We have a Van that gets driven about 5000 miles/year. It may sit for 3 months at a time not being driven and then go on a 500+ mile trip. I feel like I need to add an additive to the gas since it sits for such a long time. What do you recommend? I'm not concerned about availability.
Best Gas Treatment for Low Use Church Van
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Add Stabil (gas stabiliser) into tank and buy high quality gas to begin with.
Q.
JHZR2
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Id go with a cocktail of TCW-3 for lubricity and corrosion protection, and then some Sta-bil or similar fuel stabilizer additive to prevent degradation.
Is it having any driveability problems? 3 months between usage really isn't that bad, especially considering it gets a long trip in between periods of sitting.
MMO says it is good for extending fuel life.
I would use this for sure, and maybe Sta Bil when a projected storage is known to be imminent.
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
MMO says it is good for extending fuel life.
I would use this for sure, and maybe Sta Bil when a projected storage is known to be imminent.
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Originally Posted By: Boss302fan
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
MMO says it is good for extending fuel life.
I would use this for sure, and maybe Sta Bil when a projected storage is known to be imminent.
KEEP THEN TANK FULL AND THE CAP ON TIGHT. RENT THE VAN OUT 
i DONT THINK YOU CAN PREVENT PHASE SEPARATION WITH ADDITIVES. ANY MORE THAN A COUPLE TBS OF WATER PER GALLON THE GAS WILL FLOAT AND THE WATER AND ETHANOL WILL BE ON THE BOTTOM. YOU CAN DO A TEST IN A JAR. TREAT SOME FUEL WITH THE MARINE STABIL AND SOME WITHOUT. IIRC THINK THE H20 SATURATION POINT TO PHASE SEPARATION IS << 1/100 OF A %. IF YOU CAN GET NONETHANOL FUEL AT A MARINE FUELING POINT THAT WOULD HELP. Oops, Sorry about the caps lock, too late to re-edit ;(
i DONT THINK YOU CAN PREVENT PHASE SEPARATION WITH ADDITIVES. ANY MORE THAN A COUPLE TBS OF WATER PER GALLON THE GAS WILL FLOAT AND THE WATER AND ETHANOL WILL BE ON THE BOTTOM. YOU CAN DO A TEST IN A JAR. TREAT SOME FUEL WITH THE MARINE STABIL AND SOME WITHOUT. IIRC THINK THE H20 SATURATION POINT TO PHASE SEPARATION IS << 1/100 OF A %. IF YOU CAN GET NONETHANOL FUEL AT A MARINE FUELING POINT THAT WOULD HELP. Oops, Sorry about the caps lock, too late to re-edit ;(
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Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
... IIRC THINK THE H20 SATURATION POINT TO PHASE SEPARATION IS << 1/100 OF A %. ...
Another "Pure Gas" fan! 
The green bottle Sta-bil is excellent for fuel containing ETh, and I use it any time I ever fill up with non-pure gas and expect the tank to go longer than 2 weeks. It is perhaps overkill, but all my fuel lines are super clean and even the tank is free of any black gummy alcohol residue (btw, I am referring to my Camry and my 325i as I cannot always get to one of my regular Puregas stations for any number of reasons; 328 never sees ethanol).
Okay, "always use Stabil" is a slight exaggeration, but I do keep a gallon container in my house and a 16oz container in my car but I sometimes forget to refill the smaller one... I also do not use it when there is any other additive present as I figure the mix is more likely to do harm or render both less potent than it is for each to work fully or even potentiate the other.
Since you are using Pure gasoline, on a car that sits for a long period and then is used a lot (w/o a real pattern), I can offer some tips that have worked for me with my 328, a car that is stored in a climate controlled garage (and under a car cover) for the cold season (typically, Oct-Nov thru Mar-May), and it is driven hard when it is "in service", so to speak...
- Try and determine a useage schedule first, it doesn't have to be perfect, but having an idea allows you to prepare
- Try and prevent the car from sitting for more than 2 weeks without at least being started and briefly run, time permitting
- Stabil for any gasoline not expected to be consumed within 30-45 days of filling up
- When you do use it, don't skimp on fuel injector cleaners; my recommendation being 1 bottle of Redline SI-1 in a full tank, every 2500mi or 2x/year
- Seafoam is actually an excellent gasoline "protectant" as well as being one of the better FI cleaners (not as good as RL SI-1 with its 50% PEA, but better than almost anything else at Napa/PepBoys/AZ/AAP/etc)
- In fact, due to possible (likely) carbon buildup in the intake manifold, throttle body, valves, and such, it would not be a bad idea to use some Seafoam to clean the aforementioned spots (suck through brake booster line, PCV line, and throttle body, let sit for 1-12hrs, then start it and watch the carbon fly away; also, use it to manually clean the TB Plate and throat using a cheap toothbrush)
- Obvious, but use good quality gasoline
- Change PCV valve often (as much as every 10k/24months)
- Change fuel filter and spark plugs more often (every 10-15k for FF, every 30-50k for plugs depending on type - NGK=Best, Denso=Better, Bosch=Sufficient, Others=I Don't Trust, but to be fair I have had awful experiences with Bosch, but NGK Laser/Iridium have never once caused a single issue, with a total of well over 400k miles using their plugs in various cars; Denso Iridium are also good, but I personally prefer NGK; Bosch have given me problems in 6 Bimmers, 2 Toyotas, 1 Contour, 2 Honda lawnmowers, etc... However, all of their other products are top notch)
- Splurge on a good Group4 Syn Oil, such as Royal Purple, Redline, or (based on others' experience, NOT MINE) Amsoil; a good Group3 like Pennzoil Platinum/Ultra would also suffice; reason being that it is far less susceptible to time-wear as well as keeping parts better lubricated after 3mo of no use and then starting it and going on a 500mi road trip
- In that same vein, buy high quality oil filters (I use AFE/K&N/Mahle/Mann for Bimmers, and K&N/RP/Mann/Wix/M1/BoschD+ for others)
- Don't forget about air filter... I would say, get an AFE ProDry Panel Filter for $40 and never worry about it; better UOAs compared to paper (and vastly superior to K&N air filters), and legitimately higher flow than any paper yet never has to be oiled; I went from 27.9mpg in my 325i with OE filter (avg over 1500mi, always same Pure Gas station, always filled up at 8am Wednesday as trucks came Fridays, and only.drove my regular route of 19.2mi Hwy and 3.1mi City), and with no change at all except for the AFE ProDry Panel filter I went to 29.1mpg (exact same as above); Ambient temp 55*F-80*F (between 55-60 at fillup/morning drive and 65-75 drive home, hitting 80 a few times)
Hope that helps some. It has, and does, work for me!
The green bottle Sta-bil is excellent for fuel containing ETh, and I use it any time I ever fill up with non-pure gas and expect the tank to go longer than 2 weeks. It is perhaps overkill, but all my fuel lines are super clean and even the tank is free of any black gummy alcohol residue (btw, I am referring to my Camry and my 325i as I cannot always get to one of my regular Puregas stations for any number of reasons; 328 never sees ethanol).
Okay, "always use Stabil" is a slight exaggeration, but I do keep a gallon container in my house and a 16oz container in my car but I sometimes forget to refill the smaller one... I also do not use it when there is any other additive present as I figure the mix is more likely to do harm or render both less potent than it is for each to work fully or even potentiate the other.
Since you are using Pure gasoline, on a car that sits for a long period and then is used a lot (w/o a real pattern), I can offer some tips that have worked for me with my 328, a car that is stored in a climate controlled garage (and under a car cover) for the cold season (typically, Oct-Nov thru Mar-May), and it is driven hard when it is "in service", so to speak...
- Try and determine a useage schedule first, it doesn't have to be perfect, but having an idea allows you to prepare
- Try and prevent the car from sitting for more than 2 weeks without at least being started and briefly run, time permitting
- Stabil for any gasoline not expected to be consumed within 30-45 days of filling up
- When you do use it, don't skimp on fuel injector cleaners; my recommendation being 1 bottle of Redline SI-1 in a full tank, every 2500mi or 2x/year
- Seafoam is actually an excellent gasoline "protectant" as well as being one of the better FI cleaners (not as good as RL SI-1 with its 50% PEA, but better than almost anything else at Napa/PepBoys/AZ/AAP/etc)
- In fact, due to possible (likely) carbon buildup in the intake manifold, throttle body, valves, and such, it would not be a bad idea to use some Seafoam to clean the aforementioned spots (suck through brake booster line, PCV line, and throttle body, let sit for 1-12hrs, then start it and watch the carbon fly away; also, use it to manually clean the TB Plate and throat using a cheap toothbrush)
- Obvious, but use good quality gasoline
- Change PCV valve often (as much as every 10k/24months)
- Change fuel filter and spark plugs more often (every 10-15k for FF, every 30-50k for plugs depending on type - NGK=Best, Denso=Better, Bosch=Sufficient, Others=I Don't Trust, but to be fair I have had awful experiences with Bosch, but NGK Laser/Iridium have never once caused a single issue, with a total of well over 400k miles using their plugs in various cars; Denso Iridium are also good, but I personally prefer NGK; Bosch have given me problems in 6 Bimmers, 2 Toyotas, 1 Contour, 2 Honda lawnmowers, etc... However, all of their other products are top notch)
- Splurge on a good Group4 Syn Oil, such as Royal Purple, Redline, or (based on others' experience, NOT MINE) Amsoil; a good Group3 like Pennzoil Platinum/Ultra would also suffice; reason being that it is far less susceptible to time-wear as well as keeping parts better lubricated after 3mo of no use and then starting it and going on a 500mi road trip
- In that same vein, buy high quality oil filters (I use AFE/K&N/Mahle/Mann for Bimmers, and K&N/RP/Mann/Wix/M1/BoschD+ for others)
- Don't forget about air filter... I would say, get an AFE ProDry Panel Filter for $40 and never worry about it; better UOAs compared to paper (and vastly superior to K&N air filters), and legitimately higher flow than any paper yet never has to be oiled; I went from 27.9mpg in my 325i with OE filter (avg over 1500mi, always same Pure Gas station, always filled up at 8am Wednesday as trucks came Fridays, and only.drove my regular route of 19.2mi Hwy and 3.1mi City), and with no change at all except for the AFE ProDry Panel filter I went to 29.1mpg (exact same as above); Ambient temp 55*F-80*F (between 55-60 at fillup/morning drive and 65-75 drive home, hitting 80 a few times)
Hope that helps some. It has, and does, work for me!Just use the Marine Stabil because it also has a lot of cleaners in it and regular non-ethanol gas can and does get stale and lose octane with age... Wow, thats a long sentence. LOL.
Honestly, it's being driven every 5-6 months I wouldn't worry too much about it......just throw a can of Berryman's B-12 CHEMTOOL into the tank at the start of every road trip.....it's got some octane improvers in there (Methanol, IPA, Acetone, etc....) that will burn up [censored] hear anything
I wouldn't worry too much about Sta-bilizing the gasoline....it's not going to go bad in 5-6 months, unless the gasoline from the station is the culprit to begin with
In fact, my brother just got back from Navy Boot Camp, A School, etc....his car sat on blocks for about 9-12 months (we didn't want the tires wearing funny from sitting so long on hot Florida pavement), he came back home, put the wheels on, and it cranked right up, no problems with the gas or anything, and he didn't put anything in the gas either.....don't think he's ever put anything in that vehicle except oil lol.
I wouldn't worry too much about Sta-bilizing the gasoline....it's not going to go bad in 5-6 months, unless the gasoline from the station is the culprit to begin with
In fact, my brother just got back from Navy Boot Camp, A School, etc....his car sat on blocks for about 9-12 months (we didn't want the tires wearing funny from sitting so long on hot Florida pavement), he came back home, put the wheels on, and it cranked right up, no problems with the gas or anything, and he didn't put anything in the gas either.....don't think he's ever put anything in that vehicle except oil lol.mmo, and TCW-3 in the gas. and dont use ethanol.
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MMO is supposed to help stabilize the fuel. Is marine stabil safe for catalytic converters and other parts of the emission system? I have some for the generator and it sure is pricey.
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