Storage drain carb or not?

[Merc4ever]

My delema is: my boating guru friend says he once ran stabilizer + gas then drained his carb per the manual but had to "rebuild the carb" when taken out of storage because of varnish deposits.

So ever since he keeps the fuel line tank and carbs full of fuel+stabilizer and never has had any problems over the years.

So what is best?
1) Run the motor until out of fuel while fogging?
Or
2) Fog, shutdown and keep carbs full of fuel with stabilizer mixed in it.

 

[8hygro]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

While I am new to boating I have a lengthy history around small engines. IMHO with the current blended fuels you would better served by draining all fuel as much as possible for a lengthy storage. This would include the all tanks, lines, carbs etc.

8hygro

 

[Dave1027]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

My delema is: my boating guru friend says he once ran stabilizer + gas then drained his carb per the manual but had to "rebuild the carb" when taken out of storage because of varnish deposits.

How does varnish form in a carb that has no fuel in it? I more worried about fuel turning corrosive and eating floats, valve seats and gaskets.

 

[Merc4ever]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

How does varnish form in a carb that has no fuel in it? I more worried about fuel turning corrosive and eating floats, valve seats and gaskets.

He thought it was from leftover fuel droplets varnishing or maybe just the small gaskets dry rotting and not sealing properly anymore. He said he also had the same problem with his fuel pump seals when left dry. He insists you're better to leave the fuel in and condensation along with evaporation out.
Of coarse with the fuel stabilizer mixed in.
I just want to do what's right.

 

[Merc4ever]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

I replaced my carb last year from the choke shaft being stuck in place like it was glued or the metal was gallded. That's after spraying it with carb cleaner and oil. So something corrosive was going on after 20 years of gas flowing past it. This part wouldn't of mattered if the carb was drained or not because that area is dry most of the time.

 

[8hygro]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

Its a whole new set of problems with these blended fuels...they did not deal with this twenty years ago. Without going into a long diatribe on fuel chemistry the bottom line is these blended fuels are horrible for everything in our engines. I have seen simple vapors from it eat entirely through items such as Dave1027 mentions.

It's a new deal concerning fuel issues. Get it out when not in use or buy quality unblended fuels from a known source. Sad to say...

 

[jimdd810]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

I just recently attended an outboard motor class for mercury in detroit lakes MN. The instructor said if you use a product like marine grade stabil to not drain the bowls of the carb. Etyhnol is bad but if properly stabilized it will be better to not to have any air spaces in the carb. I have removed carbs from motors as new as 2008 or 09 and have found algae growing in them from the moisture from the air. If there is litlle air space in the carb then moisture is held to a minimum. I dont know but this guy was like the guru of all mercury his dog is named keikafer. I do not drain the carbs when winterizing. I winterize on average 50 or 60 boats a season and have never had a problem since using the marine grade stabil.

 

[The Hammer]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

This is wierd, my dad taught me to allways drain fuel when not using it for extended periods, lawn mowers, chains saws, outboards and whatever and he never had any problems. My father in law says its nonsense and he doesn't seem to have any problems either. Now I allways drain and if I do I have no problems, but twice in my life I have forgot and paid the price to rebuild the carbs. Once was with a mariner outboard, and once with my snowblower. I think my father in law is just lucky but he is 74 so thats a lot of luck.

 

[Mi duckdown]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

I run sta-bil year round in all my gas engines, except my VEH.
I also run Shell gas which is not supposed to have any Methyanol or Ethynol. have never had any problems. don't drain my carbs anymore. My .02

 

[Really Old Guy]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

Use Marine Stabil and keep the bowls full

 

[Merc4ever]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

I just recently attended an outboard motor class for mercury in detroit lakes MN. The instructor said if you use a product like marine grade stabil to not drain the bowls of the carb. Etyhnol is bad but if properly stabilized it will be better to not to have any air spaces in the carb. I have removed carbs from motors as new as 2008 or 09 and have found algae growing in them from the moisture from the air. If there is litlle air space in the carb then moisture is held to a minimum. I dont know but this guy was like the guru of all mercury his dog is named keikafer. I do not drain the carbs when winterizing. I winterize on average 50 or 60 boats a season and have never had a problem since using the marine grade stabil.

Thank you, Marine grade stabil and a full bowl sounds like the best answer!

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

Make sure its the ethanol stabil and not the red stuff!!!

 

[jimdd810]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

Right! the black stuff called Marine Grade Stabil not the red stuff and definatley not sea foam.

 

[maxturbo]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

Use Marine Stabil and keep the bowls full

I second that. never had one issue. I even use it when i gas up during the season. Just make sure to use the right amount as stated on the back.

 

[sperry43]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

I work in the petroleum industry and in the south, Shell was one of the first Major Oil brands to add a 10% Ethenol blend to all of their fuels.Now, it is a Government mandate for ALL street retail locations to have a minimum 10% mix, and they are trying to increase that to a 15% mix. The stupid thing about the whole thing is it takes 1 1/2 gallons of fossil fuel to produce 1 gallon of Ethenol... our socialist government at work. And as stated above, you can still get non-ethenol blended fuel at most marinas.

 

[8hygro]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

The larger problem is that there is no consistancy from batch to batch or location to location. In our usage environment that is a variable you would need to know in order to properly treat it for storage and parts protection. Our testing has shown ethanol at levels at the pump up to 25%. Not to mention moisture content which is a killer in your typical 2-stroke as it displaces the oil.

The storage time/quality of these blended fuels can be quite short. Do you you really want a full tank of "swill" to run through when your ready to use your boat? I would just rather not go there.

Even the distribution chain has been misleading the public. The variables here are just simply huge...I dont care what the pump sticker or station attendant says.

8hygro

 

[trailboss77]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

Right! the black stuff called Marine Grade Stabil not the red stuff and definatley not sea foam.

I switched from Sta-Bil to Sea Foam a few years ago because I was told it works much better. Now I see someone who seems to know what he's talking about saying NOT to use Sea Foam. Why not??

 

[jimdd810]

Re: Storage drain carb or not?

First sea foam does nothing to counter act the ethynol in the gas. 2nd (I dont want to start a fight with seafoam fans) Every spring when I used seafoam in winterizations I would end up with at least 2 or 3 boats whith fuel problems. I winterize 50 or 60 boats a season. Since switching to the marine grade stabil I have yet to have one boat come back in the spring.

Seafoam has a place in my shop but it is not for fuel stabilization. It is a good cleaner I use it for soaking carbs and soaking some parts that are hard to clean.