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Sta-bil Fuel Stabilizer

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pjsmetana

pjsmetana

Jedi Warrior
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I just got back from a less-than-pleasant many-month long business trip a few days ago. Eager to go for a top-down drive in the nice American weather I went to the garage, cranked the engine, and she fired right up as fast as any modern daily driver! No Smoking, No fighting or anything negative (as of yet). With other cars on the past I've done the oil into the carb and tank trick for anything longer than 3 months... but this time I just went with Sta-bil after hearing such good things about it.

Anyways, are there ANY negatives about using this stuff? How long is this stuff good for? Can I use it in every tank-full? I plan to drive my toy here about 4-8 times a month.
 
I've heard (no proof or citation) that though it prevents the gas from gumming up and becoming varnish or worse... it does nothing to preserve the various additives in the gas and these go off over time.

That said -- I would think 4-8 times a month is pretty frequent (esp compared to many people I know whose jobs or sheer number of cars prevents use that frequent).
 
I've used the product in a gasoline powered generator which, as SMBO has made perfectly clear, had better fire up if we have a power outage. This unit sits dormant for extended periods of time.
If you plan to use the car, even only once or twice a month,I don't believe Sta-bil is needed.
Bob
 
I use it in the gas I have to buy in advance for our winters to use in the generator/snowblower etc. I've never used it beyond 6-8 months, but had no problems with those date ranges. I agree that you are driving it often enough to not worry, as long as you're using a better gas I think you'd be safe.
 
I wouldn't consider frequency of use as much as how old the gas in the tank is. If your getting fresh gas every month then the storage additive wouldn't be necessary. OTOH if the gas is going to get over a couple months old between fill ups, it would be worth treating it.
 
The only real negative that I have encountered was the funky smell of burning off the Sta-bilized gasoline.
 
And the price.
 
Sorry guys, unless you live in the southern hemisphere, isn't a little

<span style="font-size: 26pt">EARLY</span>

to be talking Sta-bil

Geesh!

Haven't even driven the car yet
 
Every time I've used in my may lawn machines, the carbs were gummed up in the Spring. What I used to do and now still do is fill the gas tanks up in the Fall , close the fuel shut-off then run the carbs dry until the engine stalls. This method I never had problems in the Spring (except the one time I used Stabil), So ymmv, mine certainly did.

For my diesel tractor, I've had it recommended to me to keep the fuel from gelling but in this part of the country, there is a winter blend of diesel in the pumps that already has an additive to prevent the fuel from gelling.

With the addition of 10% Ethanol in the modern gas, the octane drops over time and I had heard that I MUST drain the gas from the tanks of my cars that winter over. Again, I don't do this and don't detect any pinging. I just give the tanks 1/2 bottle of Techron (for the carbs) at my first Spring fill-up.

I am thinking of trying an octane boost additive though since the local premium is 91. I used to mix in a little C110 race fuel when I had a race car. Maybe I should just go fill my race jug instead - I love that smell!
 
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