Empying gas tank for Winter

[mpohrille]

I have been reading a lot of contradictory information about the best procedure for wintering your gas tank. I used to store a full tank with stabilizer. With the quality of gas now i try to empty the tank and put stabilizer in for the 2 gallons that I cant remove.

My thinking is that this procedure will give me fresh gas for the new season.

1) What are other people doing?

2) I am thinking g that if I seal the tank vent there will be less moisture available to condense in the tank--any thoughts

tnx

marty

[sastanley]

Marty, I cannot comment on the sealing of the vent, since I've never done it, however, I am currently trying to run the tank as empty as possible during the fall months and leave it as empty as possible over the winter. My theory is that if you have a few gallons of old/stale/bad fuel and add 10 gallons of good fuel to it, you now have 13 gallons of bad fuel.

This is not proven...just my personal theory. The darn ethanol wreaks havoc on us, no matter what.

[Mo]

Marty,
I'm in Nova Scotia. The are not selling ethanol laced gas here yet and if all goes well they won't.

First thing to know is that I use the boat regularly and have certainly used all this years gas and more during the summer. My gauge showed low about a month or so ago and I threw in 5 gallons. That brought her up to 1/2 on the gauge. When I hauled out on Oct 25th here's what I did.

Added"
- 1 gas line antifreeze
- 1 small bottle of fuel stabilizer.
- Added another 5 gallons of fuel which filled her right up.

Did this previous years and all was well. No fuel issues at all last season. Normally I take off the carb, give it a cleaning and leave it off for the winter. This year I didn't do that. That might come back to haunt me so I just might go down and take it off, take it apart, clean it and lay it to the side until spring.

Past 4 years the boat has started with no issues after winterizing.

[hanleyclifford]

In the pre ethanol world Mo's procedure is spot on. Since I'm south of the border in the ethanol world my current procedure is to empty all fuel tanks during lay up, including sucking up the bottom of the tank with a small hand pump, and then blasting the interior with WD 40 including a shot up the vent hole to discourage insects.

[Mark S]

I do what Mo does with plenty of the blue Sta-bil. In 2009 the tank lasted me to August with no ill effects. This past summer we cruised in June and went through the tank pretty fast, again, no ill effects. I always left motorcycles, lawnmowers and 6 gallon outboard motor tanks full during the winter.

Given the variety of methods among us, I have to wonder, does it really matter as long as you don't leave a tank half full?

Mark

[Loki9]

I doubt you can effectively seal the tank for the winter, as changes in temperature will force the tank to "breath" a bit.

[edwardc]

I doubt you can effectively seal the tank for the winter, as changes in temperature will force the tank to "breath" a bit.

There was another thread where we discussed attaching some sort of a "bellows" to the vent line to keep it sealed while allowing for expansion & contraction. IIRC, we calculated that the bellows would have to have a pretty significant size to accomodate the expansion and contraction of the air in an empty tank.

And there's still a lot of uncertainty over exactly how much water can be introduced into a tank this way anyway. There was a lively thread on this topic last year.

[ndutton]

Idle aircraft keep their tanks filled for this very reason. Without a gaseous space in the tank there is no atmospheric exchange, thus no moist air introduced and no condensation.

[Bold Rascal]

Fil'er up

Ethanol or not, I"ll be topping off and agree with Neil regarding condensation in the tank. I'll be adding Sta-Bil as well. I like the shot of WD-40 into the vent line tip.

[Mo]

Carb cleaning for winterizing?? Worth it????

When I hauled out on Oct 25th here's what I did
Added"
- 1 gas line antifreeze
- 1 small bottle of fuel stabilizer.
- Added another 5 gallons of fuel which filled her right up.

Did this previous years and all was well. No fuel issues at all last season. Normally I take off the carb, give it a cleaning and leave it off for the winter. This year I didn't do that. That might come back to haunt me so I just might go down and take it off, take it apart, clean it and lay it to the side until spring.

Past 4 years the boat has started with no issues after winterizing.

Today I went down to the boat removed the carb and took it home to the garage for cleaning. The boat is 3 k from the house and it took me an hour to drive down, take it off, return home, do the work and then put it back on the boat.

The flame arrester was dirty (normal), otherwise it was clean...I mean really clean, the main jet had just a little crud which had narrowed it's diameter. Removed jets, laced everything with carb cleaner, and blew it all out with compressed air. I was so impressed it was so clean after all summer. I then put it in a plastic bag and layed it into the area near the engine...not installed until I go to fire it up in the spring. I've done the same in previous years (although it was never this clean at the end of a season).and find excellent results at start up time...no hassle.

I think it would be a good plan for anyone winterizing the engine to pull the carb off, take it apart, and clean it out.

[Mark S]

I think it would be a good plan for anyone winterizing the engine to pull the carb off, take it apart, and clean it out.

I've never done anything on any carburetor I've owned, whether car, motorcycle, outboard or A4, all based on advice I received as a young man that people are too quick to focus on the carburetor as the cause of a problem and invariably make things worse fiddling with it. After all these years, I'm sure my approach is probably overly simplistic, but if there isn't a problem, why monkey with it?

Mark

[Mo]

What I do to mine and why.

I understand you point of view Mark but would like to explain the reason for my maddness. The marine environment is not the same as our garage and toys we have kicking around there. Come spring, wait and see the amount of running issues on here. Fuel issues, frost damage / water where it shouldn't be issues. In my honest opinion there are some critical things that have to be done with boats/engines that are on the hard for COLD winters. These engines will run well and consistently when maintained properly. Maintained is the key word.

- Properly mixed automobile antifreeze in the engines...run through exhaust and catch...it prevents damage in exhaust also.; mixed 50/50 is fine for upper US states and Canada; auto antifreeze will PREVENT freezing within the engine and exhaust and it will not gel, freeze, quasi freeze or otherwise change form as will RV antifreeze. If you have a rusted weak area it will fail before a rusty frost plug will pop. That is why I use auto antifreeze.
- carbs fully drained and cleaned. Typically, engines that do not run all year have a very real possibility of developing bad gas and tank fouling and ultimately debris headed downstream to the carb. Hard to know what is already in your carb...and if it sits there all winter...well.
- fuel treated and full... will help keep clean tank and fuel good (ethanol discussion is another matter that people need to look at if it is sold in your area.... I don't have to worry about because they don't sell it here in NS yet).
- fuel filters changed before start-up
- oil in the top of the cylinders and turn it over once a month..keeps valves from sticking; cylinder walls and rings keep a coating of oil and don't seize / stick / leave rust ring on cylinder etc.
- lubricate sliders on shifting cables.
- lubricate springs on distributor.


If we get that much done it will fire right up after winter. I run it for about 10 minutes (water supply T'd in for cooling) to burn off the oil that I put in the top of the cylinders the previous fall. Following that, clean up the plugs and change the oil. My oil change is in the spring after the start-up so that I start the season with fresh oil...changed every 20-25 hrs and I use 15w40 diesel.

Then that engine is good to go.

[Mark S]

The marine environment is not the same as our garage and toys we have kicking around there.

You're making me think, Mo. I do the gas tank the same way you do, and I squirt plenty of MMO into the top end of the cylinders, probably more than is necessary. I don't turn it over monthly, though, and I've never done anything about the carburetor. I use -100 RV antifreeze which holds up very well and allays my worries about trace amounts of water remaining in the engine diluting it. Automobile antifreeze is better but I think my yard would freak if I used it. I'm not sure how I could convince them that I caught it all in the spring. How do you do that?

As for filters, I've got an old Perko, more of a fuel/water separator than a filter, and I just drain it into a bucket in the spring until it smells like gasoline. All the talk on the forum about filters and fuel lines and so forth is telling me I'm probably playing Russian roulette with the fuel system. Maybe this coming season I'll modernize. I've just never had a problem with it and the old girl always fires right up in the spring with only a change of plugs, plug wires, cap and rotor, and plenty of blue smoke until the excess MMO burns off. That's always a good show!

Mark

[Mo]

Hi Mark,

Mark, the carb cleaning is indeed overkill...but come spring I know what I have.

I think that an engine that is used, when the boat is in the water, is apt to have allot less trouble than one used occasionally. It's a nightmare for those poor souls that inherit a tank of dirt from a previous owner. I think once it's clean the trick it to keep it clean.

My separator is an old Fram ...probably as old as the boat but I can still get elements for it. I also have an in-line car type filter...that's it. Nothing special except to try and keep water, dirt and bad gas out of my tank.