Problem with fuel, now questions about what's best for winter

[vernz]

I've been having trouble getting my 59 J-code to keep running There is a fuel delivery problem. After eliminating other potential problems I sent the carb out to be rebuilt. The rebuilder contacted me and said the carb is full of water and corrosion. He is surprised the car ran at all. This brings me to my question. I've never had this problem before. I always top up the tank and added sea foam just prior to storage (unheated indoor). Recently, non-ethanol fuel has become available in our area and two years ago I started topping up with that. Since ethanol soaks up water am I hurting myself by fueling with non-ethanol gas prior to storage (the old gasoline deicer was nothing more than alcohol)? Was sea foam a bad idea and I should be using Stabil? Of course, there is always the possibility that I did nothing wrong but "lucked" into a bad tank of gas. I will need to siphon off my existing gas and purge the fuel line and pump before I start running with the new carburetor.


Vern

[Derbird]

In my experience, keep using sea foam and stay away from stabil. I usually add it just before my last drive to make sure to get it through the whole system. As far as ethanol gas goes, I will run it in the summer, but always try to dilute it down with non ethanol for storage.

[simplyconnected]

Vernon, I'm in the same boat you are because we both live straight across Lake Erie from each other. Condensation is the culprit that forms rust. In old formulations, water sank straight to the bottom of your fuel tank. We used 'dry gas' (ethanol) to absorb and dilute the water WITH the gas. In a sense, gasohol is good because it does absorb water until it can't anymore. That's why it needs to be fresh. Notice, 'dry gas' is no longer sold because everyone has it in their gasohol.

Evaporation is the second culprit. All the 'good stuff' evaporates first, leaving varnish. This happens in your carb bowls and your gas tank.

The third strike is the fact that fuel tanks confine chunks of rust. Rust particles cannot get passed the pickup tube screen inside your tank so it stays in the tank as it accumulates.

Here's the deal... I have a 'portable' emergency generator in case power goes out. 5-gal's of gas lasts 12 hours. I like to keep at least four 5-gal cans full at all times. The trick is to keep it FRESH so I cycle it through the cars every few months or so.

If you cannot run gas out of your classic car to 'cycle your gas', drain it and add fresh. I have a pipe plug on my Galaxie tank to make this easy. At other times I simply added more fresh gas then went on a trip. You gotta keep your gas fresh. Additives only gum things up or the chemicals attack carb parts, etc.

Run your engine until your carburetor is DRY. Pinch vice-grips on your fuel hose (at the frame) and run your engine until it dies. That should prevent any varnish from forming in your carb bowls. Just remember to 'un-pinch' your fuel line after the engine stops. - Dave

[Dakota Boy]

X2 on at least draining the carb bowls for winter.

[Deanj]

There's nothing as good as running your classic car as often as possible. I notice mine won't start promptly after sitting a few days.

During the Winter for whatever reason, State Farm does not offer to remove liability coverage and allow you to cover your car with comp only. That is unlike my other "newer" old cars where they did. That means I'm not truly putting my car away for the Winter. So in addition to using Stabil and trying to keep the tank full, I run the car or better yet drive the car whenever possible. That's especially true when there's no salt dust on the roads. Running the engine and operating the A/C helps that system and helps keep the exhaust dry.


It helps I have a Polyaspartic garage floor, too. Best thing I ever did for a garage and my cars.

Dean

[Tbird1044]

Winter Car Storage

I saw this on Hagerty.com and thought I would pass it along on this thread. You can decide what you agree with or disagree with in the article: https://www.hagerty.com/articles-vid...24_HagertyNews
Nyles

[vernz]

Thanks everyone for all the great input. I installed the rebuilt carburetor and the car starts and runs perfectly. Prior to installing it I backfed fresh fuel through the fuel lines to the tank and siphoned off about half the gas that was in the tank. I made sure to siphon from the tank low point and there was nothing in the fuel that I could see. No sediment and no water. I'm still scratching my head about the source of my carburetor contamination problem. We are experiencing a monsoon season here in upstate New York so I'm waiting for a break in the weather to run my car over for winter storage. I need to make a final decision on fuel winterization though.


Vern

[Woobie]

If there was the option of draining everything (carb, pump, tank and lines) that would be the route I'd take.

[OX1]

In my experience, keep using sea foam and stay away from stabil. I usually add it just before my last drive to make sure to get it through the whole system. As far as ethanol gas goes, I will run it in the summer, but always try to dilute it down with non ethanol for storage.

I use the "green" ethanol Stabil, what don't you like about it?
We don't have non-ethanol, cept maybe at the marinas, haven't looked in a while.