Do you leave fuel in the gas tank for the winter?

[BC Canada]

Do you leave some fuel in and put a stabilizer in or do you empty it?

 

[fatjack]

Yup just remember to run it though your fuel station. I forgot and the untreated gas/ethanol swelled the gears (They are made of plastic) and the pump wouldn't run.

 

[JRTJH]

Do you leave some fuel in and put a stabilizer in or do you empty it?

Ethanol in fuel is good for about 30 days unless a stabilizer is added. Red "Stabil" is good for about 60 days, marine grade Gray "Stabil" is good for about 6 months. Remember, once the fuel "separates" nothing can make it "good again" so you need to protect it before the damage is done.

Honestly, with the money we have invested in recreational gear, is it worth it to risk damage? It's relatively easy to drain the fuel and use it in either the car or truck.....

When I store my 4 wheelers, boat, lawn mower, etc, I drain all the gas, run them until they are empty then use Seafoam to protect them. It just doesn't seem practical to risk damage when it's so easy to drain the tank and treat it for storage.

 

[Bluewater-KEY]

I think it's much more fun to keep it running all winter in Az where the sun shines. I have to keep adding to the tank tho."bouncey:

 

[crash-KEY]

I leave one of my tanks full(generator tank)just in case the house power goes out, I just keep sea foam in it .that stuff is great.

 

[scotturner-FRF]

fatjack22

What did you do when your gears swelled up I had the same thing happen to me. I had a repair guy tell me it was going to be $900.00 to replace the pump. So I got some sand paper out and sanded the gears down and all was good to go. I read that trick on another forum I was amazed on how little I had to sand it to make it work again. Just a little FYI.

 

[tileman-KEY]

Wow 900 to replace the pump.
You can get the pump at TSC for like under 150.00
And takes like at most a hour to install.

I had to sand my gears to and been working fine for over a year.

 

[scotturner-FRF]

That is what I thought so It was broke for a long time. If I knew about the gears swelling up and how easy it was to fix. Mine has been working like a champ for about a years now. I know keep sand paper in my camper tool box just for that.

 

[fatjack]

Took it apart and sander the gears with fine paper. Works like a champ now for about $2 worth of sand paper. BTW I no longer forget the run treated fuel through the pump.

 

[BC Canada]

Thanks for all the replys

 

[Sledge Hammer]

Ethanol in fuel is good for about 30 days unless a stabilizer is added. Red "Stabil" is good for about 60 days, marine grade Gray "Stabil" is good for about 6 months. Remember, once the fuel "separates" nothing can make it "good again" so you need to protect it before the damage is done.

Honestly, with the money we have invested in recreational gear, is it worth it to risk damage? It's relatively easy to drain the fuel and use it in either the car or truck.....

When I store my 4 wheelers, boat, lawn mower, etc, I drain all the gas, run them until they are empty then use Seafoam to protect them. It just doesn't seem practical to risk damage when it's so easy to drain the tank and treat it for storage.

You say it is easy to drain the tank. Please explain how, since their is no drain plug.

 

[JRTJH]

You've got an electric pump and a nozzle. Using 5 gallon "red gas cans" to hold what you pump out will make it pretty simple to drain the tank. You may need to determine the location of the fuel pickup so you can "tilt" the trailer to make sure all the fuel drains to the pickup. There's no need to make it any harder than necessary, use the tools available to pump gas out of the tank.

 

[jengel451]

You've got an electric pump and a nozzle. Using 5 gallon "red gas cans" to hold what you pump out will make it pretty simple to drain the tank. You may need to determine the location of the fuel pickup so you can "tilt" the trailer to make sure all the fuel drains to the pickup. There's no need to make it any harder than necessary, use the tools available to pump gas out of the tank.

Assuming you have only one tank and that one tank as the pump. Luckily I thought ahead and put non ethanol fuel in the Gen tank and put in the marine grade stabil already. Should be fine right?

 

[SAD]

My TH tank was 100% full all the time - 100% gas with stabill added....

Really came in handy when in Dec 2007 we got hit with an ice storm - woke up freezing - and power was out for 5 days.

 

[abneynormal]

how about this?

last week at a bike rally a guy was talking about ethanol fuel. he said the problem wasn't the water absorbed by the ethanol but the things that grow in the water that cause problems. he said to use rubbing alcohol and acetone 50/50 1 ounce per gallon. I am thinking about sea foam and star tron enzyme treatment. one for the decomposing gasoline the other for the bacteria in the water.

 

[SAD]

I resist the urge to add water to my fuel tanks!

 

[abneynormal]

no ethanol = no water

I guess you could drain the tank and fill up at a 100% ethanol free pump. we have them here close to the lake. the sea foam claims it can stabilize gas for up to 2 years stabil claims 1. I usually start my generators and other equipment periodically over the winter as well as take the filling station and cycle the gas through it back into the tank.

 

[SAD]

I guess you could drain the tank and fill up at a 100% ethanol free pump. we have them here close to the lake. the sea foam claims it can stabilize gas for up to 2 years stabil claims 1. I usually start my generators and other equipment periodically over the winter as well as take the filling station and cycle the gas through it back into the tank.

Fortunately for us, 100% is readily available in our area - not just at marinas and near lakes...

I basically only use 100% for everything.. Cars, small engines, jet skis, ATVs, lawn equipment, etc.