What are the negatives to using fuel stabilizers?

[HonorAndHonesty]

Other than the small cost, what are the downsides of using fuel stabilizers? I figure there has to be some kind of negative associated with stabilizer use.

Echo and Stihl 2 stroke oils say they include stabilizers, and I have used Stabil In years past and other than the exhaust having a different odor I never noticed any issues.

Would it be beneficial to put stabilizer in any fuel I buy and put in cans, even if its used relatively quickly?

I use Ethanol Free 90 octane in all my OPE except my Zero turn mower, I burn so much gas in it the cost would get out of hand quickly.

 

[NH73]

Originally Posted By: 5AcresAndAFool
Other than the small cost, what are the downsides of using fuel stabilizers? I figure there has to be some kind of negative associated with stabilizer use.

Echo and Stihl 2 stroke oils say they include stabilizers, and I have used Stabil In years past and other than the exhaust having a different odor I never noticed any issues.

Would it be beneficial to put stabilizer in any fuel I buy and put in cans, even if its used relatively quickly?

I use Ethanol Free 90 octane in all my OPE except my Zero turn mower, I burn so much gas in it the cost would get out of hand quickly.

Never heard of one yet. The straight gas that you buy, I wouldn't bother. unless you need to keep it for a while or be in a hotter area. Try to go for top tier gas if its not too expensive for zero turn. I'm going to do that for short turn storage and not use Stabil.

 

[spasm3]

I only run stabil at the end of the ope season. Last run of fuel gets stabil, and 1oz of tcw3 in 5 gallons. I use fuel often enough during the summer that i don't need to add any stabil until storage time.

I see no draw back other than cost.

 

[dave123]

I run E0 in everything 4srroke and VPracing OPE fuel blend my own 2stroke fuel everything gets Red Line S-1 1oz per 5 gallon.

 

[demarpaint]

I don't see any real downside. I treat all OPE with a dose.

 

[eljefino]

I over-treat my OPE because much of it is seasonal. However the 5 gallon cans I hold onto without sta-bil for a few months then rotate them through a car and start fresh.

I do make sure I have fresh gas in the 5 gal cans in November to take advantage of the better RVP.

 

[CT8]

I am finishing off 5 gallon can of gas I bought in 3/16. It was in the shop and I thought the gas can was empty was empty. The weed wackers and the 2 Honda mowers seem to have been happy with the old gas. It was California gas with out any stabilizers. Marketing works good it seems.

 

[Woody71]

Originally Posted By: CT8
I am finishing off 5 gallon can of gas I bought in 3/16.

My Echo trimmer is running SeaFoam treated 89 gas from august 2015 and it's doing well.

 

[Rand]

I run 90 octane E0 recreational fuel in all the ope.
Occasionally the tractor gets 93 octane which is upto 10% ethanol
Last time I checked it was 6%-7%

Tractors at the farm get 89octane e-whatever, and off road diesel.

I treat gas with Marine stabil or pri-g and diesel gets redline or PRI-D.. because its ULSD in an old tractor.

 

[AMC]

I have a 5 gallon gas can I use for my small engine equipment. I fill it with E-10 93 octane and add 1oz of Starton fuel stabilizer and 1 oz of TCW3. I use this in two lawn tractors, a push mower, pressure washer and I also use it to make 50:1, 2 stroke fuel in a separate 1.25 gallon can. I have never had to clean or replace a carb, all of my equipment runs greats and starts on the first or second crank/pull.

In the past, I have treated my OPE fuel with: Gumout, Seafoam, MMO, Stabil, Lucas ethanol treatment, Lucas UCL and a bunch of others. Gumout multi-system tune up was great but it requires almost 1 oz per gallon in OPE fuel which means it gets expensive to constantly use. I keep coming back to Starton and TCW3 because these products so are highly concentrated, they end up being the best long term value. The fact that I have never had a starting or any type of fuel related problem is great too.

 

[CarbonSteel]

I used it in all of my ATVs and it seemed to help with the "health" of the fuel (I have not found any E0 stations near me). I also use it in all of my OPE, but I have a 2 gallon can for the 4 cycles and a 1 gallon can for the 2 cycles, thereby 'forcing' me to purchase new gas on a regular basis as opposed to allowing to to sit for months.

 

[jeepman3071]

The only downside I've seen would be using one that doesn't do anything and turns out to be a waste of money.

I only use one, and that is Sta-Bil Marine fuel stabilizer. Nothing else works with ethanol, or at least not as well. The Marine version is more expensive, but it is the best for protecting against moisture in the fuel.

 

[Donald]

I use StaBil blue marine in all 4 cycle gas for OPE.