Do You Run All Of The Gas Out Of Your Motor When Storing For The Winter?

[tcbass]

I know this isn't a problem for some folks who live in places like Florida. But I live in the great white north.

For the last 2 years I've filled my boats gas tanks with gas, Stabil, and Seafoam, then fogged the engine with Seafoam Fogger and been done with it. It was stored in an unheated garage. Haven't had a problem yet.

This year I'm storing it in a heated garage.

My friend said that I should run all of the gas out of the lines before I store it. I've heard of this before.

So I was wondering if I should run the gas out of the line before I store it?

Also, to fog it I've taken out the plugs, squirted some fogger in the spark plug openings, then turn the key for a second, spray some more fogger in, and then screw the plugs in lightly.

I assume I wouldn't be able to do that if I have already ran all the gas out of the lines and motor.

How do I go about this?

[senile1]

It would be nice to be able to run all fuel out of the tank and lines but this is impractical for most of us as we need the fuel to winterize the engine.  Add a fuel conditioner to your fuel such as Stabil, Star Tron, or Sea Foam and make sure you have ran the engine long enough for that conditioned fuel to be in your fuel lines and throughout the system.  Make sure your tank is as full as possible to decrease the opportunity for condensation in the tank.  This sounds like what you have been doing.  

[Fishing Rhino]

Why just at a fuel conditioner such as Stabil or Startron when you store a boat?  I add fuel conditioner for all the gasoline I buy except for our truck and SUV.  Everytime I fill my five gallon jugs with fuel for the power equipment around the yard, and to have for our generator in case we lose power.  I put in the recommended amount for five gallons.

 

Mowers, trimmers, chain saw, edger, etc., all sit idle during the winter.  I used to have starting problems with the lawn edger every spring.  I'd have dump the fuel and fill with fresh gas and it would start right up.  Since I've started treating all my fuel, it starts right up in the spring, after sitting idle for at least four months.

 

I may be wrong, but I believe that the fuel treatment slows down the deterioration of fuel lines.  It's cheap insurance for expensive machinery.

[Way2slow]

NO, DO NOT RUN IT OUT. That can do serious damage to your motor is a couple of ways.

First, all cylinders do not run out at the same time, so that leaves one of more cylinders running without any lubrication while the motor is still running on the remaining cylinder/s.

Second, when you let it run out, no oil is left in the crankcase to lubricate the rotating assembly (crank and rods etc) and leave a protective coating on them for the condensation that WILL get into it while stored, especially if stored where the morning sun shines on it. Pull a cover off and engine after about an hour of morning sun has been on it on a cool/cold morning and you will think someone just washed it down with a water hose.

I said don't run it out, but I do pump my tank out by pulling hose of primer bulb and connection an electric fuel pump, and I drain and purge the fuel system on carbureted motors. Fuel injected motors, I still pump the tank, but I run them every month or two in a stock tank or on the hose for about 10 minutes with a mixture of fresh gas and SeaFoam using a gallon gas jug at the primer bulb.

You can run the carbureted motors the same as I do the fuel injected, but since I may go long periods of time without using any of my carb motors, it's just easier to purge them. If you do them this way, you will seldom ever have carb or fuel related problems.

[tcbass]

It would be nice to be able to run all fuel out of the tank and lines but this is impractical for most of us as we need the fuel to winterize the engine.  Add a fuel conditioner to your fuel such as Stabil, Star Tron, or Sea Foam and make sure you have ran the engine long enough for that conditioned fuel to be in your fuel lines and throughout the system.  Make sure your tank is as full as possible to decrease the opportunity for condensation in the tank.  This sounds like what you have been doing.  

 

Why just at a fuel conditioner such as Stabil or Startron when you store a boat?  I add fuel conditioner for all the gasoline I buy except for our truck and SUV.  Everytime I fill my five gallon jugs with fuel for the power equipment around the yard, and to have for our generator in case we lose power.  I put in the recommended amount for five gallons.

 

Mowers, trimmers, chain saw, edger, etc., all sit idle during the winter.  I used to have starting problems with the lawn edger every spring.  I'd have dump the fuel and fill with fresh gas and it would start right up.  Since I've started treating all my fuel, it starts right up in the spring, after sitting idle for at least four months.

 

I may be wrong, but I believe that the fuel treatment slows down the deterioration of fuel lines.  It's cheap insurance for expensive machinery.

 

 

 

I should have stated that in the OP. I always put Stabil in my fuel and at times Seafoam also. I do this in my boat and all of my equipment. I do that so it runs well and in case something happens to me, I get hurt and can't fish for the rest of the year or mow my lawn then my stuff can be stored and the gas will be good. 

[S Hovanec]

back when I had jet-skis, i would top off the tanks and double dose the sta-bil, as per the instructions and run the motors til i knew the stabilized gas was in the system, then fogged the cylinders til it stalled.

 

once I graduated from fun boats to small fishing boats, I had small 2 strokes.  '79 9.9 Johnson and a 90's 25 Johnson, I would remove the fuel line and run the gas out every time I put the boats on the trailer.  Never did anything else with them.  20hp Honda, I did the same.  run it out of fuel after every outing.

 

Graduated to a larger boat and that procedure wasn't as easy.  Now, at the end of the season, I place a small amount of stabilized gas in an auxiliary tank.  I disconnect the fuel line from the permanent tank and place it the small tank.  I run the motor for about 5 minutes to get the stabilized fuel in the motor and shut it off.  I then drain the fuel tank and put that gas in my truck.  The first couple years I owned this boat, I would fill the tank for winter, but come spring, it would be 3 or 4 gallons short.......I guess due to evaporation?  I'd rather start each season off with fresh gas instead of crappy gas that has been sitting all winter.

[senile1]

Why just at a fuel conditioner such as Stabil or Startron when you store a boat?  I add fuel conditioner for all the gasoline I buy except for our truck and SUV.  Everytime I fill my five gallon jugs with fuel for the power equipment around the yard, and to have for our generator in case we lose power.  I put in the recommended amount for five gallons.

 

Mowers, trimmers, chain saw, edger, etc., all sit idle during the winter.  I used to have starting problems with the lawn edger every spring.  I'd have dump the fuel and fill with fresh gas and it would start right up.  Since I've started treating all my fuel, it starts right up in the spring, after sitting idle for at least four months.

 

I may be wrong, but I believe that the fuel treatment slows down the deterioration of fuel lines.  It's cheap insurance for expensive machinery.

 

Good point.  I use the conditioner year around as well.

[BaitMonkey1984]

I always run marvel oil, seafoam, and star to enzyme treatment in every fill up for both boats. I do not my 150hp motor out of gas. I do do it for my small 8hp motor, and always have. I have never experienced any issue whatsoever, I make sure that the engine gets a healthy does of fogging oil so that the engine is well lubricated. I believe the biggest issue is to avoid water damage/rust/corrosion.  I do not think it matters, only make sure that you have have enzyme treatment if you do not run the engine out of gas. 

[ABit]

I found this to be a great article on this subject.

 

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/Winter_boat.html

[tcbass]

I found this to be a great article on this subject.

 

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/Winter_boat.html

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

Man, that's a ton of work. lol.

[WRB]

The run it out of gas comes from the carburetor era, disconnect the fuel hose and run the carbs out of gas.

Fuel injector don't have any fuel storage, no need to run them dry.

Your fuel tank will create more moisture condensation empty then full, fuel treatments resolve condensation issues.

Tom

[Fishing Rhino]

The run it out of gas comes from the carburetor era, disconnect the fuel hose and run the carbs out of gas.

Fuel injector don't have any fuel storage, no need to run them dry.

Your fuel tank will create more moisture condensation empty then full, fuel treatments resolve condensation issues.

Tom

 

I remember those days.  Still don't know why it was done, even on motors used on a daily basis. 

 

I can understand if it was going to be sitting for an extended period, but even then, we'd disconnect the fuel tank and run it 'til all the gas in the carb was gone.  The next time out, we'd connect to the fuel tank which had the same gas we'd run out of the engine.

 

Maybe in those days, when the motor was tipped up, fuel would dribble from the carb.

[Al Wolbach]

The run it out of gas comes from the carburetor era, disconnect the fuel hose and run the carbs out of gas.

Fuel injector don't have any fuel storage, no need to run them dry.

Your fuel tank will create more moisture condensation empty then full, fuel treatments resolve condensation issues.

Tom

Tom, I may be wrong but my understanding is the fuel treatments prevent the ethanol and water (from condensation) from turning into a jello like product in your fuel, not preventing condensation. Also keeping the tank full helps to prevent the water from forming due to lack of(or less) air in the tank. My understanding is the only way to prevent any water from reaching the engine is a water separator. To totally prevent any fuel problems, if you use ethanol fuel in a built in tank, is to combine fuel treatment, store a full tank, and install a water separator. Or utilize a system such as way2slows system. If I'm wrong let me know

[Josh Smith]

If you have a carb, you should drain the bowl (though this does not necessarily mean running it dry).

This is much safer to do with four-stroke engines than two-stroke, and one or two cylinders vs more than two.

I have always run a small V-Twin, and have always run the carb dry after each outing with no damage. Winter saw Stabil in the tank.

Am rebuilding that outboard with the boat, and all bearings look excellent.

Josh

[Smokinal]

Tcbass, my Nitro is a 96, I bought it when it was around 3-4 yrs old and have always stored it the exact same way you described; never had any probs with it. My buddy always gets a kick out of it when I haul it out for the first time, drive to the lake without firing it up at home first, drop it in and she fires up every time. He thinks I'm crazy not to try it at home first but that Merc just always runs for me.

[Way2slow]

The storing it with the tanks full is another hand me down from the past.   When they used metal tanks, if you did not keep them full, they built up huge amounts of condensation.  That's why so many old steel tanks are rusted so badly.  This is not a problem with the plastic tanks.  Storing them full only means you have a tank full of old gas to start the next season off. 

 

Comes along with the old idea of never store a battery sitting on concrete, it will drain the battery, still laugh at the people that still believe that one. 

 

Then those that believe you should run you batteries down fully or they will develop a memory.  Do that and you get about half life from your battery.  That's an old thing from the early lithium style batteries.  Lead acid batteries have never developed a memory. 

 

That's the way my daddy did it. so that's the way I do it.  Still don't mean it's the right way or even the better way, but there is one thing for certain, it's yours and no one can tell you what you can and can't do with your stuff.  Except for government, they've gotten pretty good at doing that these days.

[Al Wolbach]

The storing it with the tanks full is another hand me down from the past.   When they used metal tanks, if you did not keep them full, they built up huge amounts of condensation.  That's why so many old steel tanks are rusted so badly.  This is not a problem with the plastic tanks.  Storing them full only means you have a tank full of old gas to start the next season off. 

 

Comes along with the old idea of never store a battery sitting on concrete, it will drain the battery, still laugh at the people that still believe that one. 

 

Then those that believe you should run you batteries down fully or they will develop a memory.  Do that and you get about half life from your battery.  That's an old thing from the early lithium style batteries.  Lead acid batteries have never developed a memory. 

 

That's the way my daddy did it. so that's the way I do it.  Still don't mean it's the right way or even the better way, but there is one thing for certain, it's yours and no one can tell you what you can and can't do with your stuff.  Except for government, they've gotten pretty good at doing that these days.

I agree with you in part. The plastic tanks will not rust. They will however hold condensation just like the metal tanks. Rust has not been an issue for years. Water remains an issue to this day, especially with ethanol gasoline.

[Way2slow]

Wasn't referring to the rust part. The plastic does not build the condensation the metal tanks do. An easy way to test this is feel the outside of a plastic tank about half hour after the sun has been on the boat after a very cool night. That gas/air in the tank will be cold from the night, the compartment will be warm from the sun. Feeling of the tank will let you see if there is condensation or not and how much. Also, the temp change is not as fast and drastic at night where the inside of the tank is warm and the outside is getting colder and that's when the inside of the tank would condensate if it was going to. Because of the insulating affect of the plastic, there is not an instant heat transfer like there is with metal.

[Al Wolbach]

Storing the tanks full is not just from the past. I spoke with my neighbor yesterday while he was winterizing his new 2015 pontoon boat. He told me his owners manual directed storing the gas tank full for winter storage. I forgot to ask if the manual was for the boat or mercury motor, but apparently one of them called for a slightly heavy dose of Sta-bil and a full tank. I will get that clarified next time I speak with him.

[senile1]

The storing it with the tanks full is another hand me down from the past.   When they used metal tanks, if you did not keep them full, they built up huge amounts of condensation.  That's why so many old steel tanks are rusted so badly.  This is not a problem with the plastic tanks.  Storing them full only means you have a tank full of old gas to start the next season off. 

 

 

I typically defer to your knowledge in all things regarding boats but I am not sure if you meant that plastic tanks don't have a rusting problem, or a condensation problem.  Condensation will form in plastic tanks also.  Storing a plastic tank full means you have less condensation to dilute your gas, right?  

[Way2slow]

OK, after second thought, I'm a south GA redneck and keep forgetting there are other parts of the country, but I've never had a problem here and can't have never heard of anyone having a problem with condensation in plastic tanks in my neck of the woods, maybe further north where ya'll have much colder climates it might be a problem. Back in the 60's when I got my first boat, it had those six gallon metal cans and I just kept them in the garage. I've had one boat that had an aluminum, built in tank, and it stayed under a shelter, never had a problem with it. I'm a whole lot more concerned about having old gas than. Years back, and OMC engineer that was also and instructor and the factory training school in Atlanta also said it was better to pump the gas out, that's why I started doing that years ago, and leave them dry than have the old gas in them.

While I don't, never have, and never will use Staybil because I put my faith in SeaFoam, I still don't put faith in either of them keeping gas good enough to run in my outboard motor after a long sitting spell. Even though, back when I was playing GI Joe in the Air Force in mobile units, we always added SeaFoam to anything running on gas or diesel when we parked it back on the yard. The government claimed it would keep gas and diesel good for one year. My concern it not the gas breaking down as much as it loosing octane. Gas can loose octane fairly quickly.

So, while ya'll that do it, keep filling them up, I will keep pumping mine out, because as I stated, I've never seen a condensation problem, but I've seen tons of problems from bad gas. If there is no fuel in the tank to get cold and cause it to condensate, there is no problem. Condensation forms from rapid changes in them, and empty tank is going to come a lot closer to changing temps with the environment.

[senile1]

I agree with your point that emptying the tank is the best case scenario.  For those that leave fuel in the tank, they should make sure it is full.  

[WIGuide]

As someone who lives up in the northern part of the country and lives through those crappy cold winters, both my dad and I have always ran our tanks down close to empty. We treat what's left with either stabil or seafoam. That's always been our procedure, and neither of us have had gas issues in the spring.

[Spankey]

I treat a half tank as full all season long it keeps the weight down. I treat my gas with Mercury additive all season long. I'm stabilized all the time My tank level will be pretty low by my last time out. I winterize my motor by fogging, check and fill fuel filter, change my lower end oil. Start up in spring on my old plugs than change them out. Don't encounter too many issues.

[Al Wolbach]

I agree with your point that emptying the tank is the best case scenario.  For those that leave fuel in the tank, they should make sure it is full.

I agree, and if full be sure it is treated..