Old Fuel

[Andrew Leigh]

Hi,

I use my boat rarely, a full tank of fuel could stay in the boat for 6 months. It may be my imagination but I do believe that the motor does not run as well with this old fuel. A fresh tank seems to be better. I premix and the fuel is kept in the regulation plastic gas tanks.

Is this my imagination?
Can this old fuel be given a "wake up"?
Should this fuel be trashed?
What actually happens to the fuel when in storage? Does the volatile content evaporate leaving a higher oil content? Does the fule simply go "off".

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Old Fuel

Andrew, If you mix the gas with oil, evaporation(of the gasoline only) over time makes the mixture a bit rich in oil. My inline Merc ran better on fresh 50::1. Since your fuel does lay around for some time, you probably should put in some fuel stabilizer.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Old Fuel

you are better to mix what you need for the outing, burn the rest in the weedeater. fresh fuel is always better. seafoam and stabilizer are recommended. 6 months is the oldest i ever run.

 

[Andrew Leigh]

Re: Old Fuel

Thanks

 

[protozo1]

Re: Old Fuel

Gas does go "bad" after a period of time. If you put fresh gas in a gas can with little or no air with fuel stabilizer it will "keep" for up to 1 year. If the gas has already been sitting for a long time fuel stablizer will not bring it back to life but it will stop further degradation. If you run your motor with a tank of old gas it can really gum up your carb/fuel injectors and make a mess out of things.