Opinions on different brands and types of dry gas

[Bgunner]

Since we, in the northern hemisphere, have entered into the cold season and water in the gas will affect us much more now so dry gas is now a necessity for many of us, I figured why not have a place to discus what has worked well.

In school they taught us not to use anything that didn't have Isopropyl alcohol in it and I must admit it was good info and has turned out to save my family, friends and myself lots of grief... except my cousin who didn't use it and replaced a crank sensor trying to get his car started in the winter. I went over pressed the fuel rail shrader valve and fuel dribbled out. I put a can of dry gas in it, went in side and had a coffee, went back out it started after.

Personally I use Heet, red bottle readily available at the local wally world, a few times throughout the winter months and have only once had an issue with a frozen line in years using it but that was due to excessive water from the gas station, last year. I put a bottle of this in and didn't have issues again.

What works well for you? Have you found brands that work better than others?

 

[sgtsandman]

With the ethanol in the fuel, you shouldn’t need to use dry gas anymore.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I've never heard of dry gas until now. My thought before reading was you were going to talk about propane or natural gas.
I used to carry alcohol with me but not since alcohol is in gas now.

 

[Ranger850]

WITW is "dry gas"?

 

[Bgunner]

With the ethanol in the fuel, you shouldn’t need to use dry gas anymore.

I wish this was true but it is still an issues here in the North East. While on paper things may look good in practice they don't work for, the 4 letter S word. Check out the difference in the vid I'm posting about the differences of the alcohol and Heet. The Heet actually keeps it suspended longer but the visual will say all on that.

WITW is "dry gas"?

I have no clue what you call it in other parts of the country but for years even in Automotive school I went to we called it Dry Gas. A so called water remover additive to add to teh fuel to allow the water to flow through the fuel system and be burnt instead of being dead on the side of the road.

OHHH!!! You're from Florida that explains it all... you don't need to worry about your fuel lines freezing there, well not yet at least, but with climate change who knows.

I did find this video that goes over some common ones:

From Wikipedia:
Drygas is an alcohol-based additive used in automobiles to prevent any water in the fuel from freezing, or to restore combustive power to gasoline spoiled by water. The name Drygas is actually a registered trademarked brand name, owned by Cristy Corporation. It is a liquid that is added into the fuel tank, that absorbs the water and keeps it in solution.[citation needed] Some brands contain methanol and some contain isopropyl alcohol.[1]

Some states require a 10-15% ethanol solution be sold at refueling stations.[citation needed] Most current gasoline-powered automobiles can safely run up to a 10% ethanol solution without any modification. However, at 15% or above older vehicles may require replacing the fuel lines to prevent degradation and rupture, and the electric fuel pump may need modification to prevent ethanol "dry rot". The belief that dry gas is not needed because of the significant amount of ethanol is largely true because ethanol is a drying agent. Due to this fact it has an affinity for water which can be present in the atmosphere, but since environmental concerns have caused fuel systems to be closed, it works effectively on the moisture inside the tank which was already present. The water that has been "absorbed" then reduces issues with freezing fuel lines. The action of adding dry gas (anhydrous methanol or azeotropic iso-propyl alcohol) is suggested to mix with absorbed water lowering the freezing point of the now water and alcohol solution, lower than it would mixed with ethanol, allowing the fuel lines to better resist freezing, while non-frozen water will be removed when either solution is used by the engine.

 

[97RangerXLT]

I have always had good luck with Heet when I have needed it. haven't had any issues in the past 15+ years that I have had to get any tho... Heet used to come in a yellow bottle. I ended up throwing two sealed bottles of it away because over time the alcohol found a way to evaporate out of the sealed container... probably had those bottles over 20 years tho..

AJ

 

[Bgunner]

Heet used to come in a yellow bottle.

Heet still does, all be it a lot harder to find now, but the red bottle contains a fuel injection cleaner which is way more popular now days and in most cars on the road. I still love carburetors on certain things though.

 

[RonD]

All gasoline will have some water in it

Gasoline can not bond/mix with water, and water is heavier than gasoline
Water will eventually settle to the bottom of any gas tank

Gas station's under ground tanks have water traps at the bottom, so any water should stay at the bottom below the Pump's pick up screens
And there are "water pumps" in each tank at the bottom to remove any trapped water, although when they are used to do that, is up to that station, they loose money when they do that, because the level in the tank goes down, without $$ coming in on the gas pumps, lol.
When delivery trucks add gasoline.................well some of the "trapped water" can get stirred up
So if you fill up during or after a delivery you can get some extra water
If there is way too much water its called "bad gas" and you would notice that within a 1/2 hour or so of driving
If parked over night engine may start and then stall because good gas in the rail was replaced by big gulp of mostly water at the bottom of your gas tank, from sitting over night.


Ethanol CAN bond with water, when bonded the water's normal freezing point, 32degF is lowered to -100degF or lower
But once bonded with a water molecule, the ethanol can't bond with more water
So how much ethanol you need depends on the water in your system

HEET or Octane Boost is ethanol, added when there is too much water in the system, more than "winter gas" ethanol can handle

 

[Ranger850]

OK, sounds like a product I use called "Stay-Bil" ( may be spelled wrong ) for storing lawn mowers and weed eater over the winter. It "stabilizes" the gas over long periods of "no use". But I usually don't store my lawn equipment with a lot of gas in them for more than 90-120 days anyways, and the temp here rarely get in the 20's (if ever) but we do see quite a few nights into the low 30's.

 

[Josh B]

Dry gas made me think "firewood"

 

[Curious Hound]

I prefer dry gas. The other kind makes a mess in my underwear.

 

[Bgunner]

OK, sounds like a product I use called "Stay-Bil" ( may be spelled wrong ) for storing lawn mowers and weed eater over the winter. It "stabilizes" the gas over long periods of "no use". But I usually don't store my lawn equipment with a lot of gas in them for more than 90-120 days anyways, and the temp here rarely get in the 20's (if ever) but we do see quite a few nights into the low 30's.

Sta-Bil is slightly different, although I have heard some people recommend it for water in fuel, it is meant to keep the fuel from going stale and creating a varnish inside the fuel system. I used to use this or Star-Tron in my wheelers because they would sit for 6 months or more with out being ridden.

Dry gas isn't meant to stabilize the fuel but to help the water pass through the system without freezing or causing he engine to stall or not start.

 

[sgtsandman]

I’ve never heard of Sta-bil being used as a dry gas product. I use it all the time for my power equipment to prevent varnish and fuel systems problems.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I vaguely remember my 2.8 having problems with fuel line freezing in very cold temps... but that thing was so cold blooded it was almost comical looking back.

I don't use heet for anything. Carbs turn white on the outside with frost on my tractors pushing snow in the winter and continue to run fine, I never had a problem with fuel freezing. I only run straight gas in them too.

Water makes ethonal seperate from gas and with open vented fuel tanks that is no bueno. On ethonal one of my tractors will not say a word until I drain the alcohol out of it. No issue on straight gas.

 

[Bgunner]

I’ve never heard of Sta-bil being used as a dry gas product. I use it all the time for my power equipment to prevent varnish and fuel systems problems.

You don't go to Advanced Auto Parts enough then... I Don't recommend it but the Non-mechanic's behind the counter do.