R. White

Consumer Reports warned in their recent podcast about gunked up engines from old fuel during the current shut down. They recommend fuel stabilizer and to keep the tank full to minimize condensation. Anyone addressing this issue ?

russianDude

Adding stabil is not a bad idea

DJA123

I don't believe most of us are there yet, but adding fuel stabilizer is actually a smart precaution, especially since this situation is still open-ended.

(I can't help but think we are creating artifacts for future readers about the 2020 pandemic. We will, of course, get back to normal at some point and discussions like this will be unique to this time in our shared history. Sorry, I just had a moment...)

R. White

How much should I add?

quantum7

If you use the Stabil 360 it is 1 oz/5gal and they have a measure spout included on the bottle. Mix ratios are also given. I use it in all of my lawn equipment and it works well. I usually fill my car once a week so I don't normally bother with car, but with maybe 5 miles per week that might have to change. If you use the storage version, that is 2 oz/5 gal.

Madd Dog

You are not putting the car in storage, just go out and drive it every couple of days.

thoiboi

this

Waetherman

I thought gas was supposed to be just fine for six months. I haven't been driving much (just enough to keep the battery charged, really) but I can't imagine I'm not going to go through a tank in six months.

gtssenior

I make two errands a week on the average during the shutdown to places very close. I turn those into half hour driving time trips on the freeway to use a gallon of fuel or so and to let the engine and oil heat up. It is done mostly out of having a distraction rather than fuel worries.

NooYawkuh

I've never used it in my cars but Sea Foam is the shit. It has worked like magic for me on my small engines when I've neglected them on occasion. Got my Honda generator running like new after a year of sitting.

Nogard13

I'm a former Air Force member who was frequently deployed for 6 months at a time. I left various cars in storage for that long and never had a problem when I came back to them later. Now, fuel did not have as much ethanol back in the '90s and 00's as it does today, but I would still not be worried about the gas in your tank unless it was over 4-5 months old.

I go to the grocery store about once a week to pick up necessities. I take the long, scenic route and drive about 30 minutes to the Wal-Mart that is usually a 5-minute drive away (I love that I can do an online order and they put it in my trunk without interacting with me). I filled my tank up on March 15th and, here we are on April 18th and I still have about 1/2 tank left. At this rate, I will probably end up filling up every 4-6 weeks, which will not cause your fuel filter or injectors to gum up.

DJA123

This, exactly.

Madd Dog

That’s what I do. I take the long way around, especially now that the blossoms are out.

I actually like curbside pickup and not having to deal with Wal-Martians in the store.

sonyfever

How about remote-start the engine once a week, and just let the 10-minute timer runs out?

hand-filer

Never a good idea to do that, especially with a GDI engine. Short running periods result in water buildup in the crankcase. Run it up to operating temperature for an extended period of time to boil off the water vapor that occurs during the warmup period or don't start it at all.

Wander

Stabil will do no harm. It prevents the fuel from reacting with air ( oxygen ) in the tank and forming polymers. Filling the tank before any extended lapse in operation is a good way to reduce the amount of oxygen available. It also reduces the amount of water vapor that can be absorbed by alcohol in the fuel.

I once had to process a boat fuel tank that had gunked up after a year or so of storage by siphoning the fuel into gas cans, pouring it through a filter to capture the gelled gunk, and running the filtrate through my lawn tractor for a summer.

Once was enough. Stabil is cheap and easy.

The polymers can also form on surfaces, such as the little passages in carburetors and fuel injection systems. That may require a tear-down to fix. Did I mention Stabil is cheap and easy? Unlike some additives, it's not snake oil; there's real chemistry behind it.

Having said all that, let's hope we're not talking about years of talking to the walls of our caves and growing really long beards.