At breakfast this morning a friend asked about the best way to handle long term (a couple of years) storage for gas tanks on stationary engines.

Is it best to keep them empty? cap on or off? full of gasoline with a commercial stabilizing additive? full of another fluid? or any other ideas you might have.

Thanks for the help,
Larry Evans
Arcadia, Southern California, USA
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TWO YEARS? That's a long time to go without running engines. Maybe Tommy could put in a good word and get you one of those cushy "minimum-security" facilities where you could bring something small, like a Briggs & Stratton.

Here are two of my experiences with old gas. Both lead me to belive that modern gasoline is not nearly as stable as the gasoline of the past.

One of our engines went for about a year between shows. The tank was not full. When we fired it up, that familiar aroma made it clear that the gas was going bad.

Our buggy sat for about two years with a nearly full tank of gas (premium). When we fired it up after that period, it ran terribly. No amount of tuning would smooth it out. Eventually I gave up on tuning it, and Kelley drove it to work for a week or so. Once we were able to top off the tank with fresh gas, it ran well again.

For long term storage, a drained tank is probably your best bet.

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Rob Skinner La Habra, California
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Villiers and other petrol engine makers recommend Shell Ensis mixed with the petrol to prevent rusting in the tank, but running the carb dry before laying up so the oil doesn't congeal in the float bowl.

IMO this could be done by a simple addition of engine oil which is not so good as Ensis but a lot easier to get hold of! About 16:1 ratio would be OK, and the engine will also run with that without harm.

Make sure the tank is well coated inside with the petroil mixture and that the filler cap is tight and maybe the vent hole plugged if the temperature is going to be fairly stable (inside storage)

It is the evaporation of the more volatile bits in the petrol that causes it to go off.

Peter

Peter & Rita Forbes
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Lister Cold-Starting Diesel Engines
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What a lot of guys I know do is to drain the tank and run the carb/s dry. Some people spray the inside of the tank with WD-40 to help inhibit rust. I seldom trust gas much after three months in warm weather and six months in cold weather. Drain it and use it up.

Duncan