Gasoline

[MarkG]

How long will gasoline that has had stabilizer added to it last? Is one stabilizer brand better than another?

[Outlander Systems]

PRI-G has been better for me than STA-BIL.

The longest I've pushed it was about a year and a half, but it still worked in my '03 Kawasaki Ninja.

PRI claims that the gas can be kept for years. I also read somewhere that the best "refresh" or treatment rate is once every 9-12 months.

I think you're on the right track with this. If the Gulf situation isn't rectified soon, there could be some serious issues, IMO.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/gallon_gas_9GlF3o1xIcIBelOV3k0RsK#ixzz0rDY531H1

[Tom Swift]

We've left gas 5+ months in cans with not stabilizer always worked fine upon fire up.

[swsmailman]

Any gas that I keep in the 5 gallon red jugs gets a little sta-bil added to it, but I try not to keep gas in one longer than 8-10 months, and as for in a car gas tank or any other for that matter, if I am going to put it in storage or not use it for a while I will try to run it to about as empty as I can, add a gallon of fresh gas with stabil and then start the engine every 4 months or so.

As for the better one, my family has always used stabil and have never had any problems with it.

[jhurt]

If you can find ethanol free gas (if it's even available anymore) that will last longer in storage than the new crap. Its also better for small engines like chainsaws and such. The longest I've let gas sit before use is about 8 or 9 months. This was pre-gasahol and didn't have any stabil in it.

[762xIan]

PRI-G has been better for me than STA-BIL.

The longest I've pushed it was about a year and a half, but it still worked in my '03 Kawasaki Ninja.

PRI claims that the gas can be kept for years. I also read somewhere that the best "refresh" or treatment rate is once every 9-12 months.



+1 on Pri products.....better than stabil, I learned about it from guys with boats that only used them seasonally and were in storage 6 months or so. Swore up and down how great Pri-G and Pri-D (for Diesel) was. I haven't cleaned a carb or had a problem with stale or varnished up gas in years since I have been using it.

Link to Priproducts: http://www.priproducts.com/fuel_storage_consumer.cfm

They claim it will even "restore" old gas....I haven't stored any beyond 6 months or so with it myself, but I have had zero problems so far.

[BillBond]

I use CRC and it states it is good for 1 year.

:cool:

[Outlander Systems]

I learned about it from guys with boats...

Same here. The boat guys know the value of gas. I remember a boat owner joking that he rates in gallons per mile instead of miles per gallon.

[Icedaddy56]

Try the Sea Foam. All the maintenance guys around here use it on everything that runs on gas or diesel. Boats, Cars, ATV, snowblowers. You name it. No problem with gas stored for 8 months or more and cleans injectors and carbs to boot.:D

[hatidua]

I've used Stabil in my boat that sits idle in FL for six months out of the year and all has been well (Suzy 4-strokes). That said, there might be better products out there as has been mentioned above.

Best to fill any container/s completely full so as to avoid internal condensation when you store fuel.

[arizonaranchman]

More than a year can be pretty tough to do, but I've occasionally had gas last about a year and a half with a double dose of Stabil in it.

[davidz71]

+1 for Sea Foam. I talked with a guy who worked in a Yamaha shop servicing jetskis. He said they quit using Stabil and went to Sea Foam because it seemed to last longer.

[HETZ1313]

Try Star tron I work in the motorcycle industry this stuff works great.

[Ga Shooter]

Seafoam IMHO is the best stuff out there. Gasoline starts loosing it's octane level in just three weeks. after about three months it can cause spark knock in an auto engine but will run in small engine with no problems. Seafoam in ethanol really mitigat trces this problem and helps with phase seperation. Ethanol being and alcohol product actually absorbs moisture from the atmosphere and settles on the bottom. Phase seperation is when the moisture level of ethanol reaches the saturation point and seperrates from the gasoline on the bottom of the container. Fuel pump pull fuel from or near the bottom. Engine do not run very well on water. Long term storage of ethanol based fuels is very tricky. You can run the stored gasoline through a water seperating filter like used on boats before you put it into your engine. As of now marinas are allowed to sell non ethanol based fuels but they are generally very expensive.:lazy2:

[High Desert]

I recently used 2 gallons of 2 year old stabilized gas in an experiment with an old lawn mower. The mower ran better than I had hoped and was usable.

Currently I rotate my gas that is stored every year and based on reports from many different folks will be switching from Stabil to PRI.

Best Regards,
HD

[markm]

There was a dude on Barfcom who posted interesting Gas storage info. He worked for Cheveron.

Basically. Gas that is going to be stored should be mid grade at a minimum. The basic 87 octane gas doesn't stay stabile for nearly as long as the premium stuff. 87 octane gas is basically the red headed step child of pump fuel. I wish I had copied the full text of the dude's comments.

Any time I leave gas in my mower over the winter... it'll burn next year, but the mower is hard starting. When I buy new gas the mower fires right up.

[Thomas M-4]

There was a dude on Barfcom who posted interesting Gas storage info. He worked for Cheveron.

Basically. Gas that is going to be stored should be mid grade at a minimum. The basic 87 octane gas doesn't stay stabile for nearly as long as the premium stuff. 87 octane gas is basically the red headed step child of pump fuel. I wish I had copied the full text of the dude's comments.

Any time I leave gas in my mower over the winter... it'll burn next year, but the mower is hard starting. When I buy new gas the mower fires right up.

In school were were taught that also it is better to do your long term storage in a steel container something that plastic containers can leach certain chemical's in gas if stored long term.
I have started a car that had been setting 2 years with the gas it had in it when last parked.It wasn't nice but it did start up.
I have on occasion left gas in mowers over the winter and they still start up in the spring. But I wouldn't store gas in any engine longer than one winter with or with out stabilizer.
Would also use mid grade or higher the octane rating will drop over time. Also if my memory is correct winter blend gasoline has less ethanol in the blend than summer blend. Rotating your stock of fuel would be wise also.

[k9barco]

I use PRI and rotate.

[sjc3081]

I have used supposedly stale three year old fuel 87 octane to fill my empty tundra and atv with no noticeable differences as compared to fresh gas

[markm]

I have used supposedly stale three year old fuel 87 octane to fill my empty tundra and atv with no noticeable differences as compared to fresh gas

I used to let 87 sit in my Crown vic for weeks at a time. When I got new plugs/wire/etc., the mechanic said the plugs looked like shit.

The car ran with the stale gas, but it wasn't doing it any favors. I just run mid grade gas in the beast now.

[mlk18]

Another vote for Sea Foam. I have had great success with the stuff in both stabilizing gasoline but also getting engines to run smoother. We actually run it in our patrol cars.

[Saltcreek]

I have been running this as a full time practical test since 1999 Y2K.
In my barn, I have 3 - 55 gallon drums on dollies so I can move them around (concrete floor). I have a 50 gallon square tank I pump from into my Z-turn mowers and other tillers, DR Bush hog, log splitter and shredder, generators and chain saws. I aslo have 11 plastic 5 gal cans to fetch gas, but try not to leave it stored in them. I have used Stablil since 1999, but have started using Pri-G in the last two years also. I store 87 octane. I have used this stored gas as late as 3+ years with no trouble to my any of my power equipment, no gummed carbs, and everything runs at full power.
Now the steel drums cut down on transfer of oxygen to the gas so there is less oxegenation of the hydrocarbon mollecules. It also cuts the risk of split plastic seams in the gas cans. Red plastic gas cans ARE NOT air tight. While you may think they are because there are no leaky puddles around them, they do a very slow transfer of air, and will also ever so slowly evaporate. The same thing happens to all so-called airtight Zip-Lock bags. This is a good reason not to use red plastic cans for long term storage, which they were never meant for. So, 11 years worth of actual testing on about a 3 year rotation of stock with no problems tells me it Stabil works, and well past the time claimed on the bottle of 18 months. I have also tested Pri-G on stale unstabilized gas, and it DID bring it back to life and become usable. How is that for a Pre-SHTF test?