Stabil fuel treatment --> Doesnt work!

[problemchild]

So here is my story.

Used stabil for the 1st time ever. Treated my generator fuel tank and 6 mo's later the fuel is gelled up. This has NEVER happened before and I have let the Gen sit for 2 years without gelling or fuel treatment. When I search "stabil" + "Problems" on Google I can find others have the same problems. I have a buddy that lives in AZ and he treats all his quads, boats, jetskis with stabil and has always had tons of problems. He chalked it up to the heat and Flying-J gas. My guess is that it was the stabil causing the problems now that I see what it did to my gas. Finally I recently bought a Zuma scooter that was sitting in a Garage for near -->5<-- years and when I looked in the tank the fuel was NOT gelled or burnt orange in color. I can only conclude that the stabil caused these problems. You may have a different opinion.

Just my .02c worth of 411.

Chunks of broken up gel drained from the tank and a burnt orange color

[SoCalJ]

I had a problem with Sta-Bil treated gas turning yellow (I'm talking urine color) in four to six weeks. My solution was to use Av gas...I just used my genny after four months and it started up fine and the fuel looks/smells good too. Be aware that Av gas burns hotter, so if your genny runs WFO to power your stuff be careful....Mine seems OK so far at medium revs....YMMV... Good Luck!

[vortec_cruiser]

I've been using Stabil for several years with no problems. The key to any gasoline additive is to be sure to mix it completely with the gas. I will add the Stabil to a quantity of gas (usually 5-gals), and mix it thoroughly before pouring it into the destination tank.

[SoCalJ]

Oh, and sorry to hear about your fuel....

My guess is new formula fuel and/or Sta-Bil....

[speedrrracer]

We lived in upstate NY for 5 years and used stabil in the leafblower, generator, lawnmower, and our motorcycles -- never had a problem nor saw anything like that. I wonder what the heck could cause that -- gas is a pretty decent solvent...

You could make some lava lamps out of that stuff -- looks way cool

[DaveInOroValley]

I've always used Sea Foam brand and have never had any issues.

[chknlyps2]

I stopped using Stabil and switched to Briggs and Stratton brand. it is a little spendy but works way better with California gas formula. The ethonal in CA gas attracts moisture and Stabil just doesn't cut it now

[problemchild]

I stopped using Stabil and switched to Briggs and Stratton brand. it is a little spendy but works way better with California gas formula. The ethonal in CA gas attracts moisture and Stabil just doesn't cut it now

Funny you should mention that. I did read about the green stabil and its ability to handle ethanol gas much better than the red stabil.

Maybe I will give it one more try and switch colors.

Oh and the red stable also left a chalky white film on the gas cap and inline filter screen. Never seen that before either.

[G-forceJunkie]

Oh and the red stable also left a chalky white film on the gas cap and inline filter screen. Never seen that before either.

Thats from water in your fuel. Either from the ethanol absorbing it from the air or condinsation from repeated heat/cool cycles where ever you are storing your genny.

[ireload]

I've used Stabil 3 times now. I've treated my genny gas with it and kept it stored for 2 years before rotation and never had that type of problem before. I use ARCO regular unleaded gas. The gas I remove from my genny's tank looks normal. No gelling or any funky odor. My garage pretty much has stable temp. It does not get super hot or super cold depending on the time of the year. Ironically I just test ran my genny earlier and even checked the color of the gas. No hard start and gas color is normal. Last time I rotated the gas was back in 9/11.

That gas looks like Jello. Lime flavor perhaps.

[triplestack3]

I've always used Sea Foam brand and have never had any issues.

this stuff is magic and i swear by it after it helped get my '89 FZR600 running

[Turk]

Sea Foam for price. This is what we use most of the time :

http://www.hirschauto.com/prodinfo.asp?number=FPS-01

[shooterfpga]

sea foam.

[SVRider]

Are you sure you need the additive? IIRC, you mentioned before that the scooter with the 5 year old gas started up with just a couple of tries.

I was just rotating gas every two months until recently as a test, I extended it to 6 months with no ill effect (without any additives). For storage, I do get Chevron 91 octane (I've read online the higher octane Chevron stores better, but not sure...so far, no problems), store in Scepter MFC's and make sure to only store full cans (minimum oxygen space in the can). So far, no problems.

I will most likely switch to a 3x per year (4 month) rotation schedule as with bi-monthly rotation caused me to fill cans monthly (I have two sets, I purchase 1 month apart).

[olhunter]

Cool. Now you have napalm.