80 gallons of 4 year old gas

[gooseblitz]

Hey guys I have done the search and read some advise about old gas and whether or not it is ok.
But mine is older than normal and not much space to top it off.

I have a new to me 2000 Four Winns 260 BR....it has not been run since 2005and only has 62 hours on it. It has a 80 gallon tank that is nearly about 75% full.

I have no issue draining and starting fresh....but where and how do I do this?
My local mairina said just add some octane booster and run it out and then change fuel filter. Will gas this old harm this largely unused Volvo 5.7 Gxi engine? Should I add a moisture remover? Stabilzer? all three?

Let me know fellas. This boat is the biggest nicest deal I have ever stumbled onto and I want to make sure I start off the right way.

 

[boat1010]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

So are you telling me that you bought this boat and never ran it? I hope you have done some intensive checking on the boat. The water pump is probably not in so good of shape. As far as the gas. I would think that some octane booster and replace the filter after that is burnt out would be good. Another idea would be a couple of 5 gallon gas cans and burn some up in your car or truck, lawn mower and such. When I bought my Arriva with a 70 gallon tank it sat for three years and it had about 50 gallons in it when I bought it. I fired it up and ran it without any problems, except the water pump, coupler, trailer bunks, etc., and etc.. Nothing with the motor. That was 5 years ago. Good luck.

 

[bigred69]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

If it was me I would take half of it out and burn it in the car. Replace it with some premium and a can of booster.

 

[cornercanyon]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

I pulled 20 gallons out of a 28 gallon tank that had sat for 7 years. Ran my truck on it. Changed the filter once done. Frankly, I may just be dumb, but my truck seemed to run fine.

 

[gooseblitz]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

thanks guys. I did run it and it ran great...I was surprised how quick this big boat got up on plane. I also had an accredited full marine survey done on the boat.
I just didn't want to do anything that could cause me problems. I had heard old gas especially ethanol could gum up my fuel injector. My hour on the water doesn't make much of a dent in the old fuel and my local marina brought it up to me. I have read how the water will separate from ethanol and didn't think that would be a great thing for the new boat.

I guess maybe I should buy a bunch of 5 gallon tanks and split the difference.

 

[Joseph10]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

I would siphon it all out and run it in your truck/car - unless you have some sort of high grade engine that requires high octane gas. My old 2002 Chevrolet pickup wouldn't care....

 

[scubadoo73]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

If water is your biggest concern you can also add 1 ounce of methal hydrate to every 2 gallons of gas. that make water burn

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

contact your county hazardous waste disposal people, and just get rid of it.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

I agree with TD. You may be able to take the whole boat to your area's hazardous household waste facility and siphon the old gas out into their containers. I think that would be the best deal you could find. Give them a call and describe your situation. I'm betting they'll be happy to help you, just to avoid the possibility that the fuel would end up somewhere it would do harm.

Use caution running old fuel in fuel-injected autos and trucks. The cost of cleaning a fouled injection system will shock the heck out of you.

 

[David Greer]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

If your local hazmat facility won't take it, go to a fuel-cleaning/recovery company. Our local limits us to 5 gallons--but when I emailed them they said I could bring in 20 anyway. The oil recovery company options were: they come to me and suck it out (fee + per gallon) I bring the boat on a trailer and they suck it out ($75 plus .50/gal) or I bring it in cans ($25 plus .50/gal).
Then there's a guy who cleans it on site and returns it to you: $200 plus something per gallon, but he won't just take it. USA Fuel Service, IIRC. Ask at a marina. Junk yard might take it, too.
I wouldn't think of running it in an outboard but I don't know about inboards.

 

[Cptkid570]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

Goose - this is off topic, but I'm currently working on a 1996 Four Winns 240 Horizon bowrider that I took on as a project. I'd like to share some opinons of the boat with you.. could you email me EDIT email addresses not allowed, use the PM system.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

The only experience I have with bad gas was in a car that had been sitting so long the gas had turned to a varnish like substance in which case just draining the tank wasn't enough. Back in 1970 my dads uncle died and left him a Model A Ford that had been sitting in his barn for 12 years with a full tank. We drained the tank and re filled it then ran the car. Within a half hour we had gummed up everything in the engine and fuel system. We struggled for weeks with that car before deciding to do a complete rebuild. Dad died last year but I still drive that old car every now and then. Brings back old memories.

 

[RollingWanderer]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

Another option for disposal is the local FD. A lot of times they will take old fuels and use them in practice/training burns.

-RW

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

I wouldn't chance using it in the boat. I would just buy either a hand sump pump or an electrically powered unit and syphon the fuel out completely. We just poured out about 3-4 gallons of 2 year old fuel when we were putting the fuel tank bank in our runabout. That stuff looked like varnish, good enough for the lawn equipment, not good for the boat or autos. Just my .02.

 

[q5ka]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

What you could do with that old gas is about 1/3 fresh 2/3 old and use it up in your small engines such as lawnmower. You can also do about 1/2 old with the boat but I would have the second half be premium fuel to help. I pulled 25 gallons that was 1 year old and burn it in the mower and mix 2 cycle oil for weed eater and snowmobile. The smaller motors are a lot more forgiving with old gas.

 

[frankie g]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

IMO, that tank needs to be emptied and cleaned before anymore use. then fill it up and dump the proper amount of Star Tron. I think if you use any more of it your gonna be in for alot of repairs....Better safe then sorry. Today's gas is ****! Let all the others do it, and say they've done it! but will they pay for your repairs if there wrong?????? Been there....done it!

 

[wajajaja02]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

if its not good enough for the boat, its not good enough for the motor vehicle's.
you got about 160 dollars worth of gas, whats the repair bill worth, got towboat or seatow?

 

[gooseblitz]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

Thanks guys...How do I clean the tank?

I will follow up with some of the suggestions for disposing of the old gas.

 

[slasmith1]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

sounds to me like you have a summers supply of lawn mower gas for your whole neighborhood.

 

[cadunkle]

Re: 80 gallons of 4 year old gas

I'd just throw it in the truck and be done with it. Last summer I bought a '66 Galaxie convertible that had sat since '93. Drained the varnish (10 gallons of it) out of the tank and threw it in my truck. No biggie. I filtered it through an old t-shirt then into truck, and carried a spare fuel filter with me. Had to swap fuel filter once. The stuff that came out of tank took a few seconds exposure to open flame before "burning" when I tested it. No biggie. My truck is an '86 with no smog equipment and low compression. Prolly run on **** after a couple beers.