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It won't hurt the engine one bit. The CAT won't last long and O2 sensor life will be shortened though.
Lead deposits will form on the plug insulators, and often on the coating of the exhaust when the engine management runs the car over-rich in cold weather. In addition to the exhaust issues, lead will also find it's way into the oil due to the air oil separator and the tightness of modern auto engines(nothing goes overboard except cumbustion products).
I've burned my share of leaded avgas and cleaned up after it. You do NOT want it in a modern air-tight auto engine. If it's a 63 Corvair, or a 48 Plymouth, well ok. Don't put it in anything later than about 88-ish.
Fine with me. If you run them in winter, with rich mixtures and a closed crankcase system I kinda doubt it though. If you are recommending it for the modern 928 engine, I guess we'll disagree.
Just my 928 cents worth of limited knowledge, but I have read posts of degraded rubber fuel hose that exits the tank. (usually common in cars that have been stored for lengthy periods of time).
I think that if you add a fuel stabilizer to the tank prior to storage, you should run the car to circulate the mix, so as not to have a high concentration of fuel stabilizer sitting in the soft fuel lines.
I suppose a purchase of ice chains and this winterizing could be avoided. Maybe not. Why marine grade Stabil just curios. Is it the blue stuff? Thanks for info!
I don't know that there's anything particularly special about the marine grade, except that its the big bottle on the shelf at the local WalMart. And it works. There are several products that have claims for 'winterizing' fuel, most are methanol to grab onto water and make it less prone to freezing. Modern cars with closed fuel systems, and gas stations without open tank vents both contribute to less water/condensation in our fuels. Ethanol is a wildcard though. Turns out none of our winter-blend fuel here (cold winters, 4000 ft altitude) have any ethanol in them. My last fuel stop was in October a few weeks into winter fuel season, so there's always the possibility that there's residual ethanol contamination in the tank. Regardless, the Sta-Bil seems to keep things happy for spring.
Keeping the tank full for storage used to be important when cars had steel gas tanks. Fuel kept oxygen away from the metal. With HDHMWLP tanks, that concern is gone. I leave enough fuel in there to keep the fuel-lubricated pumps full. Then is spring it gets a fill with fresh gas before it goes very far at all.
My previous 'mountains' car was a Subaru wagon. It lived the majority of its life in a SoCal garage prior to my purchase, then in an unheated hanger at Mammoth Lakes (eastern sierra ski area town) until I gave it to a brother who lost his car to a drunk driver. For all the storage periods, it sat with Sta-bil marine fuel preservative in it. It never missed a lick no matter how long it had been sitting. I kinda wish that one was still in my fleet, in the condition it was in when it moved on.
Anyway, preserved fuel is a must in any FI car that isn't driven very regularly, IMHO.
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This morning I woke up to 6" of heart-attack snow in the driveway. That's the stuff that's just north of liquid water, heavy and hard to shovel. New snowblower came out, switches on, fuel on, 3x prime pump, started first pull. I have to say that putting that stabilized fuel in it on Thursday made all the difference in the world when we used it today. I'm sold!
...This morning I woke up to 6" of heart-attack snow in the driveway. That's the stuff that's just north of liquid water, heavy and hard to shovel. New snowblower came out, switches on, fuel on, 3x prime pump, started first pull. I have to say that putting that stabilized fuel in it on Thursday made all the difference in the world when we used it today. I'm sold!
I'll start adding some. Can't hurt. I prime the pump, but then just push the electric starter button.
I don't know how this turned into a snow removal thread, but this is my boy on his 1968 bolens tube frame with a pto driven 40" snow thrower. pull start
Adding Stabil has another advantage - it is about on a par with Techron as a fuel system cleaner.
Good point.
I just dosed up the summer fleet. (Wait... forgot the scooter) And I don't care about ethanol anymore. It's been a long time having it in there. No damage to be seen, btw.
Snow blowers?! I've had them but rarely use them. Me, the wife and the kids use SHOVELS the way the Norse Gods intended. That 200' driveway is an "alley" and the city gets that.
Happy mid-winter religious and/or spiritual observation of your choosing, all.
12-12-2015, 11:56 PM
