Winterizing - How much fuel to leave in tank

[swist]

Re: Winterizing - How much fuel to leave in tank

"And the marina owners put $5,000. worth of gas in their above ground tanks to sit for 6 months."<br /><br />Very good point but has implications the father you go north and the shorter the season becomes. I find it hard to believe that a marina in Maine, barely making money on a 3 month season, is going to dump all its gas and refill fresh every spring. Who knows if they stabilize it or not. Between that, MBTE, other additives, plain water, and random crud from corroding 50 year old tanks, I do believe the modern marine engine is a marvel considering most of them will run, at least in some fashion, on this unknown bilgewater parading as fuel.

 

[Massawippi]

Re: Winterizing - How much fuel to leave in tank

Thanks for the replies guys. The discussion got way more interesting then I ever thought it could. I'm going to give the Marina that is doing the winterizing and storage a call to see what they say. They've been in business for many years in the areas so they must know what they are doing. After seeing all your posts, I'm leaning to filling it up (leaving a bit of room for expansion). If anyone has any other thoughts, I'm still listning. Thanks!

 

[cc lancer]

Re: Winterizing - How much fuel to leave in tank

Thanks ZmOz,<br /> I started digging and look what I found from Chevron.<br /><br />Gas does deteriorate, check out this link.<br /> http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/fuels/bulletin/longterm_gasoline/detecting.shtml <br />Seems the smell test is good if it stinks it is bad.<br /><br />It seems that the storage with a full tank is a also a bad idea.<br /> http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/fuels/bulletin/longterm_gasoline/detecting.shtml <br /><br />[Quote from Chevron]<br />"Most gasoline is used within a week or two of purchase. But there are occasions when gasoline is kept longer. Examples are gasoline stored to fuel small-engine equipment or to provide a backup supply for a vehicle. Also gasoline left in the tank of a boat stored for the winter or a snowmobile stored for the summer. <br /><br />"Chevron recommends that gasoline not be stored unnecessarily. A supply that won't be needed for several months should be used and replenished when the need reoccurs."<br /><br />The ones that sell additives, were the ones saying filler up.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Winterizing - How much fuel to leave in tank

massawippi, i've got another thought too. don't know what kinda fuel tank ya got, but i got two metal ones. i think i'm gonna leave it almost full on the idea that the metal will not rust from the inside out when filled. i've also had 2 jetskis, the 95 kawasaki i had said empty the tank, per the service manual. the o2 yamaha i have says fill'er up and stabilize it. i've done both with no problems on either way. both of those were plastic fuel tanks. seems to me the general consenses is to fill and stabil from most of what i read. to bad we gotta winterize at all, oh well, it's been a great summer boating. happy boatin till it freezes, there's a little time left ,,,,,, jim

 

[Jack Shellac]

Re: Winterizing - How much fuel to leave in tank

Either completely empty or full with stabilizer. No in betweens. Both have advantages.