Today is my day to prep the T for winter storage. Was able to get it out yesterday for a final run. Now, oil changed, checked antifreeze, removed battery & upholstery, put on the dust cover, etc.

My question is: Should I remove 1/4 tank of gas? If so, should I leave cap off so fumes disipate?or, should I leave gas in and add some methol hydrate (Gas line antifreeze). Storage is in an unheated garage that could see temps drop to minus 25 for short periods.

What I have done for cars is drain the tank and either run the carb dry or otherwise drain the fuel system. Plus a 1/4 tank is what? 3-4 gallons? That would get me a week in the mini.

We don't have a real winter here & drive year round, however, with the lawn mower I put in "Stabil" gas stabilizer, run it to get it into the line & carb, after three years between gardners, who used there own equipment, it started on the first pull.

Alex

Alex - I agree; "Stabil" is great stuff, and not just because Paul Harvey used to boost Stabil on his talk shows either! I use it in any gasoline power vehicles or implements; everything from the 85 gal. gasoline tank in our motorhome, right down to the 10 oz. gasoline tank in the weedeater! It really does keep the gasoline fresh all Winter long and until the next Spring.

If the gas contains ethanol it would be better to drain the tank completely. Ethanol separates from the gas after about three months and settles to the bottom of the tank. Stabil does not prevent this and once it separates it stays that way so you wind up running on straight ethanol and that ain't good. I was advised by the marina where I store my boat for the winter that they had a lot of trouble this year when people who left their tanks full and added Stabil tried to get their boats running again. As a result, they now drain the tanks at the recommendation of most of the marine engine manufacturers. I was also told that the motorcycle set is also doing this when they lay their bikes up for the winter at the suggestion of Harley Davidson. I can't swear to the veracity of any of this but pass it along so you can make your own inquiry and adjust things accordingly. All I know for sure is that if it's true it's another example of the government screwing things up for everyone by mandating something that causes more trouble than the problem they were trying to solve!

Val,

Very interesting take on gas/ethanol separation. Thanks for the info.

Gary

Pour in a full botle of Stabil, run it till it smokes and you know the lines and carburetor are loaded, then drain it, my .02¢

I fill the tank full and add stabil no worries...
Replace with what evaporates prior to the startup in the spring.

Started up the generator with 1 year-old gas with stabil. No problems.

I have had very good luck using stabil in my several old cars, motorcycles Whizzer, boats, lawnmower and weed wacker. I do not drain the gas but this ethanol/gas issue may be something new?? Joe

I always filled the tank, added Stabil and let it sit over the winter without problems but if the information I got about ethanol separation is true the cumulative effect could really be a problem. I'm not taking any chances this year. I invested in Coleman fuel and will fill the tank with that over the winter. When I get the car ready for the season I will drain and store the Coleman fuel for future use. I have had Coleman fuel in cans for over five years and it doesn't seem to deteriorate in any way. I understand that some of our fellow enthusiasts in California are actually using Coleman fuel instead of the lousy gas they get out there thanks to the environmentalists.

Enviro Nazis Val, not enviromentalists.
I think a good way to do it is this; fill the tank with gas, add some Stabil and some 2 cycle oil. Marvel Mystery Oils or egular oil. Run the engine a few minutes. Shut it off and drain the carb.
Over the next few weeks drian the fuel tank and burn it a couple of gallons at a time in something that you use regularly, preferably without a cat converter.
Leave the T the rest of the winter with the tank drained.
I leave my T from Nov. 11th (Vetran's Day) or middle of December (Christmas lights tour) untill either middle of June or Veteran's day again with the tank just the way it was when I parked it the fall before. Not a good idea.

Leave the petrol in and send the car home to New Zealand, until your winter thaw! John

if you think about all these coments you must disreguard them and think like a T. newer gas tanks have an inside coating or are made of plastic, rust and oxidation is not a major problem with these tanks. also a tank of gas stored depends on where it is stored on how much condensation it will collect, heated vs unheated, concrete floor vs wood vs blacktop floor.all these factors effect the end results after a long winter. the type of winter also, is it sub zero all winter or is it in the 20s at nite and up to the 50s during the day. the later temps will create more condensation. a little dry gas in the spring and drain the sweet potato
and the carb will rid the water. as for the model T, most T gas tanks are not coated inside other than a little rust and scale. the only way to prevent rust is to eliminate oxygen, add a the recomended amount of stabilizer,run the car for a few, and then fill the tank with gas, not ethonol, with no oxygen in the tank you will not have any rust or scale to deal with next summer.this is my 1.5 cents. i do this to my 5 Ts in upstate NY every winter, i also add a little oil in the cylinders and turn the engine over with the crank several times during the winter. i also store the batteries in a cool place, not freezing. i also put moth balls and mouse traps throughout the storage garage and empty the mouse traps regulary. i oil all oil cups and greese all greese cups to. i also fill the lawn mower, diesel tractors etc full of gas.

Val has good advice about the coleman fuel.I have several freinds that restore the small Briggs engines and they sit on the shelf for years and crank right up.
Mine that I restored a few years ago,will have to be partly tore down ,carbs cleaned and such and put back as i didnt think about this new gas gumming up so bad.

I use coleman fuel for everything.
It seems to liven up old gas. Use it in the spring before starting up your motors. I put it in the tank and slosh it around and let it set overnite, usually starts and runs good right off.
I pick it up at yard sales, usually for about a buck a gallon. The last That I found I had to pay $3 for 2 gallons. Still a lot cheaper than the stuff at the pump.
Where can you buy gas that does not have any ethanol added to it ??

John, send $$ and I'll ship it 'overnight'. Of course I want her back in April.
rb

Being in the storage business in Wisconsin, I think I've seen just about everything you can think of to store a car. Here's what I do. I drive the car in the building around December with whatever gas is in the tank, shut it off and walk away. It never fails to start when I come back to it in the spring.

The most interesting thing is covering the car. Rodents just seem to like things to hide under.

Dave DeYoung

I have seen a reference on another forum that E10 gasoline will start to degrade after 9 days of pumping...

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f53/fuel-stabilizer-bs-saviour-70448/

I think that ANY gasoline, regardless of alcohol content, will BEGIN to degrade as soon as it is exposed to the oxygen in the air.

The question becomes, how much degradation is acceptable before performance begins to suffer? The answer to that depends on lots of things.

I use Sta-Bil at double the recommended concentration but only for my lawn & garden products which will see some four months of non-use.

I no longer have my speedster and so I now drive my Mini weekly. Saves on Sta-Bil...

Seth

What is interesting about these discussions is that no one has brought up the use of the boutique fuels in North America. As of July 2008, there were 13 different formulations being sold across the U.S. being called gasoline. Add the alcohol blends and you can see why everyone has different suggestions depending on their personal experiences.

I have a low mileage 2000 Mustang convertible that comes out of storage for the summer and goes back in for the winter. The storage regimen for this car is I fill up and then disconnect the battery. I'm lucky because where I store is out of the ozone action areas and the gasoline seems to lack a lot of the MTBE, alcohols, and other oxgenators that many of you are seeing. In the spring, my car fires right up. My motorcycle gets the same treatment of a full tank and then the fuel is shut off and the carbs run dry. Again no problems.

For the stored Ts, the gas gets shut off and the tanks are drained. I could probably leave the gas in the tank all year but I choose to burn it off in my van.