Stabil Fuel Addtive and Oil Analysis

[undergroundnotes]

Has anybody experienced the effects of Stabil fuel additive on an oil analysis?

From what I understand, Seafoam works well for cleaning, but has also been shown to be pretty hard on oil and certain metals in the engine.

Mike

 

[WyoBonnie]

I was getting some high lead numbers on my reports. I asked the folks at Blackstone if Stabil could be the cause. The let me send in some Stabil for a free analysis. The report on it is here;

http://www.reallycooldude.com/stabil.pdf -- basically, 1 ppm Potasium, 1 ppm Boron, 1 ppm Sodium, 1 pp Calcium, and 1 ppm Zinc. Nothing else....

 

[ccdhowell]

Huh? Wonder what makes it work? Does it really do anything?Wonder why I'm using it?


Thanks, and welcome to the forums.

 

[dnewton3]

I can attest to the success I have with my 1966 289 Mustang, by using Stabil in it. I only drive it one season a year, and yet it fires right up upon a few pumps of the pedal and 15-20 seconds of cranking. After start up and a brief warm up, it idles and drives fine. I credit the Stabil, because before I started using it, things did not go as well. Similar comments can be said of my use of Stabilized fuel (is that a proper term?) gas for the chain saws.

Just because Stabil does not have some of the trace elements we're used to seeing, nor in large quantities, does NOT mean that it doesn't have some type of "miracle" juiced into it. I don't have to see the miracle on some molecular level, to experience the resultant gift it provides. For me, the stuff flat works.

The OP posted up a relevant qustion, and by the look of the Blackstone test, the reality is that Stabil won't skew a UOA much. Obviously, a UOA that is taken with very short exposure (low mileage) will be more effected by the Stabil than a high mileage UOA, but I don't see it being huge. Further, if you let Blackstone know you used a fuel additive during the application period the UOA is addressing, they can often take this into condsideration when analyzing the lube.

Good info all around.

 

[OldSparks]

Good article on gas stabilizers at:

http://wetleather.com/node/218

According to the data sheet, it's mostly heavy aromatic naptha.

http://ilrc.ucf.edu/documents/ILRC 00000023/MSDS 00000023.pdf

If I wasn't so lazy, I'd be tempted to run a little bit of Stabil year round in my vehicles to soak up the water.

 

[kballowe]

Things that make you go "Hmmmmm".

I don't know what is in the stuff but only that it appears to work. I have a 15 year-old riding mower and a 12 year old push mower that always start right up in the spring. Neither have had the carb off or had the fuel system dissassembled/cleaned in any way.

My neighbor tells me that it's snake oil and that I don't really need to waste money on stuff like that. Coming from the same man that takes his mower to the shop every spring because it won't start.

Maybe just coincindence, eh?

 

[dnewton3]

As with all things, experience is the best teacher.

I've used some snake-oil products, before I became "educated". I'd never use them again, nor would I recommend them. I would even be willing to publically denounce them. But there are other products, such as Stabil and ARX, that have earned my respect due to direct, tangible evidence. Regarding Stabil, it's hard to beat; good performance and reasonable cost per application.

However, the OP was specific about it's (Stabil's) effects on a UOA. Seems negligible, given the data we've seen here.

 

[RonH]

I'm the worlds worst offender at letting stuff sit around. I normally run the gas dry before letting motorcycles sit, and never have a problem. However, being the lazy and owning 8 motorcycles plus other equipment thought it would be a dream come true if Stabil would actually work for "short term" storage. Short term for me is 9 months to a year. I add Stabil to my 1979 KZ1000, ride around a few miles, cover it up. I didn't even wait for the time to elapse as I expected it would, uncovered the motorcycle after about 6 months, starts right up, great, however runs like [censored], remove the carbs and find all 4 bowls gas has gone stale and clogged half the pilot jets solid.
So my take on it is the test by Blackstone is a good indicator of what is actually in Stabil, which is nothing basically.
I let my 1993 Ford van sit 6 yrs, and it started right up with 6 yr old gas and no Stabil, so I think a lot of the allure is imaginary.

 

[wileyE]

I've found globs of red (that I didn't like) in my float bowls after season long storage (snowmobiles) with stabil gas. looked a lot like the gunk left in the bottom of an empty bottle of stabil, LOL. I now use pennzoil marine fuel stabilizer, seem a lot cleaner.

 

[dnewton3]

Stabil is most effective in carb'd vehicles and equipment.

Your 1996 van is fuel injected ... they do not suffer nearly as bad from stale fuel.

Stale fuel has two distinct issues:
1) lesser performance
2) starting problems

You may not realize #1 (because your foot will equalize your desire for acceleration), and you won't have #2.

 

[sunruh]

i use Pri-G
anybody got info in it?
my chainsaw started right up after sitting for 3 years.