Anybody find anything that really works to stabilize the fuel? I've tried Stabil and a handful of others. They all turn to goo over time. My experience has been poor with Stabil. But really all of them have been bad. The only thing that has worked with any consistency is to turn off the fuel and run the carb out of gas. Then when you want to ride again, I stand on the machine and wiggle side to side to mix the fuel again. Unfortunately, I waited more than a day to run it out of gas once when my son borrowed the keys, and once again I find muself pulling the carb and cleaning it. There has to be a better way... Any thoughts?

 

I double dose Marine Stabil(not the plain red Stabil) and have had no problems on my sons Yamaha 75 hp out board on his pontoon and my old Honda that I just sold.ONLY problem I've had wasn't Stabils fault but my own when I let my carb bowls evaporate from heat just sitting in the garage. Pilot jets just had a fine white powder mainly from moisture entering the bowls from the carb vents and no gooey residue in the bowls,needle and seats or main jets,but still a hassle to pull 4 carb to clean 4 little pilot jets. Normally I just cranked it up once a month,but got lazy.Learned real quick no matter what you use keep the tank full to prevent condensation and crank carb machines up every now and then to keep fuel moving around.This is what the carbs and bowls looked like after years of using Marine stabil.Clean,no gooey crap and all this trouble for 4 little pilot jets that I blew out with an air nozzle just because I let the bowls dry up.I won't let carbs get dry again.

 

I've had good luck with stabil but have never let gas sit longer than a few months. When I've had to store longer term, I drained all the fuel and dumped it into my car.

 

I double dose with STA-BIL and have started adding SeaFoam too. I typically ride Memorial Day weekend on gas that's been in there since the previous Labor Day. Sometimes the gas is even older than that and I haven't had any problems yet.

 

So just to clarify, you do NOT recommend turning off the fuel and running the gas out of the carb bowl?

 

Frank, I have seen adds for seafoam. Impressions and recommended with or over Stabil? Also is the marine version of Stabil better than the regular stuff?

Just out of curiosity, what about Fuel Injection systems?

 

Double dose with Sta-bil and on the last gas up of the season do not use that corn gas.

 

I don't/didn't drain tanks or fuel bowls on any of my vehicles. Even though a lot of people do,all it does is leave room for condensation to cause problems.Especially on fuel tanks,I have them completely full and double dosed. Same on the old Honda I just sold,not a spec of corrosion in the tank over the years. Draining carbs doesn't always help either. As well as having carb machines stored in heated areas. Over time the atmospheric vents for the carbs can allow gas to evaporate,plus allow moisture to accumulate through the vent tubes.Only time in 11 years I owned the Honda that I had trouble with it was when I failed to crank it up every now and then winter or summer,carb bowls dried up,moisture with what little fuel may have been in the plot jets just turned to powder residue.Learned my lesson on that one.Even with double dosing of marine Stabil(yes I think it's the best) out there along with Star Tron that a few friends use and swear by.Everyone has their own way of storing machines.This is just the way I do. This apparently doesn't affect efi systems as much as there isn't any fuel in the injectors. My son let his Suzuki SV1000 set up for a year and a half. He just drained the old fuel out,changed oil,cranked right with no problems.May not happen this well for all for all efi systems,but sounds reasonable that once you kill it,the injectors are dry and open for the most part. Supposedly the new Stabil 360 has additives that keep corrosion from happening in metal tanks along with preserving and protecting fuel from ethanol effects also. I just haven't tried it yet. I may just stay with the old marine Stabil that has worked good in my cycle,push mowers and riding mowers over the years.

 

TLC, not sure where you live, but there isn't anywhere in these parts where you can buy gas without Ethanol in it. I am waiting for soem guy to invent a way to seperate the ethanol out of gasoline and the product being cheap enough for everyone to buy it.

 

This might help.

Virginia Ethanol Free Gas Stations