Gee, could it be bad gas?

[Condor1970]

So, I bought this old boat from a guy who had it sittin' with a full tank of gas for... I dunno.... 2 years maybe? The engine just won't run smooth for some reason. Keeps backfiring. Won't idle. Won't accelerate. For the life of me, I just can't imagine why. :lol:

To reminisce and sing to an old tune from my childhood....

.... "One of these things is not like the other...."

 

[Scott Danforth]

maybe you have an old table that needs varnish

 

[GA_Boater]

maybe you have an old table that needs varnish

Good answer! I don't see any water.

 

[Condor1970]

I wonder how well that would actually work?

As it is, I don't really have any way to dispose of all this bad gas. I'm guessing on order of 30 gallons or so. I am siphoning it into 5 gallon buckets and just leaving it outside to evaporate. Maybe I could keep a bucket full as a general parts cleaner/solvent. The stuff is so bad, it barely fires the engine.

Oh, and I primed the fuel separator with fresh gas and ran it for a few more minutes, and it suddenly started running better, even though it was still mixed with some of the old stuff. Then after that, back to backfiring, and stalling.

 

[phillyg]

I think it could be bad gas at two years old, especially if it has ethanol in it.

 

[998cc]

Looks bad to me!! For disposing of the old gas, call your local waste disposal site. Our local "dump" has a recycling station for hazmat like oil, fuel, paint,etc., and they take it for free.

 

[Maclin]

Listen very closely, that faint squealing is the carb crying for a rebuild...that stuff does bad things inside a carb. Regarding "primed the fuel separator with fresh gas", always put on a fresh filter/separator, there is no reliable way to drain or clear them. Kind of like putting on 2 day old underwear after a fresh shower.

 

[HT32BSX115]

I had some 5 year old gas recently (actually about 6 months ago) and it looked just like what you have........ I just filtered it carefully and put it in my car (about 2 gallons of "bad" to 10 gallons of "good" or so) and burned it. Couldn't tell any difference.

At $4/gallon, I wouldn't just throw it away.....

 

[Condor1970]

It's sitting in dirty 5 gallon buckets outside. I wouldn't put this garbage in an old rusty lawnmower.

 

[voodoochikin]

WHAT!!! Just run it through a strainer funnel and right into the lawn mower... old gas runs perfectly in our lawn mower... Or use as parts cleaner. don't waste it.