Winter storage ....already!!

[matata]

What are peoples thoughts regarding engine winterisation and storage. Particularly thinking of ethanol problems, stale fuel, should you run a fuel injected engine dry to try to eliminate stale fuel, do you drain the vst tank etc,etc. It has been suggested to me that BP ultimate is ethanol free and towards the end of the season i was thinking if running the last tank on it. I know it's not even mid summer yet !! Nik

[Fenlander]

It's a complex and changing situation. A few months back I copied the reply below from BP and kept it on the PC. Given that the same fuel can have differing ethanol content in different areas of the UK you can never know for sure so it's my opinion that if you run a motor sold in recent years it will be compatible with fuels up to E10 and all you need to be sure is that the fuel is as fresh as possible.

The BP response...


"Thank you for your email concerning the fuel sold by BP.
Bioethanol is present in nearly all regular unleaded petrol being sold by fuel suppliers in the UK today.* Bioethanol is also becoming increasingly present in the UK’s super-unleaded (premium/higher octane) petrol too; this is because, in compliance with the UK government’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, fuel suppliers have been required to increase the quantity of bio fuels in their transport fuels since 2008.* As a consequence, the inclusion of bioethanol in our BP Ultimate Unleaded supply chain is an evolving situation and we are therefore unable to give you categorical assurances as to its absence or presence.* However we can assure you that – as required by the*The Motor Fuel (Composition and Content) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 – the content of bioethanol in our BP Ultimate Unleaded gasoline will never be more than 5% by volume until 1st January 2017 at the earliest."

[HDAV]

My take goes soemypthing like this after last run of the season typically November time, i will wash and flush as normal, then fog the engine give it a good coat of anti corrosion spray (gt85) then add fuel stabiliser to the tank and hitch it back up for a run to the petrol station (this is often and week or later) fill the tank to the top with super often Tesco 99 (closest station) then park up for the winter in February typically ill run the motor to clear fogging oil then take a short trip on the sea (its cold) burn some old fuel off and top off with fresh this continues if I think it will sit for 6+ weeks more stabiliser goes in, the stabiliser its self only lasts about 3 years so don't be precious about it!

Quicksilver Quickstor Fuel Stabiliser 355ml

It's less than £5 a year bottle treat 227 litres and I have a 70l tank

If your leaving fuel longer than a couple weeks during the season and have big tanks then Quicksilver Quickcare Ethanol | Marine Super Store may help improve the shelf life of onboard fuel

[matata]

Whats your thoughts re running the engine dry and or draining the vst tank??