There was an interesting article on tank draining in the latest
newsletter of the Austin Healey Sports and Touring club.
The question was: is it better to drain the tank or leave full
if your going to leave the car sitting for several months.
Apparently, a hapless 3000 owner left his car sitting with a
full tank of Sunoco ultra 94 for the winter, about 4-5 months.
Upon getting started in the spring, the car showed all the
signs of clogged fuel lines/dirt in the carbs. But, standard
fixes did not improve the problem. He paid a garage to pull
his tank and fuel pump and discovered both were full of a
pink gum, kind of like pencil erasure. Upon calling Sunoco,
the company confirmed that this gum formed if Ultra 94 was
allowed to sit for over three months in the tank. Apparently,
they did not offer to pay for the costs of tank cleaning,
fuel pump replacement, and plane tickets involved in this
sticky affair.
This all sounds suspisciously like a problem I had after
I left my car with Ultra 94 in it over a winter a couple years
ago.
Good thing I've been driving my Sprite this winter :-)
(Actually, Rhode Island hasn't had winter yet this year)
Mark M. Banaszak Holl
Brown University
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