How to Handle an Auto That Will Not be Driven?

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I have watched a few YouTubes and done a little Googling. IF you have a car that you only drive every other week or so, how do you treat the gasoline? Or do you treat the gasoline? For example my son's IS350 and my LS430 get driven very little. Sometimes they won't get driven for several weeks at a time.


We use that Amsoil PI about 3 times per year and we only buy Top Tier Gasoline.


NO, we are not gonna sell them.....LOL. We searched too long and hard to find them and they are keepers. My LS430 will probably be the last car I purchase. I'm 61. So, between my LS400 and the LS430 I think I am good til I meet eternity....
 
Don't fill up. Put a few gallons of high(er) octane at a time so the gas doesn't get too old.
 
iirc if the gas is sitting longer than "normal" or average, the higher octane would hold up better.
 
Originally Posted By: OilUzer
Don't fill up. Put a few gallons of high(er) octane at a time so the gas doesn't get too old.


That's contrary to most advice you will find about storage, which suggests either a complete drain or the gas tank completely full.

The logic behind a full gas tank is there's less surface area for evaporation and condensation, as well as not as much air volume for condensation if the temperature drops.

In any case, a modern car sitting for a month at a time wouldn't be of any concern to me. I'd keep the tank full, and try to drive it as much as possible when it was driven. I'd also be inclined to keep a battery tender on it, as modern cars have a pretty constant low level amount of drain on the battery and I've found most will go dead in 2-3 months.
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
Reduce the size of the fleet.


Now, now, be nice...
 
Every other week is still a decent amount. You made no mention of the anticipated distance.

E10 Gas gets old at about a month right?

I'd personally buy E0 and only get them out when you plan on taking them on at least 30 minute highway drives.
 
Originally Posted By: OilUzer
Don't fill up. Put a few gallons of high(er) octane at a time so the gas doesn't get too old.


Wrong. You WANT the tank full on a stored car. The OP says he will be driving it a few times a month, so in this case, you should ABSOLUTELY store it full of fuel.

You dont need to add anything to the tank if you are going to be driving it a few times a month. You'll be using enough fuel to keep it fresh enough.
 
Originally Posted By: OilUzer
The condensation is VERY minute compare to what's already in the gas.


I agree with OilUzer ... lol
 
Fuel systems on modern cars are sealed up quite well so the gas doesn't evaporate and go stale as quickly as it will in say my '63 Studebaker with a vented gas cap. If the fuel tank doesn't see big temperature swings it's unlikely to aspirate much, if any, air, but it will aspirate less with less air space in the tank. Keeping it near full is a good choice.

Cars drain their batteries at different rates. If you can measure the current drain and the resting voltage after a couple weeks of storage we can make an educated guess as to the efficacy of a Battery Tender in your situation.
 
Originally Posted By: bunnspecial
Originally Posted By: OilUzer
Don't fill up. Put a few gallons of high(er) octane at a time so the gas doesn't get too old.


That's contrary to most advice you will find about storage, which suggests either a complete drain or the gas tank completely full.

The logic behind a full gas tank is there's less surface area for evaporation and condensation, as well as not as much air volume for condensation if the temperature drops.

In any case, a modern car sitting for a month at a time wouldn't be of any concern to me. I'd keep the tank full, and try to drive it as much as possible when it was driven. I'd also be inclined to keep a battery tender on it, as modern cars have a pretty constant low level amount of drain on the battery and I've found most will go dead in 2-3 months.


I thought the reason for keeping the tank full was to stop a steel tank from rusting, interesting. I guess E0 fuel would help reduce absorption, too.

Deffo battery charger of some sort, I have one of the cheapest NOCO models (the one that AVE tore down on youtube) and it came with a pigtail that you could bolt onto your battery. It's super handy because I don't have to remove the battery box cover to charge the battery. Here it is but you could probably just make one with anderson connectors, sweet!
 
I've always had a car that doesn't get driven very often. I leave it under a cover in my garage with the Battery Tender hooked up.

I keep it with a quarter tank. Fuel is dosed 640:1 with TC-W3.

When I'm driving it I drive the snot out of it. Never had an issue.
 
I've done it for decades over the years with a few vehicles. Some sat as long as 3 months at a time. My son's deployments had cars sitting for up to 9 months. Stabil and some MMO in the gas was all I ever did as far as treating the fuel.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I've done it for decades over the years with a few vehicles. Some sat as long as 3 months at a time. My son's deployments had cars sitting for up to 9 months. Stabil and some MMO in the gas was all I ever did as far as treating the fuel.


The IS350 never dies. The LS430's battery is more prone to die so I use one of those CTEK battery tenders on it.

How much stabil and MMO you use?
 
Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
I've always had a car that doesn't get driven very often. I leave it under a cover in my garage with the Battery Tender hooked up.

I keep it with a quarter tank. Fuel is dosed 640:1 with TC-W3.

When I'm driving it I drive the snot out of it. Never had an issue.


1 oz per 5 gallons of gas? Is my math close?
 
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