StellaBlue

So, I live in Vermont... and it's cold here. last week we saw a couple of days not getting above 0 degrees (yes, fahrenheit for all you canadians). So, my '90 pick up didn't start. Two days ago, after checking all the usual suspects... battery - fully charged, starter turning normally, spark plugs - sparking, i surmised that my fuel line had frozen or my fuel pump had bit it, so I threw in a bottle of Heet (the red bottle). nothing happened. I then jumped in the bed, and shook the truck as much as i could to try and 'swish' the dry gas around... still nothing.
then, this morning with the temps for the first time in a while getting up near 30, she turned right over. obviously was the H2O in the tank/fuel line.
my question is this... if i am going to be putting dry gas all winter long in this beast... what harm (if any) does it do to my engine by burning it. or... does it even burn at all, or does it just sit, unhomogeneously in the bottom of my tank. i dont want to over do it... but this is my winter beater, and she's gotta turn over for me in the coldest of days.... whaddya guys think?

iselloil

Most gas has ethanol in it already.

91diesel

gas tank heater/blanket?

83

There should not be water in your fuel. If there is, you need to get it out of the system. If that was the case, you put in the heet and run that tank out & fill up again and unless you've got a hole somewhere in your system there should be no more water, problem solved. Problem not solved, then water in your gas was not the problem in the first place. Under normal circumstances there should only be condensation freezing in you tank if you are really low on gas.

James Dean

There is a product called Heat that is a dryer and antifreeze for gas. It's in a red bottle with yellow label.

corax

save your money and use a small bottle of rubbing alcohol (same thing without the fancy bottle) or just use some 10% ethanol mix pump gasoline which already has the alcohol in it.

The alcohol absorbs water and carries it to the engine to be burned

83

He already tried that...

the_ocho

Im new to the cold but everyone told me that i should keep a fair amount of fuel in my tank because if it gets low that it will freeze. now i was under the impression that the winter mix gas doesnt freeze but im not gonna test it. so maybe you had too little gas in the tank and it froze.? just trying to throw my knowledge into the pot

eric-the-red

Gas doesn't freeze, at least not at any temperatures we get on earth. Why you should keep the tank over half in winter is there will be less air in it, and air containes moisture which condenses out when the temperature goes down. The less air you have, the less moisture there is to condense.

Because of this there will always be a small amount of water in the tank in winter. Ading 250 ml or so of isopropyl alcohol once a month should keep it to a minimum.

And don't use methanol based gas antifreeze, methanol does not mix with gas and you just get a layer of methanol/water on the bottom of the tank.

FredTJ

Pure and simple hogwash.
Methanol/gasoline blends work just fine.




Fred

86tuning

Going to a paint store and buying a quart of methyl hydrate for $2 is cheaper than buying gasline antifreeze, and basically is the same thing.

I'm not a fan of running gas that already has ethanol or other alcohol mixed in it due to moisture/water concerns. Who knows if the gas already has lots of water in it?

Blend your own for peace of mind.