old gas

i have a can of mixed gas in my boat. its been about 3 or 4 four months.how long before it goes south ,i havent put any stabilizer in it yet.is it to late.

Re: old gas

one question, ten different opinons...... My answer, when in doubt, toss it out.... Or if it is in a can dump it into your pickup and put in a new mix. Odds are it's ok, but why chance it.....

P.S. all the experts say "run stabilizer" with every tank unless you are using the boat daily...

Re: old gas

Gas starts to go bad in 30 days..Ethanol attracts moisture which will kill your outboard...Every boat I own(9) has a racor water separator on it..This is a must to protect your investment...Your motor see's 5,000 rpm;s all the time...your car never see's that except hitting passing gear..Your car has a knock sensor to retard timing when your motor pings...your outboard will blow a hole through the piston if it is too far advanced, or if you use old gas that has lost some of it's octane...talk to the local marine shop as they get bulletins all the time...Most of the problems they see are either electrical or gas related.....

Re: old gas

Too late to add stabilizer. If it was non ethanol gas it might be ok but ethanol gas its a crape shoot. Use fresh ethanop-poisoned gas whenever you can. The old gas will be fine in a car.

Re: old gas

Mine's been in my boat since last October, boat runs just fine. I probably won't need gas until June and I'm not worried at all. I have about 8 gals out of 15 in my shed thats mixed 50:1 and I've been running it my Honda Lawnmower for about 3 years now. Still a 1 pull mower and not even a plug change. I'm not gonna try to tell you that's normal but hey, it's the truth.

Re: old gas

Use it to clean parts, or kill weeds. LOL

Re: old gas

I just pumped out the leftover from my newly purchased boat.
x2 on what was stated already about ethanol !!! It is a SPONGE it ATTRACTS moisture from the atmosphere.
Pulls water in from the air around it.
Merc has changed it's stance from storing boats with full tanks to prevent condesation to EMPTY tank to stop the collection of atmospheric water in the fuel system.
Mixing it with fresh just dilutes the concentration.
Some people get ethanol free at marinas still. LUCKY !!!
I personally do not press my luck.
I had almost 15 gallons in theboat I brought home.
Unhooked fule line at electric pump, hooked up a hose to that, and ran it into my car, truck, and garden tractor.
I have seen many statements saying NO ethanol fuel should be used after 30 days of staorage.
I first saw it on the owner's manual of my recent weed whacker.
Thought maybe it was because it was such a tiny 2 stroke and extra sensitive.
But I now see it for nearly everything !!!

Re: old gas

run it

Re: old gas

Agree run it.

Re: old gas

Run it! 4 months is not an issue. Siphon the bottom of the fuel tank to see if you have any water or phase seperation an pour that off.

Re: old gas

Run it...and if you don't already have a fuel/water separator...get one, run stabilizer and forget this issue

Re: old gas

Why add Stablizer to older fuel -- that is like putting hay in the barn after the horse died ! A waste of money and no common sense !!

Get fresh fuel and add it then --- go ahead and run out the older fuel. I have never yet run into a problem with fuel as long as it was in a
sealed fuel tank and under a year old !!