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What fuel treatment do you use?


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Interested in knowing what you like and results you're getting, this is what my old valves look like after 1,000 miles of today's gasolines...

 

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If you touch the nastyness with your fingers its like tar, sticky and rough, basically this shit destroyed my valve guides.

 

The guy that rebuilt (Bob Drummond, he worked for Rebello for 30 some years building L series) my head recommended sta-bil to avoid ethanol destruction or run clear gas, but that's not easy to find in many areas.

 

This is what the gas looks like after sta-bil was added to my tank, reminds me of gas before ethanol used to look like...far right of pic is untreated....

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So.....what do you use guys?

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At the risk of posting a negative comment and being called a flamer,  :lol:  I use nothing because I believe nothing is needed. All valves get dirty with use. Perhaps dirtier with in town driving and short trips where the engine isn't warmed up. Ethanol destruction? Maybe if running E88? Normally it's only 10% or less, been running this for ever in my L20B.

 

That stuff is for long tern storage of fuel in your tank, not every day use though I guess you can without harm. Does it say on the bottle? Probably the same solvent 'petroleum distillates' labeled on injector cleaner. Best treatment for your gas is driving it regularly and re-filling so the gas isn't old. By old I mean OLD. I bought a 620 bed years ago. It had been sitting in the wreckers for at least 5 full years and two with the gas cap off. (I took it) I emptied the gas (yellow as urine) into my tank and drove it. No problem, ran normally. Gas is gas, but may not have worked as well in a overly sensitive EFI car which is maybe who this was made for.. .

 

In my experience if there is a perceived market for something, someone will invent something to fill that perceived need. Never seen gas separate out and not work or cause any problems. My weed whacker sits all winter with gas in it and the mix is 3 years old. My 710 sits for 7 to 8 months of the year with often 1/4 tank. Maybe Canadian gas is different?

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Ya its good for running it too, I've done some searching and Bob runs it on all his engines, i even saw a head he had there from a costumer that runs sta-bil religiously and those valves looked clean after 50k miles, look at what mine looked after 1k!.

 

Thats why i made this thread, Mike, the more info and tips we have, the better!

 

Edit..

Also...H5WAGON had his head out couple weeks ago on his dime, his valves are as fkd as mine were, and he dailys his dime, so just running every day wont stop the buildup, Mike, that ethanol is nasty.

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Maybe the formulation down there? Geography and seasonal weather changes the formulation, up here at least.

 

Cold engines will collect huge amounts of crap deposits on the intake side of the intakes. Gas and any dissolved crap in it will condense and accumulate deposits on the cool valve. I assume you have a 185F or so thermostat and drive long enough to get warmed up?   

 

Additionally if the guides were worn, or valve seals, the oil is drawn down by intake vacuum and will plate carbon and what not on the valve. So those deposits may be from the guide, not causing the guide problem

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There is no fucking way in gods green earth your valves could look like that in only 1000 miles unless you are burning oil somewhere.. LOTS of oil

   You either have bad rings or bad valve guides or running way to rich of mixture on all phases of engine use,, or some such thing,,, no way could that much sludge be built up around the valve like that if ,, no way ,,,, no how.

 

And that's a fact

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Maybe the formulation down there? Geography and seasonal weather changes the formulation, up here at least.

 

Cold engines will collect huge amounts of crap deposits on the intake side of the intakes. Gas and any dissolved crap in it will condense and accumulate deposits on the cool valve. I assume you have a 185F or so thermostat and drive long enough to get warmed up?   

 

Additionally if the guides were worn, or valve seals, the oil is drawn down by intake vacuum and will plate carbon and what not on the valve. So those deposits may be from the guide not causing the guid problem

Ya 185° stat, i let her get to about 180° before going anywhere, i don't like running cold engines.

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I just happened to be working on a cylinder head last night, that was on the engine I pulled out of Ratsun, that I had been driving since 2013.  This is the number one intake valve.

RatsunInValve_zpsjaxbao8u.jpg

 

This engine has 15800 miles since January 2014, it was daily driven since August 2013 on the road, and driven in pastures doing work on my farm for a year before that?

 

I have been using regular grade cheap gas, mostly Arco, that does have 10% ethanol.

 

I do not think your valves being that dirty after 1,000 miles is the fuel's problem.  I would check the valve guides.  Looks like you have oil leaking down on to a hot valve, and leaving behind deposits.  In my experience, gasoline is a pretty good solvent.

 

I do not know where Eugene gas stations get their gas, but it would not surprise me if it comes from Portland, and Portland Gasoline is piped down from Anacortes, WA.

 

 

But when I put my boat to bed over the winter, it does get the Sta-Bil in the gasoline.

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There is no fucking way in gods green earth your valves could look like that in only 1000 miles unless you are burning oil somewhere.. LOTS of oil

You either have bad rings or bad valve guides or running way to rich of mixture on all phases of engine use,, or some such thing,,, no way could that much sludge be built up around the valve like that if ,, no way ,,,, no how.

 

And that's a fact

It's probable the valve seals were already bad when i put that "good head" when i built the motor, will see, now everything is new, ill pull the intake mani next winter and look inside to see how it looks, there's a couple places here in town that have clear gas, ill run that unless i have no choice on a long cruise and have to get regular pump gas.

 

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I run Chevron exclusively in all of my cars. Results, intake valves are spotless. (And other bonuses). Their Techron is actually a proven cleaner.

 

You can also try a bottle of Techron next fill up. Or Redline SI-1, or BG44K.

 

Also, you may have too much blow by. A catch can would clean up your PCV.

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I run ethanol free gas in everything I own that is not driven at least once a week except the Mini which has a plastic tank, ethanol gas is hard on metal tanks if the gas is not cycled regularly, I should know as I used to have two tanks in the work truck, but that crap ruined the spare tank as it had a quarter tank rolling around in there for a couple months and it separated and the rust began, and I couldn't dump the gas and put in new gas either, it just ruined that gas right away, I tried and the engine wouldn't run on it, it just went thru the filter bright orange and then the engine quit when that crap got to the carbs(dual SUs), and that was new gas after I drained the tank and filled it.

 

I am happy that diesel doesn't seem to go bad, that crap can be in there for years and the engine will still start and run on it.

 

Check all the places you can get ethanol free gas near you.

http://www.pure-gas.org/extensions/map.html

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I used to toss in some energy release here and there, it supposedly reduces friction and helps engines run more smoothly. There was an old timer that ran it in his rc race planes, 2cycle weed eater style engine, swore he got another 500rpm safely. It says you can put it in with any oil in your car except a clutch type lsd. I never got noticeable gains so I quit using it. I used 104+ in my cbr once after having to put 87 in it to get home, that shit was seat of the pants noticeable, it cleared a light throttle stumble the 87 horse urine created.

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I've used Marvel Mystery Oil, Stabil, and Lucas for both long term storage and tank additives at different times.  I had good luck with all honestly.  I would tend to say the Lucas additive was the best for injected and the Marvel was best for carbs, at least for me, for use in a daily.  I do believe in the use of Stabil in long term stored fuel, for my gas powered tools for sure.

 

 

 

I am happy that diesel doesn't seem to go bad, that crap can be in there for years and the engine will still start and run on it.

 

 

Except if condensation build up occurs, then you risk diesel "algae" and that shit sucks to clear out.

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Except if condensation build up occurs, then you risk diesel "algae" and that shit sucks to clear out.

 

I don't know what that is(diesel algae), but I have started a 720 diesel engine that sat so long in one spot that the tires cracked on the bottom where it was sitting, and that engine still started right up with the fuel that was in it, the owner couldn't believe it started let alone ran on the fuel in the tank, but the fuel in the lines was likely in better shape than what was in the tank, but I moved it under it's own power, but it had sat so long it didn't have brakes anymore, it was up in Ballard WA, and salt was in the air.

This is that ugly blue truck, it had an awesome grill, I still have that somewhere. :lol:

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You can see the bottom of the door is rusted out.

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What an ugly truck it was.

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I don't know what that is(diesel algae), but I have started a 720 diesel engine that sat so long in one spot that the tires cracked on the bottom where it was sitting, and that engine still started right up with the fuel that was in it, the owner couldn't believe it started let alone ran on the fuel in the tank, but the fuel in the lines was likely in better shape than what was in the tank, but I moved it under it's own power, but it had sat so long it didn't have brakes anymore, it was up in Ballard WA, and salt was in the air.

This is that ugly blue truck, it had an awesome grill, I still have that somewhere. :lol:

DSCF0001.jpg

You can see the bottom of the door is rusted out.

 

What an ugly truck it was.

DSCF0005.jpg

 

Now that's a workhorse, Wayno.

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I run three gallons of diesel through each of my three vintage cars every six months. I add three gallons of diesel to their tanks and then fill the tanks up with good non-ethanol gas. I dropped the tank on my '64 Fairlane for the first time ever about two years ago to replace the fuel sending unit. the interior of the tank was shiny and new. I haven't burnt a valve on a head since 1996.

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That carbon buildup isnt even that bad. I bet pcv, cause when it runs down the stem it will usually burn and make a ring of carbon on the stem.

 

Running avgas is awesome, but it leaves lead deposits.

 

In my diesel i put a litre of atf for every fillup, the ultra low sulphur is hard on old school injection pumps. 2 stroke oil is good too but more expensive.

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did u check your spark plugs prior to seeing the carbon build up on your valve

Plugs were always clean light brown to pink in color up until HG blew, the guy that rebuilt the head now said there was seaping but not enough to even register in the oil level, witch is true because i never had to add any oil, its just bad gas, just look at the far right jar, gas is even cloudy, once i added the sta-bil it cleared up and turned light apple juice color, gas used to look like that before ethanol was introduced to the supply....and again, im not the only one with this issue, H5WAGON that lives in town has his valves like that too, i saw them couple weeks ago when i went to his shop to give him a headgasket, he showed me his valves and told mine came off looking the same, he dailys his dime, i told him about the sta-bil and he's also going to start using it when he can't get clear.

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Your gas is still cloudy (likely moisture?) even if you can't see it.  It didn't go away and will still be going through the engine and past the intake valves. If it's the gas, it will be doing this to ALL engine intake valves not just yours. Fuel stabilizer is just a petroleum solvent (so is the gas it's mixed with) that (in theory) helps keep gasoline from separating into it's separate component parts during long term storage. Surely gas distillers add something to their gas formula to do the same thing. Gas stabilizer is like adding a can of extra lube additives to your oil. I don't think long term exposure to these 'petroleum distillates' is a good thing for mechanical fuel pumps, fuel hoses and internal carb parts..... but this is just me.

 

Try different brand of gas or different gas station location.

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