It's not really maintenance: but more of a question:

I garage the car for the winter up here in New England (to avoid pot holes, road salt and whatnot...). Typically what I do, before I store it is pour some Sta-bil in the tank, and top it off with premium. Then every week or two, I'll open the garage door and let it idle for 20 minutes or so....

I still have 7/8's of a tank left.

But, before I put the car on the road, I'm probably going to switch the heads and cam out.... Which means it'll probably be going to the tuner with the winter blend/sta-bil gas in the tank..... Which probably isn't ideal.

Is there an easy way to drain the gas tank? Or do I need to start this motor more often?!

 

The way I did it was, take a long vacuum/windshield washer hose and run it down the filler neck. You can use a larger diameter hose but it won't coil up at the bottom of the tank like the smaller diameter will. Syphon the fuel out into gas cans and use it in another vehicle.

 

Alright. I wasn't sure if there were any anti-siphoning mechanisms in there.

I'll give it a shot when the truck runs out of fuel. Thanks!

 

also from what I've read online, don't know if it's accurate or not, but i've read that part of how they get the higher octane ratings on premium is to use a higher percentage of ethanol then in regular (mid grade is a mix of the 2 done at the pump). In the future I would suggest either using regular or better to park it with the tank closer to empty and put fresh gas in when you pull it out to dilute whats in the tank.

 

Do what my buddy did who lives in Toronto.....

Cut a hole in the bottom of the gas tank and weld in a bung with a drain valve....so its easy to drain each year. I think he installed the bung in the sump where the fuel filter sits so its the lowest point in the tank.

But of course you must initially drop the tank....drain and ventilate it completely....then cut and weld.

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I thought fbody tanks were plastic ^?

 

99+ are plastic, anything before that is metal.

 

Yea...his a 98' like mine is....metal.

Plastic tanks make it much easier to add a drain valve to it........no need to drop the tank, no need to weld. You drill a hole....then screw in a plastic threaded valve. 15 minute job.

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In this specific situation (wanting to get a custom tune based on fresh, proper fuel), I can see your concern.

For general purposes though, you don't need to worry about draining the tank after storage if you use the proper fuel treatment (such as Stabil). I've never, ever drained the fuel from mine, and they sit with a full tank all winter every winter (E10 fuel). I also use Stabil, and the gas is still just fine for normal street use in the spring (no starting issues, no unexplained KR, no fuel system problems, etc.)

In fact, I drive the car so seldom that I keep Stabil in the tank at all times. Many years I'll only fill the tank once or twice for the entire season.

Since issues with ethanol are aggravated by available moisture in the tank, it's really better to store it with a full tank (or a completely empty, dry tank) rather than just a small amount of fuel. The less fuel that's in the tank, the more air there is in the tank - and that air contains moisture.

 

Storing with the full tank is what I had heard too, which is why I go that route.

I'm curious, though, if the Stabil has any affect on tuning? I wonder, since I'm in similar shoes as you (low miles), if I should plan on keeping Stabil in the tank? And if so, should I present the car to the tuner with stabil already there (as it'd be more realistic to the driving I'll be doing...)

 

This is probably more critical for those of us with metal tanks. With the plastic tank, you still have to be concerned with rust and gum/varnish type build-up in other areas of the system but not so much in the tank specifically.

I don't think the Stabil itself would have any affect on tuning but, even using Stabil, the older fuel might not be as resistant to detonation as fresh fuel, in terms of the tune and how aggressive they can be with ignition timing. But, if the car sits often enough that the fuel is usually older rather then newer, then you might not want a ragged-edge tune based on fresh fuel that the car will rarely see in your real world driving environment.