything, but it didn't seem to hurt it either...

 

My garden center guy says "buy gasoline like you would by milk, small amounts and often"!

 

That is the best idea.

Even though it's only parked a few months for winter, I run my gauge down below empty, then add two gallons of fresh gas, with the Stabil. I drive it about ten miles to make sure the Stabil has gone through everything, and that leaves me with about a gallon of gas in the tank...

 

I park mine for winter with 1/2 tank of 93octane plus Lucas Ethanol treatment and Sta-bil. Hell I have to run Lucas anyway because if the 55 sits for a lousy week, it's messed up...

 

A product called Sea Foam is just as good as Sta-bil. Not sure which is more economical. OR buy fuel without Ethanol, found at marinas, airports and Sunoco.

 

Very good advise by chevyburb

I was just speaking to a reliable outboard mechanic here in Florida and he stated current ethanol gasoline has a shelf life of just 19 days before it starts to degrade, and that is by design. This information was apparently the result of extensive research by 3 major outboard manufactures.

 

Instead of trying to live with it vote out the jackasses that started this hoax.
Their next step is E-85.

 

Drive 'em.
.
But during the cold months here, I do keep some Sta-Bil in the tank, just in case we have a long spell of bad weather.
.

 

+1 for Seafoam. It's worked for me in my lawnmower and snowblower when I put them away for the season. I use it in all my gas-powered engines.

 

Leaving the fuel tank less than full of fuel will increase the amount of water collecting in the tank from condensation. I have had good results with Sta-Bil as has been noted above.

 

put a few gallons of cam2 in your tank. that stuff has a shelf life of years, not months

 

another vote for Seafoam,

 

Start it up and throw a couple gallons in. Lippy

 

As they say, "your results may vary." Wonder if it has to do with the average humidity? Just one sample doesn't make a survey, but I haven't had the horror stories others relate. It's somewhat dry here in Spokane and the 10% ethanol hasn't killed any carbs on large or small engines.

I had a '55 Studebaker pickup with the original carb, fuel pump and lines. According to internet fear factor, those should have been trashed within 19 days. Parked it six months, drove it for six months for twenty-five years with no fuel system problems. Same with the mowers, chain saws, weed eaters. Guess I've just been lucky.

jack vines

 

aviation gas lasts longer. pretty good octane too.

 

Thanks for all the replies....I really didn't know that Sta-bil was so good....I'll be tellin everyone to give it a try....Might even get some for my old Jetstar 88......

 

straightpipes, They have been putting ethanol in our gas for over 30 years, infact the "Energy Policy Act of 2005" mandates that annual consumption of ethanol will be 7.5 billion gallons by 2012 and 15 billion gallons by 2015, so it looks like we are stuck with it. The good news is most of the jackasses are outa there already.

 

The elcamino dude has got it Av-Gas or Race Fuel with 110 Octane !!! Just mix 5 gallons per tankful. I do this and reccomend it to my customers with perfect results. Get in, pump the gas, fire it up and drive away. No gummed up carbs, no fire and no flames !! >>>>.

 

PLEASE READ THIS :

https://secure.unitedmarine.net/news/081512d.htm

 

x-2

 

My chainsaws and weed whacker [different mix ratios], generator, wood splitter, snow blower, gas engine portable air compressor, lawn mowers, and tractor all get fed from 5 gal cans. I never know how long the gas might be sitting in something when I fuel it up or make up a mix so for a couple years now I've been adding an oz of red Stabil to every 5 gal can when I fill it up and all the old "bad fuel" problems with everything have gone away. Generator used in the last year or not, in the Fall I do drain the gas from the tank, fill it with fresh [and run any old out of the carb], using up the old in the tractor. Been working the handiest for me.

 

I'm with you. I gave a weedwacker this spring to a friend that had been setting with old gas in it for at least 3yrs. He put fresh gas in it and has ran it all summer. I leave gas in my mowers all winter and fire them up in the spring and go mow. i cant think of anyone around here having problems with fuel like I read on these boards. Humidity , weather, local refineries ? Or now I'm I going to start having all sorts of problems just for saying this lol. I consatantly check fuel lines on my old Chevy just because I have read so much of this stuff. But I really havent seen or heard that many problems around here. Strange

 

I have never had a problem with gas going bad either, even up here in the heart of ethanol country. My lawn mower, weed-eater, chainsaw, etc all run off the same 5 gal cans that often take months to empty out. Hell, the '51 sits all winter from the end of October to April, and all I do is hop in in the spring and turn the key. It has started every spring for the last decade. Even were I work, we have a bunch of snowmobiles and ATV's that will often sit around for months on end. As long as the battery is good, they start right up as well. I can't think of a single time were myself or one of the technicians has ever had to mess with the fuel systems because of bad gas.

I realize that there are different blends in other parts of the country, and that may have something to do with it, but to me this seems like a Chicken Little problem more then anything else.

On a side note, I have brought ATV's back to Northern Minnesota that were filled up with gas in Southern Cal / Arizona in the dead of winter. That damn southern gas didn't have enough vapor pressure to allow the unit to start at below zero temps. We would have to bring the units inside and warm them up in order to get them to start.

As long as we are on the subject. Sea Foam and Sta-Bil are made from the following ingredients.

Sta-Bil:
HEAVY AROMATIC NAPTHA [ SOLVENT NAPTHA ]: 90%-100%
UNDISCLOSED ADDITIVE: 0%-5%
NAPATHALENE: 0%-5%

Sea Foam:
PALE OIL: 40-60%
NAPTHA: 25-35%
ISOTROPY ALCOHOL: 10-20%