Maintenance Doses of fuel additives

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jstutz

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Over the last two years I have used only NE Gasoline treated with Marine Stabil. This is for all my outdoor equipment. 5 motorcycles (XR650, XL250, CRF 50, CRF70 and PW,50) 5 ATV's (660 Grizzly, 700 Grizzly, Kymco 90, Sportsman 90, chinese 50), Then lawn tractor, push mower weedeaters, blowers ect.

Point is this year i have had to take the carb off , push mower, CRF70, Kymco 90 and XL 250. All with the same issue. Plugged Pilot jets. Now the 660 is dripping gas, no doubt that the valve is gummed up and leaking in the carb.

Clearly my methods are not working. Im surprised by this because most of this stuff we get out and use fairly often. Years ago i used to use random doses of MMO and didnt have near the issues im having now. Keep in mind i didnt have all the little ATVS and motorcycles that I have now.

I have lots of stuff now, MMO, Chemtool, Techron, and Seafoam. I have also read about people using small doses of two stroke oil in gas as most of it has stabilizers in it. Right now i have everything cleaned up and working great, except for the 660 dripping, and would like to start some kind of maintenance dose of something. I have read a lot about overusing strong solvents and am a little worried about it.

My current plan is to do MMO with Stabil. Would like to hear your success stories with any given products. Or if you know of a good post that already exists maybe attach a link. End goal is to use something readily available in a maintenance dose to avoid taking these things apart all the time.

Thanks

I should add that both small CRF motorcycles were used and sat around a lot so maybe had some crud in them already.
 
Hello, I offer my experiences. If you do not like them, or the suggestions which naturally follow, please do not wig out on me.

Any and all fuel stabilizers are solvent based. I FIRMLY believe they dissolve parts. That's from a friend who disassembles carbs for people after they've added stabilizers and let an engine with fuel sit.
Drain the tank (turn the machine over if you have to) and run the engine dry. PERIOD. Never a problem.

A neighbor has given me 3 weed whackers and a snow blower because of his use of stabilizers. My friend has brought them all back to life.

I do believe truckers use stabilizers THEN drive their rigs 800 miles to clear it out-and that's after letting the thing idle all night long and/or using fuel tank heaters. There's no way I'd ever consider fuel stabilizers any kind of panacea. They're solvents you add to fuel at very low concentrations. What are they supposed to do for you?

MMO is light-weight oil with dye and a breath mint added. Whaaaa?? Kira
 
Originally Posted By: Kira


Any and all fuel stabilizers are solvent based.


Technically gas is a heck of a solvent too. Just saying...
 
Originally Posted By: Kira

They're solvents you add to fuel at very low concentrations. What are they supposed to do for you?

MMO is light-weight oil with dye and a breath mint added. Whaaaa?? Kira


Thanks for reply.

To answer your questions:
1)They're solvents you add to fuel at very low concentrations. What are they supposed to do for you?

Well i would hope that being a solvent, it would help keep the jets from gumming up so quickly or if a few deposits formed, the solvent would dissolve them slowly.

2)MMO is light-weight oil with dye and a breath mint added. Whaaaa??

I dont believe that MMO is just oil, die and a breath mint. I found this on another post that shows the makeup of MMO:

29% Mineral Spirits
- Cleans Varnish very well. General cleaner. Also acts as an antioxidant.

38 parts per million (ppm) Boron
- AW/EP agent, friction reducer, antioxidant

900 ppm Phosporous
- AW/EP agent

1/2% 1, 2 ortho-Dichlorobenzene
- EP agent as it interacts with Iron to form an Iron chloride barrier under any ZDDP or other AW additives. Also very good cleaner/solvent, and friction reducer

1/4% 1, 4 para-Dichlorobenzene
- EP agent as it interacts with Iron to form an Iron chloride barrier under any ZDDP or other AW additives. Also very good cleaner/solvent, and friction reducer

Oil of wintergreen - for the scent
- Not just for the cent, is also a cleaner. may aid lubricity.

Red Dye - for the color
- well this one just colors the stuff
 
Originally Posted By: 3800Series
My preferred solvent blend is a dose of Techron, followed by an immediate can of Chemtool on the next tank to help clear stuff out.


What frequency do you do this on. Once a year? I was actually thinking maybe just a dose of cleaner twice a year maybe better than a maintenance dose all the time.
 
Originally Posted By: jstutz
Originally Posted By: 3800Series
My preferred solvent blend is a dose of Techron, followed by an immediate can of Chemtool on the next tank to help clear stuff out.


What frequency do you do this on. Once a year? I was actually thinking maybe just a dose of cleaner twice a year maybe better than a maintenance dose all the time.


Typically as needed. So yes once a year unless I get a vehicle acting up and not wanting to start.

$10 in cleaner before I shell out for a new coldpack or distributer.
 
Originally Posted By: Kira
Hello, I offer my experiences. If you do not like them, or the suggestions which naturally follow, please do not wig out on me.

Any and all fuel stabilizers are solvent based. I FIRMLY believe they dissolve parts. That's from a friend who disassembles carbs for people after they've added stabilizers and let an engine with fuel sit.
Drain the tank (turn the machine over if you have to) and run the engine dry. PERIOD. Never a problem.

A neighbor has given me 3 weed whackers and a snow blower because of his use of stabilizers. My friend has brought them all back to life.

I do believe truckers use stabilizers THEN drive their rigs 800 miles to clear it out-and that's after letting the thing idle all night long and/or using fuel tank heaters. There's no way I'd ever consider fuel stabilizers any kind of panacea. They're solvents you add to fuel at very low concentrations. What are they supposed to do for you?

MMO is light-weight oil with dye and a breath mint added. Whaaaa?? Kira


I think you are mixing "stabilizer" and "additive" here which could be different.

I've been using Sta-bil in my mower, and Stihl blower/weed trimmer, for more than 7 years now. I let whatever gas is in the can, and in the machines, sit for however long they may. Everything starts easily on the first or second pull when it's time to go. No parts gummed up or dissolved. Just my experience.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris Meutsch

I've been using Sta-bil in my mower, and Stihl blower/weed trimmer, for more than 7 years now. I let whatever gas is in the can, and in the machines, sit for however long they may. Everything starts easily on the first or second pull when it's time to go. No parts gummed up or dissolved. Just my experience.


This is my experience as well: mowers, weedwacker, leaf flower, 3 scooters, 2 motorcycles, and 3 outboard motors. I use Blue/Marine Stabil.

I add a heavy dose to my fuel and store everything over the winter full of fuel. I never let my stuff run dry like some do. It's just what I do.

Whatever it says on the bottle to add, I usually triple it for storage.
 
NE Gasoline being non ethanol??

You can safely double the % of Marine Stabil.

I think one needs to worry about using a high percentage of solvents as in a FI cleaner. But the stabilizers are different. Marine Stabil says on the label you can safely increase the %.
 
I have been using stabil and marine stabil for 35 years in cars, boats, motorcycles, 2 cycle snowblowers, leaf blowers, power washers, lawnmowers, generators and weed wackers.

Never one issue. None.
 
Before storage I add a few ounces of ATF to the tank, making sure it has the opportunity to get into the carb. As the fuel evaporates out of the carb over the winter, the ATF remains in the passageways and on the needles, thus no fouling.
 
MMO with stabil is my recipe for success! The MMO keeps the carb clean and the stabil keeps the gas fresh.

FYI I buy 91 octane ethanol-free gas from the station a few blocks from my house. It's around $3.50/gal for it now.
 
I would suggest trying StarTron. It is both a stabilizer and a cleaner in one. It can help clean out and prevent that gumming of small engines.
 
I like Kira's starting sentence
wink.gif
and I'll take a similar stance.

To answer the OP's question I have had the best personal results using the Green Force Technologies brand fuel stabilizer, both in the heat of a detached garage in Southeast Louisiana and in NW Ohio, in both 2 cycle and 4 cycle OPE.

I'll share what I know about this topic.

The primary role of additives such as the OP is asking about is an anti-gum (antioxidant) functionality. Gasoline contains a mix of hydrocarbons both polar and non-polar, and paraffins (alkanes) for example isooctane, olefins (alkenes) for example isooctane, and aromatics for example toluene. All these compounds can also act as solvents.

The olefins can combine with each other in particular and polymerize forming gums. This reaction favors higher temperatures and is catalyzed by the presence of oxygen. The standard (unless it's been changed) is 4 mg maximum per 100 ml, and testing involves evaporation of a known mass of gasoline at a fixed temperature (ASTM test method D381).

There is a concentration of antioxidant added at the refinery before shipment to meet this standard. However, long term storage especially in containers that "breathe" with increases and decreases in ambient temperature (which without "breathing" would risk collapse / implosion when ambient temperatures decrease and risk leak / rupture when ambient temperatures increase) can overwhelm the antioxidant added before shipment over time.

Antioxidants are designed to minimize deposit formation by inhibiting gum formation chemistry. Detergent gasoline additives (typically added where gasoline tanker trucks are loaded) are designed to form a film to keep deposits from sticking and to dissolve deposits already present.

Both are typically dissolved in a solvent that's compatible with motor gasoline and usually already present in the mixture of hydrocarbons that make up motor gasoline in the containers available for retail purchase. In bulk, warmer climates don't need to have antioxidants dissolved in a solvent before adding to gasoline but colder climates do because of the crystallization (freezing) temperature of the antioxidant.

This article gives a decent overview if there's further interest. It's somewhat dated as it still discusses MTBE in gasoline in the US but the sections are still good for their chemistry content.

http://www.chemistryexplained.com/Fe-Ge/Gasoline.html
 
Nyogtha, or anyone that can answer this,,,,

what is the green force technologies brand fuel stabilizer? i am not finding it on a quick search and have not heard of it....
just wondering about it, thanks
 
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