What to do with two year old gas?

[cptnmcluvin]

One of my boats has not be used in 2 years. I put lots of fuel stabilizer in it last time I filled up. Is the gas no good now? If so, how do I get rid of 30 gallons of gas?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

bonfire

 

[giericd]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

funny, I was just going to say light it. if you want to do it the right way take it to any small private airport in your area or you might be able to find a mechanic shop in your area that has the proper "recovery tank" that you can dump it in and a co comes by and removes it. i work at a airport and test aviation fuel every night one check we do is called the "white bucket test". get a white 5gal bucket and dump about 3" of fuel in to the bucket. let it sit for about 1 min. it should look clear, might be slightly off clear but that is ok, if there is any water in the fuel it will ball up in the bottom of the bucket you will see it. if it looks clear and there is no water test it out in a lawnmower, if all good use it no need to waste $100+ in fuel. when we detect water in the bottom of the tank we slowly dump the fuel in to the retriever tank and stop just before the water comes out of the bucket, with a little practice you can dump out the water and will only lose about 1oz of fuel. the easiest thing to do is to drive over to any small airport in yuor area that has a flight school. Go to the FBO and ask to talk to a line tec. ask them if you could have 1 test strip that detects water in fuel and they should give you one. (remember the line tec give him a $5 tip for helping and as long as it isnt more than once a month you come in for one, you should be able to get test strips for life as long as you toss the guy a $5 every once in a while) if they dont have test strips they will have the test paste. (if they sell fuel they HAVE to have one or the other) the paste looks like a tan or light grey tooth paste (pilot shop might sell it, good investment) put some on a wood dowel and touch the bottom of your fuel tank, wait a few seconds and pull it out, if there is water in the tank it will turn red/orange

 

[southkogs]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

If you've got a push lawn mower, slob some in there. If it'll run - and you're as cruel as I am to my lawn mower - run your next season on the stuff. That's probably one of the easier engines to get the bad gas back out of if it doesn't work.

 

[Tahorover]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=526356&p=3571144

 

[sasto]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

I can only go from expierence. I picked up an old boat that had been sitting for 2 1/2 years with Stabil in the fuel. She ran just fine. This was an inboard.

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

Two years old, I'd run it. Cut it with some fresh gas (50-50 or so) and run it in your vehicle. 30 gal is over $100 here, I wouldn't waste it.

 

[nlain]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

If you put lots of stabilizer in it I would run it, it should still be good.

 

[joe009]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

you should be all right with the gas.you could use a product called pri-g.it works on old gas.my friend used it on his 2 yr. old gas.

 

[stackz]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

as said, if the lawnmower will run on it. use it that way.

if not, then just siphon into a container that wont be dissolved by it and just keep it under an awning and let it evaporate. even skunked gas will still evaporate in an open container.

 

[nlain]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

as said, if the lawnmower will run on it. use it that way.

if not, then just siphon into a container that wont be dissolved by it and just keep it under an awning and let it evaporate. even skunked gas will still evaporate in an open container.

I would not store an open container of gas anywhere near my house. Gas fumes settle to the ground, they can drift a hundred feet away, 1 spark can ignite the fumes and fire will run back to the container and you have a fire. I once went to get a fuel tanker that had burned while unloading at a gas station. There was a carwash about a hundred feet away with a gas fired hot water heater, the fumes drifted across the ground, thru the vent in the bottom of the door to the heater room and when the heater fired up it ignited the fumes which ran back to the tanker. Driver saw the flash of fire as it came back to his truck, nothing he could do. The tanker melted.

 

[steelespike]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

I bought a boat with properly treated 5 year old gas.Boat was stored inside.
I carefully checked on the tank with a light for junk and water all was fine so I
used the gas.Under those cercumstances I wouldn't hesitate to use in my car or
various motors about the place.
I dont know if there are funnels with fine strainers around anymore but they will
not pass water.You must be carefull pouring as too much gas will push the water through
if overfilled.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

like most of these topics, there are a couple things to consider: old gas and old tank--not the same thing.

The gas itself may be fine, or not, but just because one person used old gas no problem doesn't mean you can. People in Minnesota can do things that people in Louisiana can't.

No matter how OK the gas on top is, your tank, sitting for a couple years, is likely to have water and gunkiness settled on the bottom, which will be sucked up into the engine. Therefore you need to do a visual test of the stuff on the bottom before deciding to run it through the motor.

Finally, different motors handle bad gas differently. The more sensitive, and smaller, motors are more likely to have problems. OUtboars motors are sensitive, and I've heard 4 strokes are worse than 2 strokes. New car engines are worse than old ones. So where you use it--and the success or failure stories of others--is subject to variables, too.

 

[Maclin]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

I ran my boat just this August with right at 2 year old fuel in the tank. I add Sta-bil each time as I am never real sure when the next time I will splash it may be. I added about 3 gallons of fresh on top of the 10-15 gallons of "old", and it started and ran fine. I was able to always find non-ethanol fuel around the lake we ran it at back then (2 years ago), that may make a difference.

This is in a 5.7 4bbl 275HP V8 I/O, the boat in my sig.


Sidebar:
I never notice any change in performance when running with the freshly Sta-bil-ized fuel. I fuel-up with multiple 5 gallon containers, and treat each one as I fill it or just before I pour it in. This way the carb always has the treated fuel in case of an unexpected layup. I only treat it once, never add more. If I know it is the last run of the season I tend to treat the last container with the double shot. Again, I have been fortunate enough to not have to run any ethanol dilluted fuels for several seasons now.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

Re: "was able to always find non-ethanol fuel around the lake we ran it at back then"

See, here's why you have to have all the facts. Non-ethanol gas is seldom a problem. The gas that's been sitting since 1995 is better than 6 month old gas--because the former doesn't have ethanol and the latter, typically, does. With non-ethanol gas, you don't need the stabil at all.

To go back to the OP's question we have to assume he's got E10 because that's the norm--and where the problems are. Except in Minnesota.

 

[robert graham]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

One of my boats has not be used in 2 years. I put lots of fuel stabilizer in it last time I filled up. Is the gas no good now? If so, how do I get rid of 30 gallons of gas?

Siphon some out into a clear glass container and give it a close visual inspection and smell of it. Fresh gas and degraded/contaminated gas should look and smell quite differently. Since you used the heavy stabilizer then the gas may be just fine. If it's cloudy or smells bad, then better to drain/pump/siphon out and replace with fresh gas. I always keep old gas for fire ants, yellow jacket nests and to start brush fires. Good Luck and be careful!

 

[Outsider]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

People in Minnesota can do things that people in Louisiana can't.

People in Minnesota do things that people in Louisiana wouldn't do ... :facepalm:

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

According the manufactures web site sea foam is good for 2 years at the standard of 1 to 1 gallon mix and STA-BIL blue marine is also good for 2 years if you double the recommended mix, that info may help. but I would also drain off some through the fuel hose from the bottom of the tank into a glass jar and look at it for water and gunk and clarity. While the fuel may very well be fine the tank may of sweated over time and I would look first. If nothing looks bad I would run it.

 

[sasto]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

People in Minnesota can do things that people in Louisiana can't.

People in Minnesota do things that people in Louisiana wouldn't do ... :facepalm:

Can't stop.......Good stuff!


Burn it.

 

[3rdtimesthecharm]

Re: What to do with two year old gas?

That probably wont even kill weeds now..