But I was told by a mechanic about 60-90 days for regular unleaded and 90-120 days for premium unleaded? Untreated with anything that is. Again, what I was told buy a mechanic.
__________________ "My next door neighbors two dogs have created more shovel ready jobs then Obama has." - Gary Johnson
Sta-Bil will keep good gas from going bad, but once it goes, it's gone.
Pri-G will do that, AND can recondition bad gas to be 'good' again - from what I have read elsewhere.
I use Seafoam every few fill-ups on my bike, and it keeps my mower from gumming up in storage. I can crank it first pull after sitting all winter with gas in the carb! It was designed for boat motors that get used infrequently - very good stuff!
There is a new additive that I saw in a boating magazine, that reads like Pri-G in it's capabilities. Gotta find the ad again.
Wally's has Sta-Bil, and any good auto parts store and also Tractor Supply have Seafoam.
I may have to check the boat supply places for Pri-G and the newer stuff.
Whatever you try, make sure it is E10 friendly! The older Sta-Bil isn't - but they have a new formula that is.
Right now, I have filled my bike with gas stored this time last year, before the hurricanes hit. I used Sta-Bil - runs fine!
While on the gas subject. i was told not to use alchol enhanced fuels on 2 cycle engines like chain saws. It causes them to run hotter. Also, I get 10% better milage with non-ethylnol fuel.
True about the lower mileage. My 650cc bike gets five MPG less using the dreaded E10-corrupted gas. There is also word going around (unsubstantiated yet) that it will eventually rot our rubber fuel lines and gaskets(?).
Regular gas will store for about a year using Sta-Bil, and E10 gas does NOT respond to the old Sta-Bil. The new formulation is supposed to allow it to store a long time again. I hope so - I have 50 gallons in steel and plastic five-gallon jerrycans, treated with new Sta-Bil.
I don't have any two-stroke engines, but have heard/read of that too.
E10 gas is bad news for boat and aircraft engines too, from what I have read when studying the subject. Some locales still have 'real gas' available for the boat and aircraft owners, but I haven't found any in my town. Outside of the airport at least!
E10 is really a bad joke on American drivers - it does nothing good, and has far too many bad effects. It was shoved at us by the PTB - to placate the envirogeeks. Bad juju! Ultimately, I suspect we'll be forced into driving E85 vehicles, then whatever fuzzy-feel-good nonsense they develop after that.
E10 fuel doesn't harm the fuel systems of modern vehicles.
Mileage drops with E10 both because the octane rating is a few points higher (basically meaning it is harder to combust), and because ethanol has less energy per unit than gasoline. Though, a Petroleum Engineer friend did all the calculations and found that while a typical car will average a few percent lower fuel mileage with E10, the lower cost offsets it almost perfectly. IIRC he said with an average driving distance of 12k miles per year, we literally only save a few bucks by using E10.
As far as fuel storage goes, for small amounts I'd just try to rotate it at least once a month or so. Keep the sta-bil (or whatever) around, but don't add it to your stock until it actually hits the fan. Then you will know your gas stock has, at most, a month or two of "aging." This is as opposed to leaving a few gas cans sitting around for a year or more with a stabilizer, and not really know how good it still is.
Oh, and interestingly enough I've actually used old gas without any sort of preservation, heh. One time was when we used a few gallons of gas that sat outside for a year (from one summer to the next) in our dirtbikes. Another time was when I had gas sitting in my car from november to june, and it started and ran (and boosted) all just fine.
I had a small engine mechanic warn me that Sti-Bil will only preserve the gas for about 4 months. I fill up my 2-cycle mix gas can about once a year since the only thing that uses it is the leaf blower, but I've never had any more trouble than usual getting the leaf blower to start.
On the other hand, I had to get rid of a 1960s vintage Ariens snowthrower because it simply would not run on the E10 gas you get at the pumps these days. Even with Sta-Bil in the fuel, the ethanol would gel and hopelessly clog the jets.
Has there been a study by an independent testing lab like Consumer Reports's test lab on the chemical breakdown of E10 fuel with and without gas treatments added? I know that leaded gas and white gas used for Coleman stoves and lanterns being 100% pure gasoline, can be stored indefinitely. Ditto diesel fuel. It seems to me that trouble creeps in when ethanol is blended into it. And while we're on the subject, how long can E85, the new "green gasoline" that's 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, be stored before it won't burn in an engine any more, with and without stabilizers?
"Coleman Fuel" is naphtha, NOT gasoline. NEVER use gasoline in a Coleman stove/lantern, UNLESS it is a "Dual Fuel" model made for that.
Coleman fuel will store until the can rusts out from under it. It's getting mighty expensive now though. $10 a gallon locally!
I have a Coleman lantern and two stoves that are Dual Fuel, so I would be able to use gasoline in emergencies. Don't know how E10 will affect them though? Might gum up the generators - I don't know.
For mowers and such, make sure the Sta-Bil is the E10-friendly type - it has a GREEN color. The old RED Sta-Bil won't work with E10 gas.
