Stabil wins, hands down.

[Mark_BX25D]

Our buddy at the Farm Project has done a 5 year test on fuel stabilizers. Stabil wins, hands down.

Got a favorite fuel stabilizer that wasn't tested? Tell him about it!

 

[William1]

I've always used Stabil and I also never let any gasoline site more than about ten months at worst, most engines are either run monthly or fully drained. Never a problem except... when I washed and engine and manged to force water in the fuel!/
Ounce of Stabil and five gallons of fuel. Even then, if the fuel is six months old, I can tell most engines do not run as well, but the cards are not clogged.

 

[NCL4701]

I’ve run Stabil in all my small gasoline engines for 30 years. I don’t run anything out of gas at the end of season. Never had an issue with fuel causing problems even for the several years non-ethanol gas wasn’t readily available in our area. Longest I’ve let one sit was a bit over two years. Not recommending that, but the little Honda engine started right up.

 

[bobnic]

I used to use Stabil until I found some crystals formed in the Stabil bottle and I didn't feel comfortable with that. I switched to PRI-G, which the Youtube guy did not test but many people mentioned in the comments to his video. I have had excellent experience with PRI-G. Some claim that it will even rejuvenate stale gas.

 

[DaveFromMi]

I use Seafoam, 2 oz per gallon for 2 cycle engines, 1 oz for 4 cycles. I don't drain out gas for the winter. I have never had any problems, but has is never around for more than 8 months. It's cheaper than buying non ethanol fuel.

 

[GeoHorn]

MARINE STABIL (green) was properly installed into the full fuel tanks of my pontoon boat with a 180-hour Yamaha F150…and it sat for one year. When started, the engine ran poorly …like intermittently firing on only 3 of 4 cyls. Low power and would not achieve full rpm.

I”ve always had faith in Stabil…but this experience has diminished it.

Fair-Reporting: Replaced all 4 injectors and drained all 42 gals of E10 w/Stabil…. installed Fresh gasoline…. fired up and ran properly all day long.

I believe that the stabil failed to keep the fuel conditioned properly.

I’ve never used anything else, however.

<edit> To clarify: I believe the poor fuel quality is what damaged the very low hour OEM injectors. The engine was running perfectly when placed into storage and the fuel system was filled with fresh, properly-treated (Stabil) gasoline for the storage period.
Yamaha gets $180 EACH for this 4-injector engine. I took a chance on cheap, chinese injectors ($40 for FOUR)…. and they work just fine. This fuel system has THREE fuel filters (in series) and the filters I used were high-quality, inspected after the failure with no evidence of debris and no water.. The 1-yr old fuel had a yellow (urine) appearance with slightly ”thicker” pour-rate. The tanks were Full for the 1-yr, inside-storage conditions.
I‘m not trying to “bash” Stabil, as I have used it for shorter storage periods on many different types of equipment. (I have a total of NINE different gasoline engines which are subjected to long-storage periods (6 mos or more) and I have used regular (red) Stabil in all of them without difficulty, however they have not been stored for longer than 6-8 mos. This boat was stored for 13 mos due to low-lake-levels, and Marine Stabil (green)…supposedly better quality than Red Stabil and especially designed for humid-storage conditions… did not preserve the fuel, which obviously degraded. Hope this helps.

PS: I also have 2 small airplanes which are fueled solely with 100LL avgas. I have 3 portable generators which are primarily fueled with avgas, and only stored with avgas, for periods of up to 3 years, without difficulty in the same bldg as the boat. The generators start and run perfectly despite longer storage periods and with NO fuel stabilizers at all, being stored Only with the Avgas. (Avgas is more expensive and is engineered for longer storage than automotive gasolines, and is why I use it in my emergency/portable generators.
However, Beware: Avgas still has tetraethyl-lead (like earlier-generation gasoline used to) and may harm newer-design engines and their emissions-controls. YMMV)

 

[Flintknapper]

I use Seafoam, 2 oz per gallon for 2 cycle engines, 1 oz for 4 cycles. I don't drain out gas for the winter. I have never had any problems, but has is never around for more than 8 months. It's cheaper than buying non ethanol fuel.

^^^^^

Same for me. SeaFoam.

 

[Shawn T. W]

I use Pri-G in 100% gas ... No problems.

 

[Tarmy]

I use Stabil in all my gas engines, big and small. 5 boats get marine Stabil. never once had any issues…and some of the boats sit for a year between uses.

 

[Donystoy]

I recently started to use ethanol shield in all my small engines since ethanol free fuel is no longer available in my area. I used Stabil up to that point. Where possible I run everything out of fuel. Have had to install shut off valves on some engines. Including four chainsaws I have at least ten engines to store.

 

[McMXi]

I've been using STA-BIL for years and never had an issue with gasoline powered stuff sitting for a year and starting up right away.

@GeoHorn, I've been running two Yamaha fuel treatment products in my outboards without any issues at all. Given the cost of those engines I decided to follow Yamaha's recommendation of using ethanol free gas and their fuel additives. It's not cheap to fill up a 70-gallon fuel tank but it'll last me at least three trips out on the lake.

https://www.westmarine.com/yamaha-yamaha-acc-fstab-pl-12-fuel-stabilizer-13165121.html

https://www.westmarine.com/yamaha-ring-free-fuel-additive-2280683.html

 

[Tarmy]

I've been using STA-BIL for years and never had an issue with gasoline powered stuff sitting for a year and starting up right away.

@GeoHorn, I've been running two Yamaha fuel treatment products in my outboards without any issues at all. Given the cost of those engines I decided to follow Yamaha's recommendation of using ethanol free gas and their fuel additives. It's not cheap to fill up a 70-gallon fuel tank but it'll last me at least three trips out on the lake.

https://www.westmarine.com/yamaha-yamaha-acc-fstab-pl-12-fuel-stabilizer-13165121.html

https://www.westmarine.com/yamaha-ring-free-fuel-additive-2280683.html

‘At least you can get ethanol free gas. All of our damn gas has ethanol and it plays hell with older engines and fuel lines. I have switched all my boat fuel lines to stuff that is designed to deal with ethanol.

The on lake premium gas here is 7 plus bucks a gallon. The Malibu takes 50-60 gallons…and even that has up to 15% ethanol.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

^^^^^

Same for me. SeaFoam.

Did you even watch the video? Seafoam did nothing.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

However, Beware: Avgas still has tetraethyl-lead (like earlier-generation gasoline used to)

Yeah, but for how much longer? But that's another can of worms!

 

[JimDeL]

Been using Stabil for about 20 years. Never a problem.
Started using ethanol-free 92 octane gasoline about 5 years ago, but still use the Stabil with it. Snow Blower sits for 6 months and starts on the second pull. Same with pressure washers.

BTW, I have fuel shutoffs on all my 4 cycle equipment, and let the carbs run dry before storage, so no gunk/sludge in the carb bowls.

 

[Flintknapper]

Did you even watch the video? Seafoam did nothing.

I've seen the video before. I use SeaFoam to keep things clean (injectors, etc) on my engines. I never have anything sitting around (without use) for year or more. So no issues with starting or running.

 

[Hugo Habicht]

Filling the tank fully before longer periods of non-use is most important to avoid tank breathing (with air pressure changes) and moisture being brought into the fuel containing ethanol.

 

[hagrid]

Looks like the hands went back up?

 

[GeoHorn]

I've been using STA-BIL for years and never had an issue with gasoline powered stuff sitting for a year and starting up right away.

@GeoHorn, I've been running two Yamaha fuel treatment products in my outboards without any issues at all. Given the cost of those engines I decided to follow Yamaha's recommendation of using ethanol free gas and their fuel additives. It's not cheap to fill up a 70-gallon fuel tank but it'll last me at least three trips out on the lake.

https://www.westmarine.com/yamaha-yamaha-acc-fstab-pl-12-fuel-stabilizer-13165121.html

https://www.westmarine.com/yamaha-ring-free-fuel-additive-2280683.html

i DO use “Ring-Free” per Yamaha (which is actually Chevron’s Techron re-labelled). I‘ve not used the Yamalube “fuel stabilizer”, believing, perhaps mistakenly, that Stabil Marine was an appropriate substitute. That Yamalube stabilizer (+50-cents per gallon of gas) instructs One-Ounce per gallon for long-storage….
I guess IF it worked it would be worth it…. but Project Farm demonstration showed it worthless.

He DOES show that Stabil will control corrosion in “pot metal” carburetors….but I always run carb-equipped generators and pressure-washers “Dry” before storage and subsequently have not had any trouble with that.

@Mark_BX25D , re: removing lead in avgas (so-called ”Swift” or “G100UL)
Yes…but at what cost? …. I own two airplanes with 145 hp Continentals that do not need 100-oct fuel. I wish that AvGas was ”selectable” like the old Gulf and Conoco stations used to allow the end-user to Select Octane at the pumps…. allowing TEL to be selected at the pump…or NONE.
If AvGas base-stock (89 octane already) was placed in the storage tanks WITHOUT lead…and the TEL injected AT THE PUMP… ..(for those who require 100 Oct)….then I think it would be a much better situation for all but the most-rigid environmentalists.

 

[BAP]

Did you even watch the video? Seafoam did nothing.

How much did Stabil pay him to do that testing? Most of these guys that do these YouTube videos make money one way or the other of their videos and a common way is to be sponsored by some company. Plus his testing is more Hillbilly than controlled.