Winter storage / fuel stabilizer
 

Our car is a nice-weather-in-the-summer-only toy (and boy is it fun). I don't even drive it if I think it's going to rain and this summer no rain touched it.

My city being Edmonton, the snow can start flying at any time now. Next week there's a good chance of it.

At first each snowfall will quickly disappear and the streets will dry, but, in a few weeks or possibly even days, snow will become a problem at intersections and the city will start spreading sand at least in these locations. When that happens I'll put the car into its winter-storage position in our garage (with our snow-blower and back-pack blower sitting ready-to-go between the Z and the garage door, instead of the other way around). There the car will sit until perhaps mid to late May of next year, so perhaps 7 months.

I will install an "intelligent" battery charger to keep the battery topped up at all times.

I intend to add fuel stabilizer to the fuel in the tank. Presently there is half a tank of fuel in the tank, so I have two questions for those of you who use fuel stabilizer.

1. If you were in my shoes, just exactly how would you add the fuel stabilizer so that it ends up being well-mixed in all the fuel?

2. After adding the fuel stabilizer to the tank, assuming that the stabilizer is well-mixed in the tank, how long should the engine be run to ensure that the stabilized fuel has made its way from the tank to the engine and, therefore, is "resident" throughout the entire fuel system?

Thanks.

Instructions are on the bottle.

boom

x2

Fill your car with 94 octane fuel :tup:

As Cooltoy suggests, follow the instructions. I use Stabil, and IIRC the instructions recommend adding about 250 mL to a 70L tank. So, add the recommended amount to your half-full tank, fill the tank to full (... which will mix the stabilizer in the tank), and drive the car for 5-10 minutes to ensure the stabilizer is spread through the entire system. Trust this helps.

Pour it in the tank and take a short drive. A 5 minute trip around town, making lots of turns, should do the trick.

I use a batter tender Jr. Used for 2 years no issue. Have the actual prongs connected to the battery so the quick disconnect line literally stays with the battery compartment during summer.

I usually do it by early mid November depending on the air temperature.

Can be -5 and no snow but your tires will not work.

If you can, look for fuel with no ethanol. I believe that there are some stations that are still offering it. The problem is not really with the actual fuel since today's fuel is so refined that it shouldn't break down in 7 months. The problem is with the 10% ethanol (limit in Canada) added to today's fuels. Ethanol is hygroscopic meaning it absorbs water (same as brake fluid). This is what can do the most damage to cars stored over the winter. Using Sta-bil fuel stabilizer will help keep your gas fresh.

Thanks for all your suggestions, particularly for the photo of the Stabil label, which states that its stabilizing effect lasts for 12 months.

I already have some Motomaster fuel stabilizer that I have used previously for various gas tools, so I took a look at its label, which I've photographed below. As you can see, it states "for 6 months", which is what I thought I remembered.

This length of time significant because, in order to make absolutely certain that the fuel would indeed be stable for our possibly-7-month winter, I was going to siphon the older 1/2-tank of gas out of the Z's tank, put it into our Outlander for immediate use, then re-fill the Z's tank with Costco's fresh-almost-daily premium while periodically adding portions of the correct total dosage of the stabilizer.

If Stabil's claim of 12-month stability is indeed true, I won't feel compelled to siphon any fuel from the Z, which will no doubt be a hassle. I guess there must be significant differences in the formulation of Stabil versus Motomaster fuel stabilizer and I thought I'd report this to other people living in long-winter locations.

Again, thanks for the help and the opportunity.

BTW, I don't know of any local brand of gas that does not contain ethanol. If you know of one, please tell me.

I guess ethanol does indeed have its downsides, as Cyber370 pointed out so well.
Gasoline Expiration - Ethanol Blend Fuels Have a Short Shelf Life

I hope the above link overstates the problem. I'd hate to think that after 3 months I'd have to siphon a full tank of gas out of the Z and somehow haul a full tank's worth of gas back to, and re-fill the stored Z.

I suppose I could also add some Drygas
https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/what-is-dry-gas

Hey Darwin, I'm in Edmonton too.

For non-ethanol gas, pretty much any 91 octane gas has no ethanol. Shell and Petro Canada are my preferred gasolines. All 87, 89 and 94 octane gasolines here will have ethanol in them.

Thanks very much, Nithmo! FWIW, I just called Costco and they said that their 91 does have ethanol, but they're "not 100% certain".

Here in the states there is an app. Pure gas. If that isn't available in Canada, I found most boat marinas that sell gas and small air ports sell ethanol free gas!
Boats and air planes can't use gas with ethanol. And in the case of air ports you can get 100/ 104 octane!

Shell premium is the only one that has no ethanol.