Are fuel stabilizers necessary?

[The motor guy]

I used to be an avid fuel stabilizer user and never had a problem. That was using the marine formula. The last two years I haven't used any fuel additives at all and my stuff the fuel has stayed in much longer than in the past and I haven't had any problems. I do make sure everything gets run at least once a month. I'm a firm believer that letting the same fuel sit in the carb will cause it to gum up. Fuel stabilizer is so expensive lately that my cheap [censored] didn't bother to buy it. Any thoughts?

 

[turtlevette]

I just found a 5gal container of gas when I was cleaning up the other day. It was more than 5 years old. It looked great. No sediment. No nothing. Pure and clear.

I dumped it into the trans am. Fuel Stabilizers are for lemmings.

 

[NateDN10]

The summer following the first winter I had my snowblower, I left gas in the tank. The next winter, it would start but not keep running. So I took the float bowl off and it was covered with a layer of goo. Cleaned the carb all out and it's been fine since. This summer I'm going to store it with the blue Stabil in the gas and see if it's better.

 

[MinamiKotaro]

Recently drained the gas from our accursed silver Escort that has been sitting outside, partially disassembled, for 14 years. The gas smelled and looked good so I ran it in the Saturn. The Saturn ran better than it has in years and I got 36mpg from that tank.

When my Bug was being turned back into a street car, it sat for more than a year, almost two. That gas was still fine.

 

[spasm3]

I also add about 1 ounce of 2cycle oil to 5 gallons of fuel with the marine stabil. I use this mix the last few times i mow, and store the ope with this mix in it. Works for me.

 

[earlyre]

My Brother has never used stabilizers in his fuel. couple years ago, he went to start up his Garage Queen 98 Mustang (14,500 mi as of Oct '13), and it wouldn't start. had to drop the tank and replace the fuel pump b/c it was completely varnished up.(probably hadn't been run in 2 years @ that point.)

he also never bothers to put it up on jackstands, as "the wheels always round back out within a few miles"

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
I used to be an avid fuel stabilizer user and never had a problem. That was using the marine formula. The last two years I haven't used any fuel additives at all and my stuff the fuel has stayed in much longer than in the past and I haven't had any problems. I do make sure everything gets run at least once a month. I'm a firm believer that letting the same fuel sit in the carb will cause it to gum up. Fuel stabilizer is so expensive lately that my cheap [censored] didn't bother to buy it. Any thoughts?


Well I do not know how much OPE type gas you go through a year to consider fuel stabilizer worth the money. I also use the blue marine Stabil. Startron for boats is also a stabilizer and is cheaper than Stabil.

If stabilized gas saves me having to fool with/clean a single carb in a year it worth it.

There is also the cost and hassle of unstabilized gas going bad in a boat and having to be pumped and discarded.

If I was not going to use stabilizer I would look for E0 gas. Its available if you look around in NY.

 

[Quest]

Just bought a small vial (4Oz) of these @ wallymart a couple of weeks ago and this time around: I'm gonna give it a try (as opposed to my regular use of either Stabil red or Stabil marine formula).

http://www.briggsandstratton.com/us/en/shop/why-genuine-parts/fuel-treatment

I'll fire up my mower this afternoon and see how it goes (and then start doping it with this B&S stabiliser until next spring).

Will report back with the subjective results next year.

BTW: we have E10 in our area (with the exception of 94octane which claimed to be E0, but costs considerably more...much more).

Q.

 

[Quest]

*update*

Yup, turned on the fuel shutoff valve on my B&S 675 craftsman with the remaining old fuel (last fall, doped with Stabil red, E-10, fuel filler cap sealed with a thick pc of plastic to keep fuel from evaporating during storage), give the primer bulb a couple of pushes, yank and it came to life. No hesitations, no sputtering, no nothing....just working as like an operational OPE engine should.

Stopped 3x to dump the grass clippings and then re-yank only once (effortless I'd say)every time and it fires up...no hesitation, no nothing (becomes boring after a while...)

Finished my 1st mow job in due time this afternoon... (typing with my sweaty hands)

Since I still have about 1/2gal of last year's old E-10 fuel left in my jerry can (doped with Stabil), I may might as well finish it off before I start experimenting with the new B&S super fuel stabiliser.

Q.

 

[subaroo]

Originally Posted By: Quest
*update*

Yup, turned on the fuel shutoff valve on my B&S 675 craftsman with the remaining old fuel (last fall, doped with Stabil red, E-10, fuel filler cap sealed with a thick pc of plastic to keep fuel from evaporating during storage), give the primer bulb a couple of pushes, yank and it came to life. No hesitations, no sputtering, no nothing....just working as like an operational OPE engine should.

Stopped 3x to dump the grass clippings and then re-yank only once (effortless I'd say)every time and it fires up...no hesitation, no nothing (becomes boring after a while...)

Finished my 1st mow job in due time this afternoon... (typing with my sweaty hands)

Since I still have about 1/2gal of last year's old E-10 fuel left in my jerry can (doped with Stabil), I may might as well finish it off before I start experimenting with the new B&S super fuel stabiliser.

Q.


and yet I've never used sta-bil or any other and my ope fires up 1st time every spring as well. so who knows, I doubt it hurts anything to use the stuff. I also thing it depends on how good your fuel source is to begin with.

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Fuel stabilizer is so expensive lately that my cheap [censored] didn't bother to buy it. Any thoughts?


One simple carburetor repair/clean will negate the cost "savings" you incurr from not buying the stabilizer.

Since you start your equipment at least once a month, you will probably be fine. But if you have long winters and have your equipment sit for 6 months, that would be problematic.

 

[subaroo]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Fuel stabilizer is so expensive lately that my cheap [censored] didn't bother to buy it. Any thoughts?


One simple carburetor repair/clean will negate the cost "savings" you incurr from not buying the stabilizer.

Since you start your equipment at least once a month, you will probably be fine. But if you have long winters and have your equipment sit for 6 months, that would be problematic.


no way....I live in the north and my ope sits for six months, never an issue.

 

[Quest]

Originally Posted By: subaroo


and yet I've never used sta-bil or any other and my ope fires up 1st time every spring as well. so who knows, I doubt it hurts anything to use the stuff. I also thing it depends on how good your fuel source is to begin with.


we have 3 refineries nearby, all within 100mile radius.

Fuel is as fresh as it can be the unless you go with 94 octane rating, otherwise: all E10 varieties.

Been on E10 for over 2+decades now...all of our automobiles, OPE engines are on E10 as far as my memory can recall.

Not a whole lot of E10 related issues on OPE engines but then again: still have those occasional "blame them all on E10" excuses and stigma on OPE folks (or folks who have been a stinkker RE: their junk car basic maintenance, carb needs rebuild, tuneup off and everything else in between).

Also: had lots of bad rap with the only 2 local OPE engine shops in town: they charged an exorbitant price on servicing OPE mower engine issues, but never fix them right...and when you go back to complain, they all blame the E10 part...guess what? quite a few of these so-called engine issues are easily fixed (most of them just require a quick side draft carb bowl drain-n-fill, with compressed air clearing the orifices), others are mostly flywheel key sheared or almost sheared (shifted as I called it), leading to hardstarts, rope kickbacks, etc.

Of course, I have been a strong advocate RE: using fuel stabiliser in all OPE engines here in our neighbourhood, amongst other things such as adding a red (150micron) mesh filter to those side-draft carbs, use HDEO in air-cooled B&S and Honda OPE engines, etc. Never an issue with carb gumming as far as I can recall (except those that left their mowers out to the element during winter times, usually mower ended up so rusty that it's literally toasted...bought a new one and in a couple of years time, same deal due to owner's intentional neglect.

My 2c's worth.

Q.

 

[andyd]

My sit down has an 11 hoss B+S flathead. I just put the charger on the battery. It will start with out difficulty when I take it out next weekend. I dose the gas with a bit of MMO when I fuel it. On the brand new Chonda on the Ariens, with the steel tank, I will fill it with stabilized fuel, run it a bit ,and run the carb dry.Then put it away. With a steel tank, I'm more concerned with rust from condensation, than bad fuel.

 

[Errtt]

I use the blue stuff for the occasional use chainsaw and generator, not because I had any problems, but figured can't hurt.

 

[Wilhelm_D]

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
I used to be an avid fuel stabilizer user and never had a problem. That was using the marine formula. The last two years I haven't used any fuel additives at all and my stuff the fuel has stayed in much longer than in the past and I haven't had any problems. I do make sure everything gets run at least once a month. I'm a firm believer that letting the same fuel sit in the carb will cause it to gum up. Fuel stabilizer is so expensive lately that my cheap [censored] didn't bother to buy it. Any thoughts?

It's a matter of fuel and storage roulette.

Generally you don't know how much ethanol is in a specific gasoline. Ethanol has a major impact on the storability of gasoline.

You also don't have any hard evidence on the worth of a particular fuel stabilizer. Some of them seem more effective than others.

And the access to the atmosphere plays a role. Fuel storage in a container which vents excess pressure but does not allow entrance of the atmosphere should extend the life of the fuel.

 

[paulo57509]

They might not be, but I don't want to find out if they are.