Drain STA-BIL gas after storing for winter?
 

Fellow Canadians,

Going to be storing my 86 for the first time (and first stored car ever, for that matter). I'm going to add some sta-bil and top off my gas before the snow starts to settle.

I'm curious as to how many people pump their gas our (drain) after storing for the winter (with stabil) or whether it's fine to just consume the gas through regular driving.

I also plan to drive the car for a few minutes every 2 weeks or so as I park in a condo with a fairly expansive indoor parking lot (5KPH lapping!)

Thanks in advance.

I have no idea why you would think that you need to drain the fuel that has stabilizer added for storage. The purpose of stabilizer is to keep the fuel from going bad (oxidizing), so that is usable in the spring.

Where would one dispose of drained fuel anyway?

@wbradley I've seen a few people suggest it on other forums - they would pump out the "stabilized" / stored fuel and put it into other small motor equipment or cars that are less temperamental about fuel quality.

Stored for 2 winters, never drained. Doing same thing this year.

To be safe, just behave yourself in the spring as you burn through the tank. Much easier said than done, however. That first drive in the spring is like driving it for the first time all over! Tears of joy may or may not have been shed.

op, fill up tank with fuel and then add bottle of stable and then run the car for 5mins so that the stable can get into the entire fuel line. When the warmer weather arrives, just drive the car around until you empty the tank. Make sure you cover your exhaust tips up with steel wool too to keep the rodents out.

Hmmm seems like a waste of effort to drain and store 55L of Ultra 94 to run in my lawn mower. I'd be lucky to burn 10L/ year.

The purpose of stabilizer is to ensure the fuel is still good to use in 6 months, otherwise it serves no purpose.

If in an unheated garage where theres a power receptacle, its best to keep a battery tender hooked up and never start the car until you take it out. In a warm condo garage perhaps start it every week to 10 days just to keep the battery from discharging. Running at idle 5 to 10 mins should do the job. Rolling forward or back slightly will help avoid flat spots on tires.

^ about flat spots and tires, recommendations are to fill air to max psi, but last year I forgot. I never move the car, but it was ok last winter with regular mid 30 psi...
Let's say all winter I was a bit concerned about driving on square tires soon :). It was fine.

To avoid, I kept mine at ma (42 PSI I think). Apparently the flat spots usually work their way out after 1/2 hr of driving.

55L?!!! You add an extra fuel tank? :bellyroll::bellyroll:

Yeah the Sta-bil is specifically designed to prevent you from having to drain the fuel. Don't bother. If the car is stock then I wouldn't worry about driving it hard on the first tank either.

I honestly been storing my subaru for 6 years now and i don't do anything. No PSI increasing, no stabilizer fuel...all i do is warm it up and sometimes on dry winter days take it around the block. Doing the same for the FRS.

I guess if your paranoid you can do all those steps, but I've never done them and never had issues. Just my .02 cents

A trusted mechanic - racer buddy of mine believes gas will last 1 year.
I have routinely stored cars for a year, no gas stabilizer, full tank, a couple of bottles of methyl hydrate (gas line anti freeze) and have had no problems.
With my twin, I tried storing with and without stabilizer and noticed no difference .
Perhaps the problem of winter condensation in the tank and lines adding water to the fuel is more of a problem than gas going bad - ?



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http://www.fuel-testers.com/expirati...hanol_gas.html

Straight gasoline has a shelf life of years, but with the addition of ethanol it drops significantly (3 months) due to ethanol's tendency of absorbing water and subsequently separating which has huge effects on octane rating.

I always cringe when I see "my mechanic buddy said". Five &*%^%^ minutes of googling will result in better info. A lot of people don't take into account that things might not be the same now as they were 30 years ago.

Lol ! I know what you mean !
Since he has been wrenching and racing for 40 years, as well as other very hi tech activities, I always try his techniques based on his experience.
He was talking from practical experience obviously, and the reason for the methyl hydrate is to address exactly what you correctly state.

I use non ethanol fuel, with methyl for storage for condensation - it worked.
Did the same with ethanol 94, it worked. If OFT shows knocking after storage a gallon of race gas or Torco would bring the octane backup.

:cheers:

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CERBERUS

Steps to storing:

1. Clean car.
2. Change the oil (filter not necessary as it wont do anything with the car not moving).
3. Fill fuel tank and run for 5min with fuel stabilizer.
4. Park car on blocks of wood (tires, never let suspension hang), place bounty sheets in and around wires, engine bay, under the car, inside the car, etc to prevent critters from having a snack.
5. Put battery tender on car or remove the terminals from the battery (remove entirely from car if you wish and place on block of wood).
6. Cover exhaust tips to avoid risk of having cooked critter in Spring.
7. Inflate tires to max PSI recommended on the tires.
8. Cover car.

I parked mine on a tarp this year to keep moisture transfer down while in the garage. I also sprayed lithium grease on various bolts in the engine bay to prevent rust/condensation.

This seems to work well for me. To avoid issues with my summer wheels/tires, I just put the stock back on this year.

Thanks everyone for the tips - two quick questions:

1) how important is it to change the oil before storing? (I've got Eneos Sustina in there right now, about ~4,500 KM)

2) would you start the car to drive around a bit or wait until spring before touching ignition?

Thanks!

Seems like a waste to put new oil in it pre storage, then let it sit and absorb moisture for months of extreme temp. variation. Used (not spent) oil in a non running engine seems to me to be able to keep corrosion away, drain and refill in the spring with fresh new oil !
:iono:

http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps5ca97c01.jpg

CERBERUS

I always change oil/filter just before storage. Read somewhere about acidity in oil with dissolved fuel (old oil). I time my oil changes so the car is ready for one before storage +/- a few kms.

My checklist:
-fresh oil/filter
-full tank w/ stabilizer added while filling, run thru engine driving home 5 mins
-tires pressurized to max rating
-battery tender

That's it. Very simple and never had any issues.

This year I will not start the engine at all. Reason is, avoiding warming engine avoids water from condensation.

I disagree with car cover, it can hold in condensation and the car can take hits you wont realize you are doing if you cant see it. Dust washes off in the spring or California duster occasionally.

Never start the car while it's in storage. Bringing it up to operating temp and then allowing it to cool is a great way to cause condensation to form in the engine and for rust to form inside it. Just set it and forget it.

Changing the oil is to get the acidity out of the old oil (fresh additives and no contaminants in the oil for storage). I didn't do it because I only had 2,500kms on the oil, but generally I would just drain and fill with something cheap, like Castrol GTX. Just something that's not dirty. Then you run the car for about 50kms after storage and drain/fill with new filter in the spring. But to each their own.

Bingo.

Only way to prevent rust forming inside the engine is to fog the cylinders with a fogging oil. The only easy way to do this on a flat 4 (rather than pull the plugs) is to just feed a vac line while it's running. This will pull it in past the valves and through the intake and into the cylinders. But it will stall the car out, so make sure it's in the final resting place when you do it.

Again, I didn't bother with this step.

This has been very informative - thanks everyone!

WOW!

Just ....WOW!

A bit of overkill. Now you make me feel guilty for leaving my lawnmower out in the snow....

And as for changing the oil but NOT the filter.... WOW again.
$50 worth of oil, runined/degraded by not changing a $5 filter?

I would disagree with this point. Cylinders don't typically rust over the period of a winter when an engine isn't open to the elements (removed intake for example). Also the fogging oil does nothing to prevent engine components that aren't exposed to to the intake tract from rusting, although these don't typically rust either. If the engine is going to be stored for a very extended period there are measures I would take, but having been an engine builder for years I can tell you that no form of fogging oil that I have seen will get near an engine that I own.

Shut the engine down with the proper amount of relative fresh oil, keep air in the tires (or store them if they are a soft compound), full the fuel tank and add the proper amount of stabilizer. Keep your local pests out with common sense measures. I also run a small wattage solar battery tender to keep it topped off. I don't even unhook the terminals and mine starts fine in the spring. I normally change the oil in the spring but given the high oil temps our engines see I cannot imagine any small amount of condensation build up in the oil would last long.

To each their own. I plan to protect my car from the harshness of changing temps and winter storage. If this is overkill, I'd be scared what others do.

And who said anything about $50 in oil? It's not running, so who cares what the oil brand or cost is. Point is, you just want to drain the contaminants out of the car and put fresh stuff in. In the spring you put in new, better oil for your planned usage. My last car would get Castrol Syntec in spring and GTX in winter. The FRS, well, it doesn't get used much so I just left the Amsoil in it that was fairly fresh before I put it away. I'll change it out in the spring before I get it out.

Now I've done the above for many years and never had an issue with any of the cars I've stored. They always fire right up and never gave me issues throughout the season.

Your right, the short winter wont have any detrimental impact on cylinder rust due to the various metal compositions. It would be for extended storage purposes.

To the OP, the thing to remember is everyone is going to have a different method of storing a car. Some will think one method is extreme while others will simply throw a tarp over it and call it done. It's your car, so do with it as you wish. My perspective is that spending the time to do it right (or overkill as some say) will pay off in the end. And if it doesn't change anything, well, it was worth not taking the risk anyways.

Bingo - exactly what I have taken away from reading all these posts. Everyone seems to have their own method. What has been extremely useful is to see the entire gambit of potential "checklist" items as a community and then to consider which are worth pursuing on a personal level.

I'd like someone to explain the point of putting cheap oil in just before storage then immediately changing again in spring. Its bad for the wallet and environment. What's wrong with new oil just before storage then running that oil in spring?

Seems like mixed reviews on the subject over at Bobistheoilguy.com. I always practiced this method after reading many years ago over at the Miata forums. Maybe it's not needed?

Like I said, I didn't do it to mine this year. Maybe I should have? Open to the discussion. I'm definitely no expert on the matter.

...

Is there any danger in storing with ultra 94 given the ethanol content? I put my car away this winter with a full tank of 94 and stabil.

Hey everyone - not much longer now! As I prepare to take the frs out of storage next month, I will likely look to add some Torco Accelerator to bring up the octane of the stored fuel (was U94 E10) - can anyone forsee any issues with Torco Accelerator with the Stabil that's already in there?

Cheers!

I've had full tank gas + sta-bil for my bike for 3 years and it was fine....i just run it out in spring and fill it up with new gas....no problems here...

Are you Turbo/Sc'd or have any real reason why you need the octane rating to be as high as possible? This only matters all that much in modified applications or if you're going to drive the hell out of it. I myself will definitely burn through my winter tank before I go to any racing or competition. At the same time though, I won't be babying it on that tank either.

You're worrying too much.

This isn't a La Ferrari, and AFAIK it isn't particularly temperamental about fuel in stock form.