Winterizing ...do you put your boat away full of gas or empty or somewhere in between?

Doc

Doc

Liquid Addiction
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I've heard suggested to put your boat away full of gas or empty. Either way you wont' get the condensation inside the tank. If you put it away with 1/4 tank or 1/2 tank you will get the condensation build up. Is this accurate? Is it anything to be concerned about?
 
My boat always has full fuel and stabilizer - year-round. Minimizes condensation, and boat is always ready to head to the lake on a moments notice...
brick
 
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I like the way you're thinking. :clap: :clap: I think putting away full it best if that is possible. It got easier for me just this fall as the gas station near my ramp just added rec 90 non ethanal fuel. I prefer filling with that when it will be sitting for the winter months.
 
We have a nice new big-parking gas station that also has non-ethanol gas. I have been using them for the last couple of years. Prior to that I was forced to use gas with ethanol. I still use green sta-bil, year round. Keeping my boat inside also minimizes the potential for diurnal temp changes and condensation.
 
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I'm in the sticks so all I've used is gas with ethanol for the past decade or whenever they started adding that to the fuel supply. I only use stabil at teh end of the season since I run through a tank in a weekend or two at most. No known issues but now that I have the choice I will run non ethanol at end of season for sure. Middle of the season when I'll run the tank through in a weekend or two gas with ethanol is fine. At $1.50 a gallon more for non ethanol I cannot afford to run it all season.
 
Wish they offered the rec 90 when I had the sunsation. Maybe I would have hit 70 like my friend with an 05 288 sunsation much like mine was.

I have run it in my tritoon but with the algae build up i still did no hit the top speed I hit when I first got the boat in early august. Two months of river buildup on the tritoons took it's toll.
 
I`ve have never really worried about it. I just put it away with whats in it at the time. I do overly treat the fuel in there with Seafoam and Stabil products and tape off the tank vent on the exterior of the hull to minimize the draw in of new cold air. Each spring, I top off and fire up, I`ve never had any issues so far.
 
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Interesting. I never considered taping off the vent. Good idea. I overly treat also. Can't hurt. :thumb:
 
knock on wood I always run it dry as I can get it, treat whats left and run a little more. In the spring fill up with fresh fuel. Many years ago when they made the switch to the ethanol based I used to leave it full then , I had a bad summer with fuel issues.
 
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Doc said:
I've heard suggested to put your boat away full of gas or empty. Either way you wont' get the condensation inside the tank. If you put it away with 1/4 tank or 1/2 tank you will get the condensation build up. Is this accurate? Is it anything to be concerned about?
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I’ve always kept whatever fuel is remaining in the tank and have the mechanic put in the appropriate amount of stabilizer. Never had a problem on startup in over 20 years of Canadian winters with 3 different boats.
 
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Sandbar said:
I’ve always kept whatever fuel is remaining in the tank and have the mechanic put in the appropriate amount of stabilizer. Never had a problem on startup in over 20 years of Canadian winters with 3 different boats.
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Exactly how I did it for years. No problems at all. Then I started overthinking. Duh. :bonk:
 
My marina now has 90 non-ethanol which came in less expensive than my previous marina with ethanol [Valvtech]. I was surprised. So for most of the season I'll run that. But, if the timing is right and I empty the tank and pull the boat out of the water I'll fill it with auto gas with ethanol. I burn through it fast enough that I'm not worried about it.

As for winter, due to the possible mix of ethanol and non ethanol, I will put stabil in the tank and fill it up or nearly so.
 
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I always try to keep it full and use Valvtech fuel. With Valvtech there is no need of additives.

But now my boat is diesel and that a whole other story.
 
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SST said:
My marina now has 90 non-ethanol which came in less expensive than my previous marina with ethanol [Valvtech]. I was surprised. So for most of the season I'll run that. But, if the timing is right and I empty the tank and pull the boat out of the water I'll fill it with auto gas with ethanol. I burn through it fast enough that I'm not worried about it.

As for winter, due to the possible mix of ethanol and non ethanol, I will put stabil in the tank and fill it up or nearly so.
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I would stay away from ethanol. It will wash crud out of your tank, straight into the fuel filter, which hopefully catches it. Just not worth the cost savings for me.
 
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brick said:
I would stay away from ethanol. It will wash crud out of your tank, straight into the fuel filter, which hopefully catches it. Just not worth the cost savings for me.
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The first several years I used mostly Valvtech with autogas used randomly. Treated every winter. Maybe 5 years later, I had the overheat and the boat sat un-used for nearly 9 months. That winter I put treatment into the tank. I was seriously considering getting a hazmat company to empty the tank but my mechanic constantly said not to, don't worry about it. I listened to him. The following season and after repairs, it fired right up and I ran it empty and put new gas in. No issues.

Years later, while looking for a possible gas leak [turns out it was the filler tube is leaching] I opened the tank via the sending unit and probed the tank. Clean and no sign of crud. It actually looked factory fresh. My engine, except for filters, are all original equipment. At least from 2007 when I acquired it.

I guess my point it that the fear of ethanol doesn't effect me like it did in the earlier days. As long as you run the tank down in a reasonable time frame and properly treat the tank at the end of the season, you shouldn't have any problems. I've run auto-gas, Valvtech and non-Ethanol separately or all three depending on when I need to add gas. Boat runs fine. But, I do try to make sure most or all of the auto-gas has been burned off before winter storage.
 
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The 6 BILLION other boaters all over the world in all climates have no problems. I have NEVER used or allowed any additive in cars or boats Empty 1/2 or full never a problem in N J or N Y Oct. to May.

Cold winter air HAS a lot less moisture than south Florida. That is where Aluminum tanks corrode out from moisture. The corrosion is normally pin holes on the top of the tank. If your gas cap gasket fails or is missing ? Ethanol Jelly will happen.............. NO gas additive will break up the jelly.

Fear sells a lot of P M items
 
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I always add a couple small containers of StaBil to my 50+ gallon tank and fill it to the top with regular unleaded gas and then run the engine for a few minutes on the muffs. I have never had a problem with bad fuel the next season. Never have had any crud or water in the spin-on fuel filter when changing during seasonal service.
 
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