Fill plastic onboard tank or store it close to empty over the winter?

Will be putting my 150 Prov V to sleep for the winter in about a month. Would I be better to store gas with stabilizer in it or try to empty the tank? Quite a bit easier to store full. It's a 35 gallon tank.

Tia.

Preferably....drain the tank, air and dry it out for winter storage. Siphon fuel into cans and mix in stabilizer. However, I must say you'd never catch me using 6 month old fuel, regardless of its stabilizer mixing. Using old fuel will cause far more dollars in repairs than the $100 you'd lose by disposing of the fuel.

Just curious, do you not believe fuel stabilizers work? Thanks for your reply.

Nucad said:

Just curious, do you not believe fuel stabilizers work? Thanks for your reply.

Click to expand...

I do, and use a fuel stabilizer routinely. But as it relates to your situation, I wouldn't trust a stabilizer to maintain a tank of fuel over the course of 6 months. I have no scientific data which supports my opinion, it just seems realistic to me. Besides, it's not like you're trying to save 100+ gallons of fuel for 6 months. You're trying to save 100+ dollars. Seems logical to me to evacuate tank of fuel for the 6 months to completely offset any future fuel tank issues. Siphon the fuel into cans and add the stabilizer if you're really motivated to keep the 35g of fuel to use 6 months from now.

I think what I will try to do is try to run the tanks near empty with stabilized fuel in them. That way when Spring comes I can dilute this with fresh gas. I guess my concern was with the potential for water getting in the tank through condensation when it is not stored full. Still hopefully have a month of boating ahead.

The potential for condensation is really a lot lower than the common dock myth will lead you to believe....read the instructions on the stabilizer - proper quantity should work for six months with no problem....that said, if you want to evacuate the tank, get burn it in the truck....

I'd have to buy a pump to get the gas out of two 35 gallon tanks, but Since my car only holds ten gallons it would take some time to burn it up. Hopefully I get some good boating in between now and December.

Most boats have a water separator with a capacity of at least a pint or more. I don't believe most cars o​r trucks would be able to tolerate that much water without expensive damage occurring. The last time I was at the Toyota dealer, the labor rate was well over $125 per hour. At that rate, just dropping and cleaning the gas tank would be a $400 proposition. If other parts are damaged, the tab would be even higher and any warranty would not cover such damage. Unless you are absolutely sure the fuel is free of water or other contaminants, I would resist pouring it into any modern vehicle. One option might be to put it in the "free" section of Craigslist. Someone with carbureted equipment might find it useful for their snowblower, tractor or lawn equipment. For my purposes, trying to save a few bucks by storing and reusing the fuel doesn't seem to be worth the risk.