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Record Low temperature is predicted for this week.
Far below zero degrees Farenheit.
Auto Parts places are totally sold out of "Heet"
Some are offering and suggesting "Sea Foam" to me.
I'm from back down South, where we just never encounter this level of cold.
Is the gasoline in my car really going to freeze ?
For that matter, are these additives likely to do more harm than good ?
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Keep your gas tank full. If there is any water in the gas tank, it will freeze. This usually only happens to older vehicles.
My car has been fine with no additives to -15F. Take it for what this is worth. Good luck.
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I have not used HEET since they forced ethanol into my gas; I have just kept my tank above a 1/4 tank. I live in Wisconsin and don't expect problems tomorrow night when it drops to -25F; and I park outside.
Many gas stations as well as Walmart carry it (or an equivalent) too if you are really worried about it.
SeaFoam is a great product, but it is not a fuel-line antifreeze. Any sales person recommending it is either any idiot or unscrupulous.
For Clarification SeaFoam is OK to pour into your gas tank (not diesel) as a fuel system cleaner. It will not give any appreciable protection against fuel line freeze up
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
modified 30-Jan-19 8:47am.
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I was going to say SeaFoam in the gas tank?   boy is he going to be surprised. Normally useful for cleaning carburetors on older cars or MAF systems on the newer ones, but I have never heard of putting it directly in the tank.....
Charlie Gilley
<italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape...
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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I think the "standard" instructions for cleaning the fuel system is to induct 1/2 can through the main vacuum line, and pour the other 1/2 in the tank
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
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I have to plead ignorance, never having seen it dumped in the tank. One shop I frequent has a large tank of it. For older cars that are having emissions problems, they hook the tank up to the intake and let it run for a minute or two. At first, the engine gags a bit, and there is some emissions from the tail pipe, then it all smooths out.
Amazing stuff. Every weekend mechanic should have a can or two.
Charlie Gilley
<italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape...
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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When I clean the intake out, I start with a warm car and vacuum into the intake, keeping it running for a half can and then let it choke out. I then let it sit for a half hour. When I restart it will smoke like a banshee and I'll hit some open roads to get it all burned out.
I also use it in my small engines constantly at double the normal fuel tank amount to keep the jets clean with the crappy gas forced onto my section of the country
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
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I've spent the majority of the winters I've lived through in places where it drops below at least one of the zeroes, and I've never added anything to the tank, so, to me, it sounds like a scam.
AIRI, petrol (gasoline) has to go well below -40 to freeze. It only needs to go a few degrees below to be a problem for diesel, but that's taken into account when diesel cars are designed.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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The concern is water in the fuel condensing out and freezing within the fuel lines. HEET is made of alcohol (methyl or isopropyl) which does absorb water and prevent freezing.
Over the last 20 years we have added ethanol to the gas which also absorbs water, so IMHO the solution is built in.
Diesel is a different story in that the fuel gels up. The blends are altered seasonally to counter that. And of course there are additives you can buy.
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
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I would fill your tank with gasoline, the freezing point is much lower than diesel's.
Also do not believe everything on the internet.
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Rage wrote: do not believe everything on the internet.
OK. I believe you.
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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The only time I've needed fuel additives is on a couple of large capacity V-Twin carbureted motorcycles, where you can get a phenomenon called "Carb Icing" where the atmospheric moisture freezes onto the carb jets and blocks the fuel flow. This means that when you shut the throttle after a period of running the carb blocks and all the cylinders it feeds die. Very annoying and a little dangerous, but not a real problem.
"Normal" petrol (or Gas) freezes at -60C (-76F) so you will have bigger problems than your car if it gets that low ... Diesel freezes at around -8C (17 °F) so that may be a problem.
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I haven't had any problem with any car (diesel or petrol) by temperatures below -10°C without additives in fuel.
Battery chargers and water for the wipers is another story, though.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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The key ingredient in Heet is isopropanol, when added to water, it lowers the freezing point of the water. [linky[^]] Seafoam also has isopropanol as an ingredient although not in as high as a concentration so the freezing point would not be as low unless you add more. Contrary to what the other posters above had stated, putting Seafoam in the gas tank is one of the intended use cases for Seafoam [linky[^]]. I have done this successfully as part of the maintenance routine on the recommendation of my mechanic who is ASA certified as part of my winterization routine. I have not had any issues starting my vehicle for years. Today it is -15 for my drive into work, brrr.
It was broke, so I fixed it.
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S Houghtelin wrote: Contrary to what the other posters above had stated, putting Seafoam in the gas tank is one of the intended use cases for Seafoam
For clarification, my post regarding this as not an intended use is not about putting SeaFoam in the tank; it is about using SeaFoam as a fuel-line-antifreeze
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
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"Director of Transmogrification Services" ---- where exactly do you work? 
Charlie Gilley
<italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape...
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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Last employer contracted all sorts of DB work for me, having me import the ugliest things known to man... As well as doing DTS packages on SQL 2000
So my first business card for them had Director of Transmogrification Services as my title.
Second card was "Death Defying Database Dude"
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
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Charlie Gilley
<italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape...
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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Read in the paper this morning that y'all are going to get blasted. Stay safe!
Got my site back up after my time in the woods!
JaxCoder.com
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The gasoline in your tank isn't going to freeze. The water that hasn't mixed with it, might. And if it freezes and plugs a fuel line or filter, then yeah, you'll have problems. If the gas in your state has ethanol in it (don't most, nowdays?), then the heet isn't even needed as any water already mixed with the ethanol in the gas and passed through the system long ago.
Now, if you were talking diesel, then its a different story.. and heet isn't the right solution there.
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Thank you one and all for your response(s)
Made through the first night of negative twenty seven
Will I awaken alive ? Will the car start ?
We'll know after tonight's negative thirty two.
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Where are you that it's negative 27? Wind chill doesn't count on cars.
By now, you probably know if your battery is up to snuff
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Wisconsin.
Supposedly colder than Antarctica that week; local gossip; nothing confirmed by any source I acknowledge at this time.
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Please report status
Charlie Gilley
<italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape...
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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charlieg wrote: Please report status
I believe we hit 30 below zero; possibly 32.
Took my chances.
Gasoline did not freeze.
Battery struggled, but did start the car.
I had windshield washer fluid which advertised negative twenty degrees on its label.
It froze at negative 30 (I will remain satisfied with the product).
Seems the one effective way of de-icing the windshield is to...
- Start the car
- Turn the defroster onto blast-o-max-o
- Wait a long time
Expensive, but it seems to be the one thing that works.
Too bad they won't put that rear window de-icing circuit thing on the other windows.
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