Winterizing, use E-0 stabilized gas or install shut off valve and run carb out of fuel?

[Lou C]

I’ve been thinking about this, here we are stuck with E10 at most marinas & gas stations, but there is one station that sells E-0 94 octane gas (started using it in my small engines). Would it be better to hook up my outboard tank & run it on that, then fog it, or, install a shut off, run it on the E-10 in the tank & shut off the fuel flow while fogging it? I had bought a 6 gallon outboard tank for troubleshooting a fuel problem and figured I could use it for this too. Just trying to get more than 6 years between carb rebuilds lol!

 

[racerone]

An empty carburetor stays clean.

 

[Lou C]

My outboard tank has a shut off so I could do it that way with the E0 gas as well! I might try this first, run it a little above idle as if I were going to fog it and shut off the fuel & see how long it takes to run out of gas. Then I can time the fogging so the 2 coincide

 

[rolmops]

Since this is an outboard, the carburetor should be readily accessible. Usually running until it runs out of gas does not completely empty out the carb. How about you run and fog the engine on the E-10, shut the engine off when properly fogged and then just unscrew the bottom screw on the bowl and allow it to drain completely

 

[Lou C]

It's my 4.3 I/O with Quadrajet carb, I used the outboard tank to troubleshoot a fuel problem I had all season....and thought of using it for this, as well....

 

[Pmt133]

Stabil in the fuel, fog the engine and shoot fogging oil down the vent into the bowl. Haven't had to touch a carb in 15 years doing that.

 

[dingbat]

Stabil in the fuel starting in November.
Pop the drain plugs on the carbs and let the fuel run out after the last trip.
Back into the barn and call it good

Have not fogged in 20+ years.

 

[Lou C]

not an outboard lol. no way to drain carb
so it's either store it with EO or run it dry? What's better?

 

[Bondo]

not an outboard lol. no way to drain carb
so it's either store it with EO or run it dry? What's better?

Ayuh,...... Run it dry,....

 

[Lou C]

OK gents, I will take your advice!

 

[Scott06]

not an outboard lol. no way to drain carb
so it's either store it with EO or run it dry? What's better?

It (carb) will dry out just sitting there. I put stabil in my tank starting Labor Day so it pulls through the system. I do this with both my boat (carb/ ethanol Free) and jetski (injected/ E10) never had an issue fuel wise with either, nor seen any chit in the fuel filters. Generally I fog but have forgotten some years again not sure if it is needed for 6 months, but at least I feel better

 

[racerone]

When you buy a new carburetor is it full of gasoline to keep it from drying out ?

 

[Pmt133]

My holley came with some sort of sludge crap in it shipped from them. Mineral spirits maybe.

 

[airshot]

I use some form of fuel treatment all summer and good inline filters, at season end just run the carbs dry on muffs. Any fuel that might be left has been treated so no concern. Fuel tank is plastic so no worry about rust. I do suck out the remaining fuel and use it elsewhere so next season fresh fuel to start. No issues in my 60 years. All my rebuild needs have come from motors purchased used that others failed to maintain properly. And yes, I have used E fuels since they came out and took over !!

 

[Scott Danforth]

You're overthinking it.

I would not run a mechanical fuel pump drawing against a closed valve.

If you want to run the carb dry, just pull the fuel pump and run the motor

 

[harringtondav]

My boating pal with a '95 350 mag removes the fuel filter and runs the carb dry. He seems happy. ...until that time he forgot to replace the filter and drained his battery trying to restart in the spring at the ramp.
I ran Stabil through my '96 4.3 lx 4 bbl for 25 yrs and had no carb problems.
Now my '22 VP 4.3 requires 15 minutes on a 50:1 premix for fogging and injection system lube.
Editorial: EFI engines are like Ferrari engines. Powerful, fast, and finicky. ....I'm starting to miss my carbed 4.3 TB4.

 

[Lou C]

You're overthinking it.

I would not run a mechanical fuel pump drawing against a closed valve.

If you want to run the carb dry, just pull the fuel pump and run the motor

So you're saying shutting off the fuel will stress the seals in the pump I guess....in that case, I'll just use the outboard tank I have that I used for testing the fuel system (another story) but fill it with E0 gas that's stabilized. There is one station around here that sells it, expensive but I use it in my small engines now. I was having fuel starvation problems all season, and after rebuilding the Quadrajet again, finally did what I should have done first, hook up an outboard tank for testing. Well when I did that, all my performance problems were gone! The engine ran better than it has in several seasons. So I think the problem I was having is either a stuck anti siphon valve or crud on the screen on the bottom of the fuel tank pick up (if there is a screen on it, some don't have that). I'll find out after I pull the boat out.
2 things I learned troubleshooting marine engines:
fuel starvation, test the boat fuel system FIRST, before rebuilding carbs, changing fuel pumps, chasing other gremlins...
hard starting/rough running, check for water in the cylinders FIRST, before anything else, if you have that, it has to be dealt with right away (the problem I had like 9 years ago).
Live and learn gentlemen!

 

[Lou C]

My boating pal with a '95 350 mag removes the fuel filter and runs the carb dry. He seems happy. ...until that time he forgot to replace the filter and drained his battery trying to restart in the spring at the ramp.
I ran Stabil through my '96 4.3 lx 4 bbl for 25 yrs and had no carb problems.
Now my '22 VP 4.3 requires 15 minutes on a 50:1 premix for fogging and injection system lube.
Editorial: EFI engines are like Ferrari engines. Powerful, fast, and finicky. ....I'm starting to miss my carbed 4.3 TB4.

I'm going to agree with that, I think EFI in my vehicles has been excellent, I don't think I have had to fix any aspect of the EFI system on any vehicle I have had and I am counting a 27 year old Grand Cherokee 4.0 in that mix, all that ever needed was a cleaning of the idle air valve now and then (183,000 miles). 2007 Grand Cherokee 5.7, 131,000 miles, nothing.
However, in boats, not so much. Even outboards which are designed to be a marine engine, can have problems.
That's why I kept the old boat among other reasons, simplicity, if you grew up with carbs, rebuilding a Quadrajet or Holley is not a big deal, rebuild kits are cheap, mechanical fuel pumps are cheap, yes EFI runs better when cold, but that's the only functional advantage that I can see. There are more points of failure, and component cost is much higher.

 

[Grub54891]

Problems arise simply from boats sitting around to much. Your car gets used pretty much daily, your boat takes a rest a lot. Park your car next to the garage and let it sit all winter and it will have issues in the spring. I’ve had to explain this to many boaters over the years.