# Stabilizer with Ethanol Free Gas



## Abominable Blowman (Dec 22, 2020)

Recently bought an Areins 24 SHO Platinum.

I have been using Trufuel 4 cycle gas in it as initially used and recommended b the the dealer where I bought it.

I have a few questions:

1) The dealer said that if I use Trufuel ethanol free gas then I can leave it in the snowblower over the seaosn and into next season and not have to worry about anything. Is this fine? Should I or should I not add Sta-bil to Trufuel?

2) If I am using gas from pump, and I add Sta-bil, how long can that fuel stay in the snowblower without any negative effects?

3) Over the long term use, is Trufuel the same as regular gas + Sta-bil? I am trying to justify the much higher cost of Trufuel over regukar gas + Sta-bil in terms of cost benefits.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

_I always add 2oz of Stabil and 2 oz of SeaFoam in all my 5 gallon gas cans. Never have an issue with any of my equipment in my entire life, starts all the time and runs great.....never run dry or empty any tanks ..... I do periodically fire up and run all my equipment, new, old, summer, winter .... it is not good to let any equipment just sit there, as equipment is meant to be run and operated. 

If I dont use my generator in a couple years, I will put that in an active piece of equipment I am using in that season, and refill the generator._


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

You will find a gazillion threads on gas and additives in this forum.

Everyone has their own way of doing it, .... its like religion or politics. ....


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## drmerdp (Feb 9, 2014)

Trufuel is already loaded with additives, and very pure to begin with. You can add stabilizer but it’s unnecessary.


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## LouC (Dec 5, 2016)

I don’t think you need to add anything to Truefuel as long as you use it up within the 2 year time limit you should be fine.


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## Miles (Sep 16, 2016)

Yes, I leave trufuel in my machine over the summer and it has fired up for four years every time.


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## LouC (Dec 5, 2016)

What I have been doing now with the E10 gas we have had for years is mark the gas container with a date of when it was purchased. I put the stabil in right then. I try to use up all the stabilized gas within 1 year. Doing that minimizes problems I feel. So all my gas cans have duct tape stuck to them with dates scribbled in a sharpie lol. What I try to do is take the gas I have not used over the winter, and then dump it in the boat before I recommission it in the spring. The 4bbl Quadrajet on my '88 GM 4.3 V6 is not so fussy about E10 and I use 10 micron water separating fuel filters. On these marine engines you can actually use the Racor filters which have a bowl that is used to collect water if any is in the fuel. Even so I seem to average about 6 seasons between rebuilds on the Quadrajet.


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## 140278 (Aug 27, 2020)

i do like wise only it's 454 in a searay , so far no issues


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## Darby (Dec 18, 2020)

captchas said:


> i do like wise only it's 454 in a searay , so far no issues


does the searay get its fuel in the mariner, or pump gas? whats the difference?


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## LouC (Dec 5, 2016)

Here none really. Marina gas still has ethanol in it. Except they only sell high octane no regular grade. Believe it or not one year I ran my boat on stabilized E10 gas that was about 3 years old and the boat ran just fine! I had the boat laid up for repairs (I did them so it took longer, first time I did any major engine work). Every year I try to run it as low on gas as possible and add fresh in the spring. 
Here's what the gas I dump out of the filter usually looks like:


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

oneacer said:


> You will find a gazillion threads on gas and additives in this forum.
> 
> Everyone has their own way of doing it, .... its like religion or politics. ....


Oh yah. Like which oil is best, best brand or spark plug ... really get's people going.

You should be able to leave Trufuel in the tank till next season without a problem. I would recommend either fill it up to reduce condensation in the tank or run it dry before storing it for the season. Again, everyone has their way.
In my circumstance I couldn't afford to be buying Trufuel so that option isn't doable. I get gas 5 gal at a time and try for ethanol free but not always. I do always add Stabil to the can before fill up. In my riders, tillers, mowers, snowblower so far no problems. I'll either fill a machine up in the off season or run it dry. I have a small electric pump to suck out full to make running an engine dry quicker and easier. 
I'll also add some fuel system cleaner. Not ever time I fill up but often especially during the summer when it's going into a number of different machines that might be used infrequently.

.


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## RKDad (Feb 10, 2021)

As stated earlier, non-ethanol fuel can be stored for 2 yrs worry free. I have an old poulan chainsaw that I put non-eth. in at least 2 yrs ago and no issues. Fuel stabilizers can cause issues after a year if not used. Anyone who has ever work on a few carbs that used stabilizers can testify to this. Instead of being green or yellowish/brown it will usually be dark red or blue. 

Ethanol is very corrosive and attracts moisture. Most people think they get bad gas from the pump when they see it in the bottom of the tank or carb bowl, in fact most times its from the ethanol. Fun fact, when water is absorbed into fuel containing ethanol it actually cause the ethanol to separate from the fuel causing it to be ineffective at raising octane levels which helps it burn cleaner. Which is why its there to begin with. 
Don't get me wrong, I use Stay-bil in everything with ethanol I own. I just try to make a habit of not storing it for more than a year. We can only get non-ethn in premium where I live and it's over $1 more a gallon. That's why I don't use it in everything.


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## RKDad (Feb 10, 2021)

Kiss4aFrog said:


> Oh yah. Like which oil is best, best brand or spark plug ... really get's people going.
> 
> You should be able to leave Trufuel in the tank till next season without a problem. I would recommend either fill it up to reduce condensation in the tank or run it dry before storing it for the season. Again, everyone has their way.
> In my circumstance I couldn't afford to be buying Trufuel so that option isn't doable. I get gas 5 gal at a time and try for ethanol free but not always. I do always add Stabil to the can before fill up. In my riders, tillers, mowers, snowblower so far no problems. I'll either fill a machine up in the off season or run it dry. I have a small electric pump to suck out full to make running an engine dry quicker and easier.
> ...


Same products I use, good stuff. I figure if it's good to store in my boat it has to be good in everything. Another product I started using after finding rust on the pistons of my 85 Bayliner (with original motor) is this stuff. Spray it in the carb at the end of each season until she smokes real good (5-10 sec) and no more rust.


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## TooTall999 (Nov 19, 2015)

I run nothing but ethanol free 89 octane gas in everything I own. I don't use any additives and have had zero problems leaving gas in the tank over the summer. When I'm done with my snowblower I turn off the fuel valve and run out the gas in the carb.


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## Rooskie (Feb 12, 2015)

oneacer said:


> You will find a gazillion threads on gas and additives in this forum.
> 
> Everyone has their own way of doing it, .... its like religion or politics. ....


I can bring up a few, if the room would like........


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## Rooskie (Feb 12, 2015)

Abominable Blowman said:


> Recently bought an Areins 24 SHO Platinum.
> 
> I have been using Trufuel 4 cycle gas in it as initially used and recommended b the the dealer where I bought it.
> 
> ...





Abominable Blowman said:


> Recently bought an Areins 24 SHO Platinum.
> 
> I have been using Trufuel 4 cycle gas in it as initially used and recommended b the the dealer where I bought it.
> 
> ...


I entered the word 'Trufuel' in the search box on this site and got 480 responses.
Please, tell me what was answered here that was not answered in those 480 other threads?
A low-post member should not be able to ask a question until the 'search' function has been verified.
THERE'S a modification to the software I'd like to see!


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## ST1100A (Feb 7, 2015)

RKDad said:


> Same products I use, good stuff. I figure if it's good to store in my boat it has to be good in everything. Another product I started using after finding rust on the pistons of my 85 Bayliner (with original motor) is this stuff. Spray it in the carb at the end of each season until she smokes real good (5-10 sec) and no more rust.
> View attachment 175553


I remember 'Fogging' 2 strokes years ago with just plain 2 stroke oil, that was the thing to do with boat engines and other 2 strokers. Then along came a product called 'Sea-Foam'.
The oil would coat everything to prevent corrosion and lube the crankshaft seals. That was when 'Sea-Foam' became popular, you would spray or pour it directly in the carburetor when the engine was running and it would smoke like a pig until it stalled out or you would shut it off.
You had to replace or clean the spark plugs before running it again.
That is what 'Sea-Foam' was originally used for, to 'Fog' an engine. The 'Sea-Foam' was a light oil, like a 2 stroke oil that was diluted with a lot of alcohol to thin it out so it would coat everything. The alcohol also was a cleaning solvent and also absorbed water in the engine. That is what 'Sea-Foam' still is today, a lot of alcohol and some light oil, it is not a 'Stabilizer'.


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## Tony P. (Jan 9, 2017)

Abominable Blowman said:


> Recently bought an Areins 24 SHO Platinum.
> 
> I have been using Trufuel 4 cycle gas in it as initially used and recommended b the the dealer where I bought it.
> 
> 3) Over the long term use, is Trufuel the same as regular gas + Sta-bil? I am trying to justify the much higher cost of Trufuel over regukar gas + Sta-bil in terms of cost benefits.


I've cut part of the OP, to show the basic question. Specifically in a snowblower, is Trufuel worth it? I've never used it but my guess is no. At around $20/gallon or roughly 10X the cost of gasoline plus stabilizer, it seems to be overkill. I don't see either performance, efficiency, or longevity improving enough, if at all, to warrant it's use.

The OP's dealer recommended it and I wouldn't be surprised if he sells it.


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## nbwinter (Jan 18, 2021)

Like many I add some fuel stabilizer and some seafoam to every jug before I fill it up. In all my years using chain saws, weed whackers, mowers, blowers and such I have never had a problem with fuel.


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## Rooskie (Feb 12, 2015)

ST1100A said:


> I remember 'Fogging' 2 strokes years ago with just plain 2 stroke oil, that was the thing to do with boat engines and other 2 strokers. Then along came a product called 'Sea-Foam'.
> The oil would coat everything to prevent corrosion and lube the crankshaft seals. That was when 'Sea-Foam' became popular, you would spray or pour it directly in the carburetor when the engine was running and it would smoke like a pig until it stalled out or you would shut it off.
> You had to replace or clean the spark plugs before running it again.
> That is what 'Sea-Foam' was originally used for, to 'Fog' an engine. The 'Sea-Foam' was a light oil, like a 2 stroke oil that was diluted with a lot of alcohol to thin it out so it would coat everything. The alcohol also was a cleaning solvent and also absorbed water in the engine. That is what 'Sea-Foam' still is today, a lot of alcohol and some light oil, it is not a 'Stabilizer'.


Good Point.
So I guess I'll get some Stabil 360 at 11 something a can and use that solely.


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