Using Sta-bil 360 as a fuel additive

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bill_m

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The Owner's Manual tells us to avoid gasoline that contains harmful manganese based fuel additives such as MMT. Since the Top Tier gasolines avoid MMT, this is easy to do.

However, since I seem to be using less than a gallon of gas a month, I have been wondering about using Sta-bil 360 Protection as an additive to my tank.

MMT is often sited as an octane booster, and the company does sell an octane boosting product as well, so I would feel more comfortable if anyone has gotten information that MMT is not an ingredient in Sta-bil 360?

I have written to the company, but so far haven't gotten an answer...
 
I'd just keep less than half of a tank of gas in the car and then even with burning a half gallon each month, you are on average cycling through the gas every 6 months. With the tank being pressure sealed, I would not expect storing gas for up to a year would be an issue, certainly cycling it out every 6 months should be fine. I've got a Chevrolet Volt that I have had for 6 years with essentially the same system and have driven a year without burning a full tank of gas a couple of times. The Volt does recommend premium, so that might help if you want to really feel ok, that might give you some added comfort.
 
Robert_Alabama said:
I'd just keep less than half of a tank of gas in the car and then even with burning a half gallon each month, you are on average cycling through the gas every 6 months. With the tank being pressure sealed, I would not expect storing gas for up to a year would be an issue, certainly cycling it out every 6 months should be fine. I've got a Chevrolet Volt that I have had for 6 years with essentially the same system and have driven a year without burning a full tank of gas a couple of times. The Volt does recommend premium, so that might help if you want to really feel ok, that might give you some added comfort.
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Thanks for the suggestions. Unless I am planning my sporadic long trips, I think I will start filling the tank to 5 gallons to ensure I am cleaning out the tank.
 
I use the car for short local trips and rarely have to fill up. Towards the end of the month, if I haven't filled up that month, I run on HV until I'm down to half a tankful and then fill up. I feel that this keeps the gas fresh and in turn runs the engine enough to keep it well lubed. For me, I feel the price of two or three extra gallons of gas a month is a small price to pay. Just my two cents worth. dp
 
I do not think that Stabil contains MMT due to the fact that it does not appear on the MSDS. However the MSDS does list over a dozen “proprietary” chemicals so I can’t be 100% sure (just 99.9% sure). Since MMT has a CAS#, I would think that it would have to be listed (not 100% sure about that either). Also MMT was used as an octane booster and Stabil is marketed only as a fuel stabilizer. Due to very valid environmental concerns, MMT is no longer used in unleaded gasoline in the US and is extremely hard to find in a consumer product.
So I’m using it in my Clarity that only used 15 gal in the first year. Im going with the better safe than sorry route since my gas sits in the tank for a long time.
 
It’s about the same price to just burn a gallon or two of gas per month as it is to buy additives. It’s also healthier for the engine to run it more frequently. And there is no mystery.

I recommend Coasties plan. Add nothing to the tank but top tier fuel,and drive it in HV mode for a couple commutes per month to keep everything fresh and lubed.
 
4sallypat said:
if it makes you feel better, put in 91 or 93 octane gasoline.....
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Sorry, maybe I didn’t explain my concerns clearly enough.

I am not interested in boosting the octane.
I am interested in keeping the gas from getting stale due to infrequent fillups.

Honda tells us to stay away from manganese based fuel additives especially MMT.
MMT is advertised as boosting octane.
Not all the ingredients are listed for Stabil 360 Protection additive, and:
The manufacturer also produces an octane boost product, so has the means.
Hence my quest for more certainty.
 
If I was that concerned with one gal/mth use rate, I'd just spend the extra $$ and get ethanol free gas. For me, it's available at the same pump. I'll be buying it for my generator fuel supply for this year's storm season (thru Oct.) since they also recommend using 100% gas as it helps keep the tiny carb jets from getting clogged during long term storage (even when run dry which is recommended and what I do).
 
Bill, it is only a 7 gallon fuel tank. I am sure you can try to use a gallon every other month in spring, summer, fall and easily a gallon or two a month in the winter. That should be enough to keep the fuel fresh and the engine in running order. That will be cheaper and better for the engine in the long run that trying to extend the gas storage time.
 
craze1cars said:
It’s about the same price to just burn a gallon or two of gas per month as it is to buy additives. It’s also healthier for the engine to run it more frequently. And there is no mystery.

I recommend Coasties plan. Add nothing to the tank but top tier fuel,and drive it in HV mode for a couple commutes per month to keep everything fresh and lubed.
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@craze1cars, sorry but I’m not getting your math. It looks like your saying burn 1 to 2 gal/month when I don’t have to and that would be the same price as adding Stabil and staying in EV. For me that would be $30 to $60 per year extra and is a lot more than adding Stabil which costs only me only 80 cents twice a year.

At my current 15 gal/year, a buck sixty a year in Stabil is a whole lot less and even less than buying premium. So I’m going to keep buying ethanol free regular 87 octane gasoline and adding Stabil.
Bottom line is that we’re probably straining at gnats here, but at least it makes me feel better to be nice to my Clarity, especially since it doesn’t cost much.
 
Rather than bothering with any fuel stabilizers, I put 100% 87 octane gas in my vehicle. Just came back from a trip to Dallas, where I had to fill up at the Buc-ee's near Texas Motor Speedway with E10 :( Easy to find 100% gas in OKC, very difficult to find in the DFW area.

Side note, I was amazed at how big Buc-ee's is. Imagine a 65,000 sq ft convenience store.
 
Mowcowbell said:
Rather than bothering with any fuel stabilizers, I put 100% 87 octane gas in my vehicle. Just came back from a trip to Dallas, where I had to fill up at the Buc-ee's near Texas Motor Speedway with E10 :( Easy to find 100% gas in OKC, very difficult to find in the DFW area.

Side note, I was amazed at how big Buc-ee's is. Imagine a 65,000 sq ft convenience store.
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Gotta love Buc-ee's, I always try and stop at one to fill up my rental car when I am in Texas. But unfortunately they are not Top Tier certified. Tulsa based QuikTrip is Top Tier, in fact along with Chevron they were one of the first two brands to be certified. Dallas/Ft. Worth is QuikTrip's biggest market so you should have no trouble finding one. Although they only have 16 pumps instead of 60 like Buc-ee's.
 
The Gadgeteer said:
Bill, it is only a 7 gallon fuel tank. I am sure you can try to use a gallon every other month in spring, summer, fall and easily a gallon or two a month in the winter. That should be enough to keep the fuel fresh and the engine in running order. That will be cheaper and better for the engine in the long run that trying to extend the gas storage time.
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I appreciate your suggestions. What I love best about the Clarity is that for me the driving is so stress free. So I was looking for ways to not feel compelled to do more highway driving than I needed to.
 
bill_m said:
So I was looking for ways to not feel compelled to do more highway driving than I needed to.
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But you shouldn't have to do any extra driving. If you're just trying to burn off some additional gasoline you can do that by driving in HV mode occasionally on some trips that you would otherwise do in EV.
 
KentuckyKen said:
@craze1cars, sorry but I’m not getting your math. It looks like your saying burn 1 to 2 gal/month when I don’t have to and that would be the same price as adding Stabil and staying in EV. For me that would be $30 to $60 per year extra and is a lot more than adding Stabil which costs only me only 80 cents twice a year.

At my current 15 gal/year, a buck sixty a year in Stabil is a whole lot less and even less than buying premium. So I’m going to keep buying ethanol free regular 87 octane gasoline and adding Stabil.
Bottom line is that we’re probably straining at gnats here, but at least it makes me feel better to be nice to my Clarity, especially since it doesn’t cost much.
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No quibbles here for your personal situation since you consider your electricity to be free, being solar.

But for many Clarity owners, driving on electricity is expensive. For some it costs more than driving on gas. So the price of approximately 15 gallons of gas will actually be saved on their electricity bills, while burning their 15 gallons a year for maintenance and fuel tank freshening purposes.

Like all EV math, the math here is different for each individual depending on price paid per kWh and price paid per gallon of gas. I didn’t do actual math. If I did I would likely ignore the price of the Stabil itself because it’s peanuts. So my earlier statement is very generalized for sure, and flat out doesn’t apply to those who get free or low cost electricity.
 
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For those trying to figure out which is less expensive... gasoline vs electricity... there is a spreadsheet someone posted that will figure that for you.

I'll try to find it and link that to this post.

For my area, gasoline would have to be below $1.55 gallon to be less expensive than electricity. I pay anywhere from .09 to .11 per KWh depending on the time of year and electrical demand.
 
Mowcowbell said:
For those trying to figure out which is less expensive... gasoline vs electricity... there is a spreadsheet someone posted that will figure that for you.

I'll try to find it and link that to this post.

For my area, gasoline would have to be below $1.55 gallon to be less expensive than electricity. I pay anywhere from .09 to .11 per KWh depending on the time of year and electrical demand.
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Do you have a delivery fee? ELECTRICITY is cheap here, but there is an additional "delivery fee" from coned, which is like double the electricity cost
 
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