Yea I bought some STABIL brand fuel treatment so thanks everyone for the great info.!

R'

 

: My father (a lifelong mechanic) always said there's no such thing as "tune-up in a can", but he used to show me cylinder heads that were treated with regular use of Seafoam and without and you could easily see the difference in carbon build-up on the valves etc. I use it regularly in all my stuff both in gas and engine oil. $5.79 at Menards(home improvement store).

 

I picked up some Sea Foam today at a local AutoZone. I will be giving it a try soon.

Do you folks that use it put it in every tank of fuel, or only use it one in a while? Do you think it's safe to use it that often?

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img] No, I add to my fuel maybe every forth tankful and oil after every other oil change. Maybe a little more in fuel if I expect atv to sit for along time. Try it, you'll like it!!

 

Just a quick FYI on this...

I purchased a bottle of this stuff at AutoZone for $9.50.

I saw it this morning at Wally World for $6.50.

Don't mind spending a little more at the auto stores once in a while as long as they are "fairly" competitive, but that's not even close.

 

Came across this old post while looking for a good oil and filter to substitute for OEM.

Since the addition of ethanol in our gas in Maine I have switched to Marine Stabil vice regular Stabil for all my gas that "sits" around. (ATV, Lawn Mower, Generator, etc.)

 

Ethanol gets a bad rap. Ethanol does the exact same thing as heet (isopropyl). They are both hydrophillic alchohols, meaning the absorb (bind) water. The problem is the vacant areas in your gas tank act like sweat on a colld pop can. over time this builds a higher concentration of water in the tank. The alchohol can only hold so much water then it being to settle an the bottem of the tank. Another problem is that they use a low quality base stock gasoline to blend with the ethonol. They take 80 octane and add 10% by volume ethonal to increase the octane to 87. The other problem is that ethanol cleans so if you have used pure Gas for a long time the ethanol comes in and removes the varnishes. Also if you have ever used rubbing alchohol you know it cleans as well as evaporates very quickly. This is what happenens in your tank and engine the ethanol evaporates and your left with 80 octane dino ****. Since ethanol has come along we never rebuild carbs like we used to in our commercial lawn care business. We have had 20 HP Kohlers last for 4500+ hours no rebuilds. That being said, the best thing to do is use pure premium and treat with a fuel stabilizer if its going to sit longer than 3 months without burning through a tank of gas. My stuff never sits that long.
We use 91 octane 10% ethanol blends in all our small engines at worst they are using 86 octane stock to blen it with.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: *5 J's*

Since the addition of ethanol in our gas in Maine I have switched to Marine Stabil vice regular Stabil for all my gas that "sits" around. (ATV, Lawn Mower, Generator, etc.)</end quote></div>

That's probably a good idea.

I couldn't find an MSDS on their site, as I suspect that the Marine formula is just a heavier dose of the regular stuff (with a different color additive LOL).

 

I am new to forum and atv world....but not new to running equipment and overhauling them....we demand and expect so much from equipment that sits a lot...like sleds that sit all summer and atvs that sit in the winter....chainsaws, unless you run them as a living, sit idle a lot....I have used stabil in the last three years in weedwhackers and chainsaws and what a difference in pre-season starts....As for the ethanol...you need the blue colored stabil not the other...it says ethanol on the bottle....any machine that has a vent tube to the tank will draw moisture from the air and ethanol asorbs/attracts it....and then it goes into the system and the long term effects are not good....a lot of arctic cat sleds are down for the count this year....there are to be laws on how much ethanol...like 10% but here in Maine they have more....I run a sporting camp and many boaters from Mass have had problems with the ethanol on larger out boards here....anyways....as for the seafoam I have used it in high mileage vehicles and it is like a major tuneup, but it is also good I believe for atvs for spring out of storage one time use....and use the regular stabil for storage and the ethanol additive if in more of a marine environment....like outboards or atvs with snorkel kits ...lol...well happy trails

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: MEGA XP

Ethanol gets a bad rap. Ethanol does the exact same thing as heet (isopropyl). They are both hydrophillic alchohols, meaning the absorb (bind) water. The problem is the vacant areas in your gas tank act like sweat on a colld pop can. over time this builds a higher concentration of water in the tank. The alchohol can only hold so much water then it being to settle an the bottem of the tank. Another problem is that they use a low quality base stock gasoline to blend with the ethonol. They take 80 octane and add 10% by volume ethonal to increase the octane to 87. The other problem is that ethanol cleans so if you have used pure Gas for a long time the ethanol comes in and removes the varnishes. Also if you have ever used rubbing alchohol you know it cleans as well as evaporates very quickly. This is what happenens in your tank and engine the ethanol evaporates and your left with 80 octane dino ****. Since ethanol has come along we never rebuild carbs like we used to in our commercial lawn care business. We have had 20 HP Kohlers last for 4500+ hours no rebuilds. That being said, the best thing to do is use pure premium and treat with a fuel stabilizer if its going to sit longer than 3 months without burning through a tank of gas. My stuff never sits that long.

We use 91 octane 10% ethanol blends in all our small engines at worst they are using 86 octane stock to blen it with.</end quote></div>

MEGA XP,

That was a fine explanation, and you just explained why Ethanol deserves the bad rap. LOL