**Are you ready for a guest post from my husband?! Don’t get me wrong, I love cars. And engines. But when it comes to taking care of them and doing maintenance at home? I don’t have a clue. So Steve is taking over on this one… show him some bloggy love!**
Engines are a critical part of our lives and most people use some type of engine every day. Whether it’s a car, lawnmower, snowmobile or other type of engine we’re very fortunate to have these machines doing some seriously hard work for us. It’s no secret that engines require maintenance to avoid the high expense of replacement. Paying professionals for routine, simple maintenance can be expensive when doing-it-yourself is not only cost-effective, but satisfying as well.
One of the fastest, easiest and most cost-effective ways to maintain engines between scheduled maintenance periods, to prepare engines for storage and to start engines that have been idle for long periods is to use fuel and oil additives. If you’ve been to the automotive section of any store, picking the right fluid can be pretty confusing as there are literally hundreds of different brands and products. One very effective product that can be used on many types of common engines for many purposes is STP Multipurpose Motor Treatment.
We decided to use this product to prep our snow blower for another mid-west winter. We like to prepare ahead of time to make sure we don’t get snowed-in with a snow blower that doesn’t start. The instructions are simple and are written on the side of every bottle. Add 3/4 ounce (1.5 tablespoons) per gallon of gas for the proper concentration in a snow blower engine. I grabbed my funnel, garage tablespoon and can of multipurpose treatment.
I measured and poured the appropriate amount. Note: the STP Multipurpose Motor Treatment assists in cold storing, preparing for storage, restores smooth idle, help cold start, etc, but does not eliminate the need to add the appropriate 2-stroke engine oil required for proper function. (The most effective way to add the multipurpose fluid would be to mix the appropriate amount in the gas can prior to adding to the gas tank, but we already had gasoline in our snow blower from last year.)
I decided to shake the snow blower a little and let it sit for about 15 minutes. In the meantime I added the product to my lawnmower and car crankcases (1.5 fluid ounces per quart of oil) and added the remainder of the bottle to the fuel tank in the lawnmower and ran the engines for about 15 minutes. Once I completed that I started my snow blower according to the manufacturer’s instruction. The lawnmower is now prepared for winter storage, the cars have stable oil and cleaner crankcases and the snow blower is ready for the winter workload all from one bottle of multipurpose motor treatment.
Right now, if you “like” STP’s facebook page, you can get a $1 off coupon for any STP product. You can find STP on twitter, too, and you can check out my shop experience at Walmart by reading my google+ story.
-This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions and pictures are my own. #CBias
Wow! I shocked by how many products you were able to use this on. Good to know for future use!
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I’m like you and clueless when it comes to mechanical things, especially my car!! I’ve been single for a very long time and one of the times I hate it is when it comes to car repairs (I’ve find men get better repair quotes at the garage!!). Thanks for the heads up.
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babydickey Reply:
December 1st, 2011 at 9:02 am
Yes! How unfair is it that they give men better quotes?!
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What a thorough review! You make it sound soooo easy! We prep are snow blower well ahead of the first snowfall also – as much as I would prefer to not have to go out in the snow, I certainly don’t want to have to dig out the driveway with a shovel if we do need to leave!
You did a great job! Are you lobbying for a regular guest-post spot now? 🙂
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babydickey Reply:
December 1st, 2011 at 9:03 am
haha. Can’t wait to show my husband your comment when he gets home from work. Maybe he’ll start his own blog! 🙂
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My husband already winterized the vehicles but now he needs to move on the snowblower! Thanks for the reminder!
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I totally agree with you. Makes no sense to pay a professional. Good for you guys for doing it on your own.
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This makes me so glad I live in Florida and don’t have to deal with snow 🙂
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I’m a do it myself kind of girl too! cool!!
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Steve should start his own blog! 😉 I’m so glad we don’t have to deal with snow anymore!
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babydickey Reply:
December 4th, 2011 at 1:33 pm
Sometimes snow is really annoying, but I think if we didn’t have any I’d miss it!
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Snow season is quickly approaching, thanks for the info!
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Impressive blog post. Makes me glad I live in Arizona!
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I love this! Not because it’s all that directly helpful to me, but because Steve wrote it – and it sounds exactly like him. Hello Steve 🙂
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babydickey Reply:
December 4th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
haha, I read Steve your comment and he said, “ya know, I really like Kristin.” 🙂
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We never do this. I am forwarding this to DD! Good job, Steven! Will you come and prep my snowblower???
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At last some rantiialoty in our little debate.
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We could’ve done with that insight early on.
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Please let me know if you’re looking for a writer forr your blog.
You have some really ood posts and I believe I would be a goopd asset.
If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d loe to write some
material for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine.
Please shoot me ann e-mail if interested. Thank you!
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