Petrol in tank.

I have no experience of petrol preserving products.  To date I have left my cars with whatever is in the tank and, so far at least, have not experienced fuel problems, even after a car has stood for several months.

Of course the fuel pump will need to be primed after a long period of inactivity and that is where an electric pump can be a boon.  If  no electric pump is fitted, fuel can also be “encouraged” to the pump by pressurising the tank.  Simply blowing a lungfull of air into the filler is usually enough to achieve this – just remember to wash the ring from round your mouth afterwards!

If they dry out, pump valves and the carb float may stick initially and I have also known the seal on the glass top of my pump to dry out and allow a fuel leak until it is once again impregnated – in fact the latter happened recently as the car was out of commission for some time during the very hot weather before I finally sorted out the transmission problem.

B ….

I’ve never used any kind of fuel stabiliser over the winter and have never had a problem starting in the spring. I park it, disconnect both terminals of the battery and cover it up. On startup in the spring, I do have to smack the carb with a rubber hammer as the needle valve can get stuck shut but once I do that, it’s good until the next lay-up time. I’ve never worried about the fuel level-maybe there is moisture in the tank but the first thing I do in the spring is fill it up and drive it for a couple of hours and all is well.