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Location: Stones throw away...finally!! | is it safe to use both stabill and seafoam or should I use one or the other? |
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Posts: 444
Location: Duluth, MN | Seafoam already has a stabilizer in it. You don't need Stabil if you already use Seafoam. |
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Posts: 253
Location: On the water | Is one better than the other??? I've heard that Stabill can cause harm to Mercury Motors, can that be true???? I've only used Stabill a few times and have not had a problem on my 25 horse Mercury 2 stroke. |
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Posts: 390
Location: Ohio | FEVER - 11/1/2008 8:12 PM
Is one better than the other??? I've heard that Stabill can cause harm to Mercury Motors, can that be true???? I've only used Stabill a few times and have not had a problem on my 25 horse Mercury 2 stroke.
I hope not! I just put some in my 9.9 Mariner 2 Stroke. 
Edited by Trolling Thunder 11/1/2008 7:19 PM
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Posts: 4266
| I've heard from a Mercury mechanic, that some people put in stabill, fuel injection cleaner, and anything that they can find in hopes of preventing problems. His advice, fog the engine. That protects your cylinders. For your left over fuel, he told me just to add a bottle of dry fuel, because the damage that is done, is done in the spring when you start sucking a combination of gas and water into your carburator, fuel injectors, ports....whatever. Water out means good gas. |
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Posts: 271
Location: davis,IL | The best way to do your winterize is to fog cylinders and drain ALL fuel from your tanks and carbs. On the carbs there is often a drain plug on the side or bottom of the carbs, as to the tank, I siphon it dry and burn it in my cars. For mixed fuel just add a couple gallons per full tank on the car and it will burn just fine. In the spring I'll put in 10 gallons of 89 octane in the boat for the first few times out to mix down any "old" fuel still left over from last year, then I just use my normal 87 octane after that, I've NEVER had any problems. As to Stabil, I've just don't seem to have any luck with stuff ( engine intermittantly misses ), Seafoam though has treated me well, motor always runs smoother when a can is mixed in with ten to fifteen gallons.
Edited by muskydope 11/2/2008 12:22 AM
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| drain ALL fuel from your tanks
i do the exact opposite. draining the tank would not prevent condensation on the sides of the tank and you could have water waiting for you in the spring when you fill it back up. it's not the gas that goes "bad", it's the tank walls that collect water out of the air when the temperature changes...
the advice i've gotten from mechanics and motor-specific discussion sites is to make sure your tank is full all the way up. not only is this much easier than siphoning 20 plus gallons of gas out, but it means no exposed space for water to possibly condense on the sides of the tank. be sure to leave a very little amount of space at the top for expansion and do not cover the vent. add Stabil, be happy.
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Posts: 390
Location: Ohio | lambeau,
Do I leave the vent open or closed over winter? Thanks |
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Posts: 138
Location: Utah | lambeau - 11/2/2008 6:34 AM
drain ALL fuel from your tanks
i do the exact opposite. draining the tank would not prevent condensation on the sides of the tank and you could have water waiting for you in the spring when you fill it back up. it's not the gas that goes "bad", it's the tank walls that collect water out of the air when the temperature changes...
the advice i've gotten from mechanics and motor-specific discussion sites is to make sure your tank is full all the way up. add Stabil, be happy.
This is exactly the same advice we've gotten. The only difference is we use Sea Foam now and no longer use Stabil. Sea Foam IMHO has proven itself for us. When we've used Stabil we've had problems with our kicker at lower RPMs. Ever since our mechanic told us to use Sea Foam...no more problems. Here's a link to info on Sea Foam http://www.seafoamsales.com/motorTuneUp.htm |
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Posts: 3508
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | The reason seafoam does so well is that it is also a fuel system cleaner along with being a fuel stabilizer. If you regularly use seafoam in your tank, you are all set, and your engine components (especially on 2 strokes not using a synthetic oil of some sort) will not gum up anywhere near as much, and things run smoothly.
Stabil works just fine...it's just not a fuel system cleaner..
Steve |
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| Do I leave the vent open or closed over winter? Thanks
i'm not a motor mechanic, and i didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...
but what i've read, and done, is to leave the tank vent open. ie., don't cover or block the vent in an attempt to keep moisture out. the vent allows gasses to escape due to expansion related to temperature changes, so let it do its job.
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Posts: 395
Location: NW WI | Whether you use Stabil or SeaFoam (I prefer the latter) you should add it to the tank first, then add your fuel. Adding the fuel after the Stabil/SeaFoam helps to better mix things up. Run the motor for at least 10 minutes after this. In 30 yrs of runing all types of 2 and 4 stroke motors, I myself have never drained the carbs...draining them can dry the carb gaskets out. |
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Posts: 1887
Location: syracuse indiana | well it does also go by what motor you are running.. if its a optimax YOU CANNOT FOG THAT MOTOR. you will plug up the direct fuel injectors.. just run your seafoam into a full tank and run it a while to make sure it get in all parts of motor.. drain the water/fuel filter and then take the opti oil and get a syringe and squirt 1 oz into each cylinders to prevent rust.. also make sure you hand turn the motor to move the oil around inside.. and change the lower unit oil and grease things up and your goodto go....bill
Edited by archerynut36 11/10/2008 7:44 PM
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Posts: 130
Location: Menomonee Falls, WI | Or, if you're lucky......find a way to fish all year round so you don't have to winterize your motor  |
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Posts: 797
Location: North Central IL USA | lambeau - 11/2/2008 7:34 AM
the advice i've gotten from mechanics and motor-specific discussion sites is to make sure your tank is full all the way up.
Yep, pour in a can of sea foam and fill 'er up! |
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Posts: 5874
| Full, or mostly full, is what I do. I put the Stabil in last weeknd before what I thought would be my last hurrah for the year. If I go anymore this year, I don't have to worry about it. If I put her up with less than a full tank, no problem. The plastic tanks they use now don't promote condensation like the steel tanks of yesterday, so less than a full tank is not a problem. I've never put one up with an empty tank, and probably wouldn't. |
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| Ifishskis - 11/2/2008 4:05 PM
Whether you use Stabil or SeaFoam (I prefer the latter) you should add it to the tank first, then add your fuel. Adding the fuel after the Stabil/SeaFoam helps to better mix things up. Run the motor for at least 10 minutes after this. In 30 yrs of runing all types of 2 and 4 stroke motors, I myself have never drained the carbs...draining them can dry the carb gaskets out.
This is interesting.... I used to leave my fuel line connected to my kicker all summer after trolling in the spring. Then in the fall when I wanted to troll again year after year the same thing happened, the fuel in the carb evaporated and left me with gummed up carb jets and it wouldn't run. The mechanic told me to disconnect the fuel line and run it empty after each use. Since then I have had no problems. As a side benefit I also don't have any trouble getting that cold blodded big foot to start either. With an empty carb it start up right away and doesn't even need to warm up before puting in gear. |
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Posts: 720
| I'm with Abe. |
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