Fuel stabilizers

[Checkswrecks]

1. Let's please not go down the political rabbit hole.

2. It's pretty darned hard to find gas anywhere near here without ethanol. When you do, the price is marked WAY up as a boutique fuel typically for racing vehicles and antiques.

3. fwiw, I use the Yamalube fuel treatment. You can get a discount buying by the box and one little bottle is is right for a tank, so they are convenient to take on trips. There's a bigger thread somewhere around here comparing the chemicals and properties in various additives and the discount versions may be basically just acetone.

 

[2talltoo]

Thank you Checkswrecks, I am being serious. Look down at your valves when you replace your air filter next time as Tabasco did on a customer who used Seafoam. I bet they will be super clean also.

I ride the S10 for a couple of reasons. At 6'6" I can make the ergonomics work better on an S10 due to parallel twin design (comfortable highway peg setting) and height. Also the overall cost of operation/depreciation is less while offering good performance.

That being said is why I ask if your able to detect benefits from your Yamalube additive.

 

[SHUMBA]

1. Let's please not go down the political rabbit hole.

2. It's pretty darned hard to find gas anywhere near here without ethanol. When you do, the price is marked WAY up as a boutique fuel typically for racing vehicles and antiques.

3. fwiw, I use the Yamalube fuel treatment. You can get a discount buying by the box and one little bottle is is right for a tank, so they are convenient to take on trips. There's a bigger thread somewhere around here comparing the chemicals and properties in various additives and the discount versions may be basically just acetone.

I use the Yamaha fuel conditioner as well.
But only about every 10,000 KM or 6,000 miles.
Hard to tell if it makes a difference.
But I'll continue to use premium gas 91 octane that us ethanol free.
SHUMBA

Sent from my SM-A520W using Tapatalk

 

[Sierra1]

No additives/cleaners for me until two tanks before an oil change. That way anything that gets "cleaned off" goes into the oil pan....and then into the drain pan.

 

[Nikolajsen]

No additives/cleaners for me until two tanks before an oil change. That way anything that gets "cleaned off" goes into the oil pan....and then into the drain pan.

Good point

 

[Tenman]

It goes out the exhaust too

 

[SHUMBA]

No additives/cleaners for me until two tanks before an oil change. That way anything that gets "cleaned off" goes into the oil pan....and then into the drain pan.

Hmmmm, that's a theory. I've always wondered about both fuel and oil additives. Do they really work as claimed?
I do know that gas line antifreeze works, when your car starts run rough and loses power on those extremely cold winter nights. The little bit of water in the fuel freezes and impedes or restricts the fuel flow.
Adding a small amount of gas line antifreeze works rather quickly.
Remember some of the older cars that burned a lot of oil ?
There is/was a product that you added to a warm engine while it was running. A very syrupy substance and it did reduce the oil consumption.
SHUMBA

 

[OldRider]

How does the use of ethanol gas have an impact on oil consumption??
I've never experienced an oil consumption problem with any of my late model bikes, Tenere, Africa Twin CB650F.
SHUMBA

It's not the oil consumption of you're motorcycle, but rather the amount of oil used at the refinery level. The more corn syrup in the gas, the less oil is used.

 

[Sierra1]

….I've always wondered about both fuel and oil additives. Do they really work as claimed?.... A very syrupy substance and it did reduce the oil consumption.

The only car that I have driven....that I actually felt a before/after difference in, after using a Royal Purple fuel system cleaner....was a 10 year old 5.7 Charger with 47,000 miles. I think there must have been a bunch of stuff in the motor. Since I keep my vehicles clean....I've never felt a before/after difference. Was the syrupy stuff STP oil treatment? I remember using that back when I had carbs on all of my vehicles. I think that stuff would lock a modern motor right up; because I KNOW using straight 30 weight oil will lock up one of those 5.7s.

 

[ballisticexchris]

Thank you Checkswrecks, I am being serious. Look down at your valves when you replace your air filter next time as Tabasco did on a customer who used Seafoam. I bet they will be super clean also.

And this is a perfect reason to use ethanol based fuel. What do you think Sea Foam has in it? Just take one whiff and you will notice a strong rubbing alcohol/pale oil odor. I'm guessing it's at least 20% each or more of isopropyl alcohol and refrigeration fluid/pale oil (Naphtha) in the can.

 

[2talltoo]

I stopped at sniffing glue.

 

[OldRider]

And this is a perfect reason to use ethanol based fuel. What do you think Sea Foam has in it? Just take one whiff and you will notice a strong rubbing alcohol/pale oil odor. I'm guessing it's at least 20% each or more of isopropyl alcohol and refrigeration fluid/pale oil (Naphtha) in the can.

If ethanol based fuel kept the valves clean then the valves wouldn't be gumming up and injectors would stay clean. That's not the case. IMO there is no good reason to use ethanol, unless you're the farmer selling the corn. The whole scheme was set up to cut oil imports.

 

[SHUMBA]

The only car that I have driven....that I actually felt a before/after difference in, after using a Royal Purple fuel system cleaner....was a 10 year old 5.7 Charger with 47,000 miles. I think there must have been a bunch of stuff in the motor. Since I keep my vehicles clean....I've never felt a before/after difference. Was the syrupy stuff STP oil treatment? I remember using that back when I had carbs on all of my vehicles. I think that stuff would lock a modern motor right up; because I KNOW using straight 30 weight oil will lock up one of those 5.7s.

STP, that was it. Very viscous.
SHUMBA

Sent from my SM-A520W using Tapatalk

 

[ballisticexchris]

If ethanol based fuel kept the valves clean then the valves wouldn't be gumming up and injectors would stay clean. That's not the case. IMO there is no good reason to use ethanol, unless you're the farmer selling the corn. The whole scheme was set up to cut oil imports.

Well let's go back a few decades and remember that we had the same issue of gummed up carbs and dirty valves when we were using MTBE instead of ethanol. Without some kind of fuel stabilizer all fuel (regardless of what comes out of the refinery) loses its RON rating over time and turns to varnish.

I get a good laugh of guys who show pictures and videos of eaten up rubber parts, clogged jets, leaking seals, etc. Then they blame it on the ethanol based fuel. That is just not true. This kind of degrading of rubber and clogged jets/injectors has been going on since the beginning of the internal combustion engine.

I will agree that the ethanol is used to help cut oil imports. What's wrong with that? Do you have a better alternative? I think it's a win win for both the economy of the farmer and not relying so much on imported oils. Not to mention the fact that MTBE is some nasty stuff to the environment.

 

[Ironhand]

I get a good laugh of guys who show pictures and videos of eaten up rubber parts, clogged jets, leaking seals, etc. Then they blame it on the ethanol based fuel. That is just not true. This kind of degrading of rubber and clogged jets/injectors has been going on since the beginning of the internal combustion engine.

I've got to disagree with you there. I work on a lot of bikes and chainsaws as a side gig. As significant portion of the work I do is ethanol-related. Did older, pre-E gas go bad? Sure. But it didn't do it as quickly. It turned into goo, then eventually a sticky sludge/varnish. This could be cleaned. Fuel with ethanol attracts moisture, becomes acidic, and deteriorates into a nasty white powder. It also corrodes aluminum badly and hardens rubber and tygon fuel lines, o-rings, and carburetor diaphragms.

My recommendation would be to store with non-E gas and a quality stabilizer. I personally dose every tank and have not had a problem with any of my equipment or bikes.

 

[azb]

I agree with Ironhand. After the switch to ethanol based fuel, there were far more issues with rotted fuel lines and damaged seals. Newer vehicles use lines and seals that are more resistant to alcohol. That's a pretty basic fact.

I'll also add that non ethanol fuel breaks down more slowly than ethanol laced fuel. Typically, ethanol based fuel starts breaking down in 2 months. Non ethanol fuel can last a year... more or less.

 

[RonH]

I'm looking forward to what I find in my tests doing a little comparison. My dad has a 1993 craftsman snowblower and only used it like twice a year and never had any problems with the gas, but last season didn't use it one time, so the gas is close to 2yrs old. I expected to find the carb completely gummed, but it started right up. I still wondered what the carb bowl looked like, so took it off. It's brand new looking, not a sign in the least of bad gas. No problem with fuel lines, the rubber gasket for the bowl was still good, so I just buttoner it back up.

 

[Scoti49]

Living in Australia I don't have a need for fuel stabilizers (well I didn't think so).
What with the bushfires ,warm to bl**dy hot weather , my bike is always ready to go ,or is going 12mths of the year .

I do realise that fuels deteriorate but sometime not as much as some would like to admit to .

I have a boat with a 70hp Yamaha outboard ,12months in my shed with near full tank of 2 stroke fuel , it started and ran well (with a bit of smoke ) . I will use this fuel in something else and refill boat tank .

I might try a stabiliser , sometimes Firefighting pumps can site for many months in the open ready to go (45c).

Good post ,thanks

 

[RonH]

It's been 3 months now since I added 30ml gas mixed with stabil, seafoam ect to the 6 carbs to compare results. The results are rather unexpected.
Gas mixed with seafoam= All 30ml has evaporated, with no sign of problem.
2 stroke premix= Same, all evaporated
Straight gas= 30ml has evaporated to 10ml with no sign of problem
Gas/Stabil mix= Both carbs evaporated to 5ml with no sign of problem
Gas mixed with mineral spirits= Same result as Stabil.
I didn't expect gas to evaporate in the bowls so quickly. Maybe on a motorcycle with the airbox in place and hooked up to the head there would be less air available to aid in evaporation possibly, but otherwise conclusion I see is any additive makes the small volume of gas evaporate at a faster rate than non treated gas which I would say is a good thing as once it's gone no way in the world to go stale.
I'll keep an eye on the last four carbs that still have gas left, but will guess all 4 of them will also be 100% evaporated very soon.