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Fuel stabiliser


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Does anyone use this when they don't use their cars often or take them off the road for winter? I prefer to fill the tanks up rather than partially.

How long does it take for fuel to go bad? I've read it can happen within a month, others say years so I'm not sure.

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A company who use us restore vintage cars and some time back this very topic came up. It depends on the octane but the tarnish takes years with modern fuel. I believe it's less if lead replacement additives are used. On cars that have stood for years the tank needs a flush and the filters replaced or added on early models.

DKE who restore/ store Ferarri's simply drain the fuel.  

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There is also the difference between summer & winter petrol.

 

The Morris Minor had the fuel pump located high on the engine bulkhead (actually on the battery box - if anyone else remembers).

In the summer, the suction required to pull the fuel from the tank and the upwards to the pump was very close to the vapour pressure of winter fuel (winter fuel being a little more volatile than summer fuel). As the temperature rose, the fuel system would easily develop a vapour lock at the fuel pump (ambient heat + engine heat) as the fuel vapourised in the fuel line.

 

Moral was to make sure that one refilled the tank as appropriate, beofre a hot summer.

 

That's one of the reasons that later BL cars had the fuel pump low down, near the fuel tank - to push the fuel along (Mini had them fitted in the nearside rear wheel well.... not a good location for an electric pump!)

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From what else I've been reading it seems petrol left for a long time might only affect older engines, those with carburetors.

So if I fill the tank up and use it over 3-4 months I'm not going to get any issues? When I take the MX5 off the road should I fill the tank or leave it empty? I've read that leaving it empty can cause moisture to form in the tank.

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Better the devil you know so go half way.

Remember the Countach i bought, that was a barn find and stood for about 20yrs. All that needed was a tank flush, new filters and some injectors ( thanks nickT ) 

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Its the ethanol in modern fuels that causes the problems 

http://injectorrepair.com/ethanol-problem/

I usually store my car with a full tank or close to it and run that all the way down before filling with V power again. High octane fuels in my experience seem to suffer worse than cheaper stuff so I'm always very gentle with performance engines until thats been run through, that shouldnt be an issue on the MX but you may notice it feel a little flat with older petrol  

I don't use any stabilisers or anything, as you say storing with a full tank stops moisture forming but many tanks are plastic nowadays 

I'm not aware of any differences with summer and winter petrol , only diesel 

 

 

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On 09/08/2018 at 10:27, liner33 said:

Its the ethanol in modern fuels that causes the problems 

http://injectorrepair.com/ethanol-problem/

I usually store my car with a full tank or close to it and run that all the way down before filling with V power again. High octane fuels in my experience seem to suffer worse than cheaper stuff so I'm always very gentle with performance engines until thats been run through, that shouldnt be an issue on the MX but you may notice it feel a little flat with older petrol  

I don't use any stabilisers or anything, as you say storing with a full tank stops moisture forming but many tanks are plastic nowadays 

I'm not aware of any differences with summer and winter petrol , only diesel 

 

 

Thanks. It says fuel is best used within 100 days but 6 months is almost double that. I'll carry on filling the tank before taking it off the road but it'll take me ages to use that. They recommend a fuel stabiliser too but I can't really find any in the UK. I assume it's not a popular product? The ones I have seen seem to be aimed at lawnmowers.

The Accord I will be using all year round but it's taken me 3 months to use a tank since I last filled it up.

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  • 1 year later...
On 02/09/2019 at 08:48, phipck said:

So here’s a question, what if a car has been sitting for say.....8 years :-/

That would definitely need draining first and possibly even cleaned out. What happens to fuel after 8 years?

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