Heet in your gas

[Falls]

Ok we are going to get below zero for a week (so they say). I drive alot but my truck is also in and out of my garage (which is heated and insulated , but even without the heat on it still stays in about 55 in there maybe drop to 40-45 with the cold temps.

Any thoughts about using Heet ?
They have a Red bottle and a yellow bottle. I think the only difference in them is the Iso alcohol . They both say they remove moisture from the gas and have an anti freeze in there to prevent fuel line freeze up.

Thoughts

 

[RonMAIDEN]

It's been around a while and I've never heard of it being a problem and it shouldn't since it's a simple solution and does what it advertises. I use Redline fuel treatment once a year and it cleans and removes water from the fuel lines.

I think in a place where you get large temperature extremes even in winter a bottle or two of Heet is good preventative maintenance.

 

[CJ3Flyr]

Unless you have some crazy episode I wouldn't bother. In the old days it was important but most gas has some level of alcohol these days, especially winter blends.

It shouldn't hurt but I don't consider it even remotely necessary.

:cheers:

 

[boston_kevin]

I typically run one bottle of this through my tank during January/February since we see negative temps during those times. The primary concern would be sitting out overnight (which yours is not exposed to) or sitting out during the work day. If you are also truly concerned, check that anti-freeze to make sure it's still rated to the -20 or below mix.

 

[maine runner]

Falls-

Late January we go Antartic cold here. Thursday's forecast is a hi of 7 and low of -4. The lowest temp I saw on the truck's outside temperature display, while driving, was -16.

For 6 winters, my truck has been outside and I never had an issue with the battery or the fuel. I, on the other hand, have frozen my %$# off each winter but that is not relevant.



Your call.

 

[rook]

I have not added any dry gas product in a while, mainly because the fuel we get around here contains ethanol, which inherently absorbs water. Check your local gas station to see if fuel in your area has ethanol. If so, I wouldn't bother.

 

[BuckyBadger]

I haven't added any heat in a while but did so last night! Check out the reading for this morning, yes that is a minus sign. I am sure for our Canadian friends on here minus 22 is nothing, grill out temperatures in fact. Black ice makes driving interesting at these temps.

 

[alaskaman]

If you have issues with humidity or your 4Runner is typically run to low levels of fuel and then not filled condensation could occur. but like he said, gas has improved so much so that the product is relatively useless in new vehicles.

 

[SubSonic]

I have not added any dry gas product in a while, mainly because the fuel we get around here contains ethanol, which inherently absorbs water. Check your local gas station to see if fuel in your area has ethanol. If so, I wouldn't bother.

I guess it depends on the region, and where their gas supplies come from, differing formulations for summer/winter, etc, but it is my understanding that pretty much *all* gasoline here in the US is at least E5 (5% ehtanol) fuel now.

I remember reading that comment in a local newsprint story about E85 this past summer when regular gas was running $4.15 around here. Something like "All gasoline contains roughly 5% ethanol now, but to safely use E85, your vehicle should wear E85, FlexFuel or Ethanol Safe badging, and have a yellow gas cap." As you can tell, the crux of the story was that you can't run E85/ethanol in just any car - which some people were trying since the E85 around here at that time was still in the $2.25-$2.50/gal range. But the story went out of the way to mention that "all fuel" is roughly 5% ethanol...so there must be some truth to it. It was a trusted local news source anyway.

 

[maine runner]

FYI -

With the phase out of methyl tert-butyl ether (MBTE) due to ground water contamination, the new gasoline additive is ethanol.

Current regulations allow gasoline to include up to 10% ethanol. The exact changeover schedule depends on regional pollution regulations and refinery production schedules.

Gas stations in Maine changed to a 10% blend this past spring, commonly known as E10. Pumps are required to be labeled "contains up to 10% ethanol"

With a closed fuel system, many of the problems of ethanol (water absorption, phase separation and degradation) are non-issues.

Boats and other vehicles with vented tanks have experienced significant problems including engine failure when preventative measures were not taken.

 

[97hb]

Winter blends have less alc in them for sure. Alc is really hard to start and keep going in cold weather. My exhaust from my E85 civic billows so much smoke in the cold people think something is wrong. hey your headgasket is blown their buddy, nope its just my fuel, lol. The still have gas with MBTE's, you just can;t get em from the pump.

 

[Falls]

Thanks guys...

I put 1 bottle in the tank which is half of the recommended amount.

I usually put a can of Seafoam in every 5k .

The basic concern was not a starting issue , but my garage that is attached to my house is 60 degree's in there and being out in -20 temps and then parking in garage I was worried about condensation just because of the really bad cold snap. Although the garage is heated I don't turn the heater on unless I'm doing something out there , but because how it's set up it stay at around 57/58 degrees.