Old fuel!!!

[luckydog49]

Help! Just bought a 29 Monterey that had been sitting for two years(Fuel could be 3 years old). Tried starting, boat idles and dies, hooked up a fuel tank from my outboard(portable tank), boat starts and purrs.... What do I do with 50 gallons of old fuel that the motor doesn't like?????????Is there some additive I could ad??

 

[cr2k]

Re: Old fuel!!!

No additive will help that old fuel. I would suggest offering free gas to all the yard services in town. Most lawnmowers will run on old stuff.

 

[Brucetafer]

Re: Old fuel!!!

lawnmowers and chainsaws, give some to the neighbors, put it in your car... unless you have a prius if you mix it with fresh, it will be ok, i did it with my 25 gallons of 5+ year old fuel... dont know if i caused any damage, but both cars still run perfect.. and no check engine lights

 

[Bluestream]

Re: Old fuel!!!

Siphon it all out, mix it in with your car 1-2 gals at a time.

Here is a post from another forum on the same topic:

"I have encountered a similar situation at work, I have aproximatly 200 gasoline powered boats (not including the 400 deisel powered boats) that I store and maintain. One of the things I havet to do is de-fuel the tanks and fuel bowls and preserve the engines for long term storage.
Waste gasoline is classified by the EPA as a hazardous waste primarily due to flamibility. The "proper" way is to pay a whole lot of money for someone to pick it up and dispose of it, usually by incineratio. By law you have to have special endorsments to transport hazardous waste, (ironically the fresh gas in your gas tank requires no special endorsments). I work for the government and being a steward of the taxpayers dollar I can't see wasting our money like that. We double filter the used gas and add it to our forklifts and small equipment like gensets, air compressors and chain saws. We have even used it in our work vechicles with no problems. We try to use a 3:1 or 4:1 mix of fresh gas with old and add a fuel stabilizer (it's mostly ethanol). Every now and then something might run a little rough and in that case we drain it out and add a little more fresh gas.

So long story short, filter it, drain any water off the bottom and use it in your lawn mower just cut it down with some fresh gas first and add a little fuel stabilizer. DO NOT pour it on the ground!"

 

[luckydog49]

Re: Old fuel!!!

Thanks!! Great advice

 

[j_martin]

Re: Old fuel!!!

I wouldn't run it in a chain saw, unless you want to brick it.

Filter it. If it's separated, discard the bottom layer which is mostly water, and throw the rest into the family bus a little at a time.

Modern engines are made to burn purposely adulterated fuel, (E10, E 85) and will compensate for octane troubles with a preignition sensor and electronic timing adjustment.

One caveat is if it's going to be real cold, lay off the scrap gas. The volatile top needed for cold start is held pretty close these days to start with to keep vapor pressure down, and it's the first fraction to be lost in storage.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Old fuel!!!

^^^^^
Beat me to it...
I run all my small B&S, Tecumsehs, and chainsaws on at least 91 octane.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Old fuel!!!

small 2 strokes (chainsaws/weedeaters) are actually some of the MOST forgiving engines around. I have a 25cc homelite engine that is converted to run in a model airplane. I've burned everything in that... gasoline, e85, kerosene, white gas (camping fuel) Its all burnt well, with appropriate carb settings &/or different carbs entirely. I used the same 40:1 synthetic oil mix for all fuels, although technically I could probably get away with less on some of those.

I actually PREFER burning kerosene or white gas in those engines, its far easier to transport/handle for model airplane use.