So I am curious if you can use gas with ethanol and add something to the fuel to prevent issues with the carburetor's?

I have Weber 44idf's, burn gas with ethanol and have not had any issues at all concerning ethanol.

Really? I have been told and read that ethanol is bad for carbs?

Ethanol sucks for many reasons. Especially for our 914's.

It’s fine if you keep burning it and not leave it sit. If it gets old, it starts to turn to jelly and plugs up the carb’s jets. Using a fuel stabilizer (Sta-Bil or similar) will help, but if you find non-ethanol laced fuel, I think that’s the safest route to take. There is a website (Pure Gas) that tells you where it is sold.

It gums up if you let it sit, so cleaning carbs is part of you life.
You can’t hurt a carb, it sucks in air by the piston going down and creating a vacuum.
The air rushes past a pinhole jet and fuel is literally sucked out by the Venturi effect.

There is a rubber accelerator diaphragm that can get crust.
Jets , both idle and main can get clogged.
The reseviour can get filled with crud.

There are two ways to manage how often you need to clean your carbs.
You can add stabil to your fuel (google it)
You can add in a fuel shut off valve before the carbs and when you are ready to park it for the season turn off the fuel while the car is running and let it suck the carbs dry.
I prefer method number two because I store the car for the winter.
Many people swear by stabil.

Marine Sta-Bil (the blue one) is supposed to help protect the gas tank from rusting as well.

That's what I use...if you drive your 914 at least every couple weeks you should be OK w/o anything....but most of us don't drive that often.

I use the blue/marine sta-bil in all my old cars and mower/snowblower etc.

I use the red sta-bil in everything but my daily vehicle year round. I put it in the power equipment fuel cans when I fill them and have never had an issue with any of it. I also add it to the 914 at fill-ups (only a couple so far) and the boat. In addition, I add startron to the boat’s fuel tank in the winter. Ethanol sucks, period, but should not do as much damage to a car’s fuel as a boat’s since car fuel tanks are “sealed”. Boat fuel tanks are vented and the ethanol will suck moisture out of the air in both the tank and outside the tank, so I fill up the tank before winterizing. Running it dry is not an option. I have had to do rebuilds on the boat’s 4-barrel holley carbs since they started adding ethanol to our fuel. It will remain to be seen what happens in the 914 (carbed as well), but hoping it won't be as much of an issue.

unless you want to take your tank out and dry it out completely every year.

Water collected from the ethanol will sit right at the very bottom of the tank, then exposed to air it will rust out the bottom of your tank PDQ.

I think rich meant run the carb dry, not the tank.

Isn’t the Marine Sta-Bil supposed to help with rusting in the fuel tank as well? I thought it was advertised as providing additional protection over the red Sta-Bil product.

I think both versions these days are marketed with the 360 logo on them. This supposedly has the vapor protection to help with the area in the tank w/o fuel in them (the tippy top of your tank):

I've always used the Storage....didn't know there were so many variations.
Who wants to do the research ???


Sta-Bil - Ethanol Treatment And Performance Improver
Sta-Bil - Ethanol Fuel Treatment Marine
Sta-Bil - Fuel Stabilizer and Performance Improver
Sta-Bil - Fuel Stabilizer Storage
Sta-Bil - Fogging Oil (What the hell is this?)
l
STA-BIL Storage: Keeps petrol fresh for up to 12 months, eliminating the need to drain your tank during storage seasons.
STA-BIL Marine: Specially formulated for use in harsh marine environments, STA-BIL® Marine offsets the effects of moisture in today's ethanol-blended fuels and protects marine engines during storage.
STA-BIL Diesel: Generators, tractors and diesel trucks require special additives to operate smoothly and problem-free. That’s what STA-BIL® Diesel is for: to keep diesel fuel fresh and injectors clean.
STA-BIL Protection: Prevents Ethanol fuel related damage in your petrol vehicle or small engines. Prevents corrosion, helps remove water, and cleans fuel injectors and carburettors for improved year-round performance.
STA-BIL 360°: This revolutionary new fuel additive releases a corrosion fighting vapour inside the fuel system that coats ALL metal parts of the fuel system, where other additives can’t reach - including ABOVE and BELOW the fuel line. Available in both automotive and marine versions.

http://sta-bil.co.uk/videos/

Fogging oil is for shooting into your spark plug holes to prevent cylinder and ring rusting during storage. I learned about this stuff after finding a ring of rust in a rebuilt engine that had been in storage for many years. Seems to work pretty well.

I use the Joe Gibbs fuel storage product in the race car (with carbs)
and have always had good luck
I know Jake used to highly recommend it

It should also be sprayed directly down the throat of the carburetor (all barrels) of a running motor to truly fog the motor for winterization/lay-up. You need to modulate the throttle to get a suitable amount into the cylinder walls as the motor will cut out prematurely from spraying the fogging oil. Once an adequate amount is delivered, go back to idle and it will cut out. That's what is done with inboard boat motors.

C&P form my own post on the other gas thread.



A tall thin jar makes the test easier to see. There is test kits available, they have a nice graduated scale, but they work the same way. You want glass as gas melts non-fuel proof plastics.

Yup,
Use the inline fuel shut off and run the carbs dry.
Been doing it for over two decades.
Started with 356,s that have a shut off just for this purpose.
Added a shut off to my 914.

Works like a charm on all the old classics I stored here for a while, every 356, but what do I now? In not an expert. Oh, do my boat, mower and snow blower and tractor the same way, using the oem inline shutoff per the manufacturers instructions.

I put a switch with a relay to power my fuel pump on the car bed engine. Then simply turn off the pump a block or so before arriving at your destination to run the fuel level down (or out) in the flout chambers. Helps with fuel percolation and perhaps may help with gumming up the carb’s fuel passages and jets.