marcnyc

Hi,

Living in the New York area, I unfortunately expect to have to leave soon my 991.1 sit in a garage for about 5 months. I heard of two options for fuel storage, knowing that the tank is about 3/4 full with 93 Shell gas with ethanol (I think 10%) for now:
- Add stabilizer (like StaBil, StarTron, etc.) to the mix
- Fill up the remainder of the tank with ethanol-free gas like VP Vintage Racing Fuel (ie, tank will have a mix of ethanol-free gas and ethanol gas)

What do you recommend the most?
Thanks!

G.I.G.

Either option should work fine. However, it doesn't sound like you'll get all of the ethanol out of your tank by just topping it off with the ethanol-free gas. You would need to run at least a couple tank fulls of the ethanol-free gas in order to get the desired outcome.

I would recommend adding the appropriate amount of Sta-Bil while you're at the gas station, then top it off with the regular 93 octane gas so it's properly mixed in your tank. Just be sure to drive it for at least 5 minutes afterwards before you park it so the fuel stabilizer makes it all the way through your fuel system.

NJ991

I live in northern NJ, and I’ve been filling up and adding fuel stabilizer to my cars that I store for winter. Always works well, and starts right up. That’s all you need to do.

Mark McAnallen

Buy some Michelin snow tires and enjoy, I drive year round

LexVan

Add some StaBil. The red stuff is 1 ounce per 2.5 gallons of fuel. The green stuff is 1 ounce per 10 gallons of fuel. Fill the tank. Don't start it till spring 2021. Don't over think it.

Bxstr

Shell 93 with Stabil is what I did. Wouldn’t be too concerned with either option. Considered some ethanol free VP, but wasn’t worth it.

mx-5

Some premium grade are ethanol-free here.
I also read on Seafoam's bottle that it can also stabilize. Maybe not as good as dedicated STA-BIL, but for a few months and with ethanol-free gas, I'm giving that a shot.

asellus

Unpopular opinion: don't worry about it and don't buy into the marketing. Not once have I ever put any sort of stabilizer or taken any fuel-related precautionary storage measures (other than draining carb bowls) on any vehicle or engine in my possession, and not once have I had any issues starting said engine once out of storage (save for waiting on the carb bowls to refill). If you're taking the anecdotal "I use stabilizer and it just works!" evidence as gospel, this anecdotal "I never use stabilizer and it just works!" is just as valid.

In my experiences doing repairs, particularly to carburetors, stabilizer does quite a bit more harm than good. Mostly because people use way too much of it and it gels up small orifices, or at least that's what I've been able to discern.

The fuel system in your car is all but sealed, so the worry about your fuel oxidizing is a relative nonissue. Also because the system is practically sealed, the ethanol content isn't a big deal either as there is only a finite amount of water in that system that can collect.

Even if your system was wide open to the atmosphere, the six to eight months you'll be storing the car is a complete and total nonissue. In my testing it takes around two years of being open to the air for a modern e10 fuel with standard detergent package (such as BP's gas) to become unusable.

The only legitimate argument I've heard for doing literally anything at all related to the fuel system of a vehicle prior to storage is to fill it up to the tip top in order to prevent rust from forming. This is mostly a motorcycle thing because gas caps on bike tanks are notoriously poor at sealing.

mapman

Stabil is cheap, pour it in and make sure the tank is full. I park my car from December till April and fuel has never been a problem. Do have a strategy for the battery though. Trickle charger, disconnect or something. The battery will go dead over that period and you will need to jump thru some hoops to get access and fired up in the spring. Lots of threads here with varying opinions.....

marcnyc

Thank you all!
I will add some Sta-Bil, seems to be the easiest and safest solution here. The red one (Storage) or even the orange one (360 Protection) if I can find it

LexVan

Walmart has these products. Get the Marine (green) product, add 2 ounces, fill your tank. And be done. That's the one I use.

DBH

1) Fill up tank with the highest octane available. Sta-bil and/or non-ethanol gas are optional.
2) Hook-up a battery maintainer - I use the Battery Tender.
3) Pump tires to 50 psi to help avoid flat spots.
You're set for the big sleep.

NJ991

Yes, almost forgot about the battery tender. I always use mine when I’m not driving the 911. Leave that plugged in the duration too.

marcnyc

Awesome, thanks for all the excellent advice. I bought the red Sta-Bil and did all of the above.

LexVan

Marcnyc, now call your insurance company, tell them your car is in storage, drop collision coverage, save some $$$.