sta-bil gas additive

[mbouse]

alright... getting ready for ole man winter here. thought just occurred to me.

untreated gasoline has a shelf life of about 60 days. that is why we have additives such as sta-bil.

however, the additives are generally sold in quantities too large for the one/two car collection used one tankful per car per season.

does sta-bil have a shelf life? if so, is last year's purchase still viable for this season's use?

[htchevyii]

I've been using the same bottle for a long time and haven't noticed any I'll effects. I would think if a few ounces is strong enough to treat a whole tank of fuel, that it should be pretty strong and long lasting on it's own.

[So Cal Mark]

so now we need sta-bil additive stabilizer stabilizer? Do you fog your motor for storage?

[mbouse]

nope. what i generally do is add sta-bil to a full tank of fuel, and run the engine until operating temp is reached. i then add some moth balls to the cockpit, trunk and engine bay. raise the top and windows, and put a battery maintainer in place. cover the car, and walk away for a month.

every thirty days or so, i run the engine until operating temp is attained.

[majicwrench]

Running car till it reaches operating temp every onth or so is probably not going to be good for the engine. Every time you start an engine, esp one that has sat, it takes a moment for the oil to get everywhere it needs to go. THose first few seconds of running produce a TON of wear. As well, as the engine starts and warms it tends to get a lot of by-products of combustion past the rings, as well as unburned and unvaporized fuel on the cylinder walls. Over the course of a nice long drive those by-products getted sucked up in your cranckcase vent system and re-burned, but that ain't gonna happen with car idling in driveway.

When Corvettes first came out with oil temp guages, was interesting to note that it took about three times as long for the oil to reach operating temp as it did for the coolant.

My vote, if engine is fogged before shutdown, and otherwise well lubricated, leave it till spring.
Keith

[ga.spyder]

Gawd!! I am glad I live where it is warm and dry enough to at least drive the car every couple weeks.Since they dont get driven much,I do put sta-bil in the tank.
Craig

[htchevyii]

Cr*p! I new I forgot something! I took my '72 to my storage garage today, (The farthest i've driven it). I left my Sta-Bil there last time I used it and I meant to add it when I got there, (I prefer adding it right before I fill with gas, though). Doah!

[myfirst124]

what is or how do you "Fog" an engine

[htchevyii]

what is or how do you "Fog" an engine

It's usually called "marine fogging oil", but it's just a spray can of oil you spray into the intake while the car is running, I'm not so sure that I'd spray it into the AFM on a FI though.

[124cso]

I would think you will find, unless you have a full stainless system, that your habit of just running motor up to temp and not much more, will be harming your exhaust system.
By running motor up to temp, you will just be filling the exhausts with moist vapours which will condense in the cold pipes and mufflers and rust them out.
The same happens with ( dare I say, older?) drivers who just potter along on short trips. Have you ever followed a car and seen water piddling out the exhausts ? that gets held in the fibreglass type packing in silencer/muffler/resonators.
Even on a small car like a spider, you need to drive a car at moderate speed, for say 4-5 miles to properly warm up your exhaust pipe/s to dry them out inside.

Probably better to take it for a drive on a dry day and put it away hot, let it cool off a few hours and then cover it and leave it for the winter. I put a isolater battery terminal on mine, so is just a few turns of the plastic knob and the earth connection is broken. Saves the clock draining the battery and I just put the charger on it for a few hours every few weeks to keep it up.