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Adding Stabil for every fill up


stewtex2011

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I recently purchased an 08 Malibu Wakesetter 23 LSV and the previous owner said he added Sta-Bil to every fill up to help remove water out of the fuel at the marina? I have looked all over this site and I only see using this product for storage and not everyday fill ups. Thoughts? 

I have the Monsoon 340 and will probably be buying premium gas at a local station and fueling the boat on our lift. 

 

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Got to agree it is kind of a waste, but you can't put a price on piece of mind. I move so much fuel through mine in any given boating season that the gas doesn't have time to sit and collect water before it is completely cycled through. Plus mine goes into a dehumidified garage after every use so not much chance of any intrusion anyway. For a carbed boat or an external fuel pump system like on my '06 Indmar I would run a bottle about once a month. On my LSV, only for winterization. JM2C

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2 hours ago, stewtex2011 said:

I recently purchased an 08 Malibu Wakesetter 23 LSV and the previous owner said he added Sta-Bil to every fill up to help remove water out of the fuel at the marina? I have looked all over this site and I only see using this product for storage and not everyday fill ups. Thoughts? 

I have the Monsoon 340 and will probably be buying premium gas at a local station and fueling the boat on our lift. 

 

 

Any water 'removed' from the fuel at every fill up was quickly replaced with more water from condensate from the open fuel tank vent lines.  Unless he told you he had sumps installed at the bottom of the tank and drained them before each use...Cessna 172 style.

Edit:  But don't sweat it, man...if that's the biggest line of BS the previous owner fed you, you should be in good shape!  That Monsoon is practically bullet-proof.  Not much you can do to screw them up if you try.

Edited by RTS
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3 hours ago, stewtex2011 said:

I recently purchased an 08 Malibu Wakesetter 23 LSV and the previous owner said he added Sta-Bil to every fill up to help remove water out of the fuel at the marina? I have looked all over this site and I only see using this product for storage and not everyday fill ups. Thoughts? 

I have the Monsoon 340 and will probably be buying premium gas at a local station and fueling the boat on our lift. 

 

89 octane should be fine.  Even 87 is OK if you're not loading the engine.  Others WILL disagree.  If you're filling up the boat at the Marina or gas station I would just add enough Stabil to treat the full tank during the last fill up - and there is no need to put the boat away with a full tank.  That was only for old steel fuel tanks.

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Well, that certainly will not hurt anything.

I use the Marine StaBil with every tank of fuel in my fishing boat.  But that sits pretty much all summer long.  I burn a tank of fuel pretty much every weekend in my LSV, so I don't think it is needed.  But I do add StaBil at the end of the season.

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It depends on how long it takes to burn through the tank of gas and if the gas has ethanol in it.  I usually only stabil the boats and end of season but I stabil the snowmobiles at the end of every ride since you never know which ride will be the last of the season.

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FWIW, I never put a drop of Stabil in anything.  The Malibu, pontoon, jetski, a dozen pieces of yard equipment, 3 snowmobiles or one car that sits for 6 months a year.  Everything runs on E10 and is stored inside a garage with whatever fuel was in it when we stopped using it.

Edited by oldjeep
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In my personal opinion, it's a great idea to run stabil every tank unless you're really running through it quick.  I am in a very humid environment, however.  Stuff that gets treated in my house always seems to run great, that which does not, less so.  Especially stuff that doesn't go through much gas like fourwheelers.

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15 hours ago, stewtex2011 said:

I recently purchased an 08 Malibu Wakesetter 23 LSV and the previous owner said he added Sta-Bil to every fill up to help remove water out of the fuel at the marina? I have looked all over this site and I only see using this product for storage and not everyday fill ups. Thoughts? 

I have the Monsoon 340 and will probably be buying premium gas at a local station and fueling the boat on our lift. 

 

I would not worry about it.  Those tanks are most likely on dry land and being a lake in Fort Worth, the gas does not stay in them long.  Would not waste the money.  

I do start to add stabil during the last month of the season just so that I am prepared for winter storage.

I also would not run premium unless you HAVE to.  I would do a little refresh over the winter with a new cap, rotor, spark plugs, fuel filters if applicable, belt, impeller and fluids.  That Cap and Rotor can get very corroded and drain the performance right out of your boat.

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I know for my monsoon 340, if I have to put anything with ethanol on it, it idles poorly unless I add stabil.
Like - it will idle erratically enough to toss a CEL. So - I guess if your boats run fine on regular corn fed fuel, then go without it.

But for me, if I have to use ethanol in it, it gets stabil in order to run correctly. 

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39 minutes ago, ibelonginprison said:

I know for my monsoon 340, if I have to put anything with ethanol on it, it idles poorly unless I add stabil.
Like - it will idle erratically enough to toss a CEL. So - I guess if your boats run fine on regular corn fed fuel, then go without it.

But for me, if I have to use ethanol in it, it gets stabil in order to run correctly. 

I think I might be looking for a different station at which to buy gas.

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3 hours ago, ibelonginprison said:

I know for my monsoon 340, if I have to put anything with ethanol on it, it idles poorly unless I add stabil.
Like - it will idle erratically enough to toss a CEL. So - I guess if your boats run fine on regular corn fed fuel, then go without it.

But for me, if I have to use ethanol in it, it gets stabil in order to run correctly. 

My 04 does not do this.

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I'm curious how the people that don't recommend stabil with every fill up know that it is a waste of money?

 

Is there some objective evidence there?  Or is it just an opinion?  

 

I wouldn't really recommend something so strongly unless I had some kind of data to back it up but that's just me.  

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16 minutes ago, bamaboy said:

I'm curious how the people that don't recommend stabil with every fill up know that it is a waste of money?

 

Is there some objective evidence there?  Or is it just an opinion?  

 

I wouldn't really recommend something so strongly unless I had some kind of data to back it up but that's just me.  

No data except I never use it except for storage and never had an issue. Nearly 1,000 hours on the monsoon 325 when I sold it and 45 hours on the LSV 410 now.  

I did however have the fuel hose on my weed eater break.  Took it to the shop and owner said to junk it - he had a pile of bad lawn equipment with bad hoses from the ethanol and showed me  carb jets that were eroded from basically becoming water jets which he blamed all on the ethanol  

 

Edited by hethj7
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I add stabil to a nearly empty gas tank as I drive the boat to the launch to close out my season.  I later syphon that gas out and put it in my snowmobile, snow thrower, or ice fishing auger.

Evidence?  I can comfortably say that my boat runs no better with stabil in the gas, not even with the double dose I use in my season ending ride to the launch.  I can also add that my brothers and buddy's snowmobiles run just as good as mine at season start, after a 9 month lay up, and I am the only one who uses stabil in my last tank of the season. All the same sleds.

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9 hours ago, bamaboy said:

I'm curious how the people that don't recommend stabil with every fill up know that it is a waste of money?

 

Is there some objective evidence there?  Or is it just an opinion?  

 

I wouldn't really recommend something so strongly unless I had some kind of data to back it up but that's just me.  

No Data here either.  But what I will postulate is that if adding Sta-bil in the recommended dosage to every fill up (what is it...like 1 ounce of Sta-bil per 2-1/2 gallons of gas?) makes the difference between throwing a check engine code or not on a Monsoon, then the fuel supply itself would be suspect...or there is another underlying issue with the engine that needs to be addressed.

Edited by RTS
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If you.look at the msds sheet for stabil you will find that it is 90-95% propanol (isopropal alcohol) for the ethanol formula or 90-95% naptha for the regular formula. Looking at the msds for.my local e10 gasoline it is 1% propanol. Couple extra thimbles isn't going to do anything. The other 5% is "additive mixture". Code for something that is so chemically uninteresting that it doesn't require disclosure on an msds - My personal theory is the 5% is unicorn farts.

Alternately, the 340 monsoon is a basically a truck engine - ever see anyone have to add gas treatment so their truck runs right? I personally use stabil as elephant repellant, haven't seen any around so it must be effective - right?

Edited by oldjeep
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