Issue with leaving 2 stroke fuel for periods of time.

GaryC · 15 May 2017, 10:00

Just a question to see if anyone who leaves their fuel tanks full with 2 stoke (petrol and Oil) have found any issues when they are left for a month or so. Guess over winter is not a good idea. From a dive RIB perspective it is operationally better to leave the tanks full after use. Has anyone had any issues?

HDAV · 15 May 2017, 11:34

30 days should be ok but you can add fuel stabiliser if leaving longer particularly over winter etc it's supposed to work for up to 12 months once the fuel is treated so if topping with fresh unleaded add stabiliser and you know your ok for several months not sure if has any ill effect on pre mixed 2 stroke but says it is suitable for 2 & 4 stroke use.

Stihl, Honda etc recommend its use for their engines.

Read about it here:
https://www.goldeagle.com/brands/sta-bil-faqs

VanillaIceCream · 16 May 2017, 14:31

I use a fuel stabilizer like Star Tron for every gas up with ethanol in my 2 stroke. That takes care of the moisture problem in the fuel during use in the summer.
For winter I have sometimes (but not always) added another fuel treatment. No problems with the fuel being five months old and running in the spring.

I do try to fill up for the winter with non-ethanol gas in the fall as it doesn't go bad as quickly either as ethanol fuel. Standard non-ethanol fuel is more expensive and harder to find and not available at marina's where I live usually, hence only filling up with it at the end of the season.