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View Full Version : Can you use 4 yr old gasoline?



Ed Donnelly
04-29-2014, 03:52 PM
When I stored my Criterion for the winter 4 yrs ago, I put in 30 gallons of hi test
4 bottles of gasoline antifreeze,1/2 bottle of Stabil and 1/2 bottle of 104 octane booster. Little did I know I would not be using the boat for 4 yrs.
Drained the gas out, removed the fuel lever says and the tank was spotless.
My friend Rob said the gas smells good. so he put 10 gal. In his nearly empty Jimmy.

The truck runs great...WHO KNEW....Ed

duckhunter
04-29-2014, 04:03 PM
The gas line antifreeze I'm familiar with is straight ethanol. Sounds like the rest of the $10 bills you poured in the tank did the trick!

I try not to run any suspect fuel in the boat, and definitely not in any two strokes (OB, chainsaws, weedeaters, etc). As long as it smells ok and doesn't have any water in it I'll run it in the mower or the pressure washer. They don't seem to be very picky about fuel and I do keep up with changing the filters.

gcarter
04-29-2014, 05:41 PM
The gas line antifreeze I'm familiar with is straight ethanol. Sounds like the rest of the $10 bills you poured in the tank did the trick!

I try not to run any suspect fuel in the boat, and definitely not in any two strokes (OB, chainsaws, weedeaters, etc). As long as it smells ok and doesn't have any water in it I'll run it in the mower or the pressure washer. They don't seem to be very picky about fuel and I do keep up with changing the filters.

I was going to suggest the lawn mower.....but Ed probably still has snow on the ground while we're getting 90* afternoons!
What we all need is some sort of auxiliary engine powered device we can fuel with old gasoline.........:)

Greg Guimond
04-29-2014, 05:56 PM
Maybe the gas up in the Northland has less ethanol. I always thought that in certain areas you could actually still buy no ethanol gas.

RockyS18
04-29-2014, 06:15 PM
Maybe the gas up in the Northland has less ethanol. I always thought that in certain areas you could actually still buy no ethanol gas.

Those areas are rare, there's only one place that I know of and it's pretty far from me.

edit- unless you're referring to farther north than LG

Carl C
04-29-2014, 06:15 PM
I was going to say lawn mower too. Just nothing high performance. I'd use it.

Conquistador_del_mar
04-29-2014, 07:16 PM
A Warlock boat I just bought had 4 year old gas with Stabil, but I didn't want to run it in the boat so I pumped it into my old Chevy dually with a low compression 454 after checking it out by the smell and color test - the truck runs fine with it. I also used some in my rider mower with no problems.

duckhunter
04-29-2014, 09:11 PM
My buddy runs a shop and has all kinds of customers come in with fuel issues. He ends up with 55gal drums full of bad gas - stinky, phase-separated, nasty stuff. Runs it in his mower all the time. Just siphon off the top!

I won't do that. If it's that nasty I'll just dump it on the neighbor's lawn or something. :eek: Maybe put it in a garden sprayer and write my name.

We've got 2 ethanol-free stations near me, both about a $0.50/gal premium over E10. One near the boat ramp that gets the boaters and one in the middle of town that gets the lawn care guys. I was surprised how many EtOH-free marinas there were in FL when I was down there for spring break. $5 a gallon, ouch.

They've got lots of auxiliary gas powered stuff in Canada. Let's see, there's snowblowers, ice augers, generators, wood splitters, the big smelters they use to convert whale blubber into lamp oil...

roadtrip se
04-29-2014, 09:49 PM
Makes pretty good fire starter around the homestead. Wouldn't use it for much more....

Ed Donnelly
04-29-2014, 10:11 PM
Our Sunoco 94 is corn free...Ed

mc donzi
04-30-2014, 07:49 AM
Our Sunoco 94 is corn free...Ed


So is our Shell V-Power...92 Octane, I think

osur866
04-30-2014, 09:29 AM
Old gas makes for good weed killer on driveways and sidewalks

joseph m. hahnl
04-30-2014, 08:36 PM
I thought you said you put stabilizer in it.:rolleyes: I'd use it for auto fuel :biggrin.:

Pismo
05-01-2014, 08:36 AM
Sounds like Yes.

Greg Guimond
05-01-2014, 08:47 AM
Our Sunoco 94 is corn free...Ed


Maybe the gas up in the Northland has less ethanol. I always thought that in certain areas you could actually still buy no ethanol gas.


So is our Shell V-Power...92 Octane, I think

You guys are lucky to have a high octane option without ethanol. Can't get it in the NYC Tri State area at all :mad:

Ed Donnelly
05-01-2014, 11:55 AM
For a price,I can deliver..L.O.L. ..Ed

pipnit
05-01-2014, 11:10 PM
Where I live you can't find pure gas. It's because of the pollution the steel mills emit, they offset the regions "carbon footprint" by selling only ethanol junk. The local marina does sell real gas but it's only 87 octane valvtech that I built the motor around.

Check out www.pure-gas.org to find real gas.

A couple summers ago I blew up a ktm 300 two stroke by running it hard on a bad batch of gas. Was gas that say around for a while and took on h20. Took a good slurp of water wfo and that was that. :boggled:

Greg Guimond
05-03-2014, 06:37 AM
Where I live you can't find pure gas. The local marina does sell real gas but it's only 87 octane valvtech that I built the motor around. Check out www.pure-gas.org (http://www.pure-gas.org) to find real gas.

That's an interesting source of info pipnit, thanks for posting. I noticed one Sunoco station in particular in my area where it looks like you can buy 5 gallon jugs of 94 ethanol free gas? Is there any truth to the rumor I once heard that the higher you go in octane the less ethanol they will mix with it? I'm wondering if 93 gets you to a better place when you fill the boat up on land. The only octane we can get on the water is 89 these days.

Carl C
05-03-2014, 09:11 AM
All of Alaska is ethanol free!

VetteLT193
05-05-2014, 01:18 PM
I've used old gas in cars too... a couple gallons at a time.

DickB
05-05-2014, 02:18 PM
All of the gas stations here in northern Minnesota offer no ethanol gas, usually 91 octane.

CHACHI
05-22-2014, 07:41 AM
My gas pings when I wash parts in it.

Ken

gcarter
05-22-2014, 10:17 AM
My gas pings when I wash parts in it.

Ken

Turn the volume down! :)

Conquistador_del_mar
05-22-2014, 01:09 PM
My gas pings when I wash parts in it.

Ken

Ken, I also use old gas for washing parts like 3 wheel bearing hubs that needed new races and bearings just last week. Unfortunately, I used an old plastic bucket which warped and leaked the day after I had about 5" of gas in it :bonk:.

FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack
06-17-2014, 08:30 AM
A few years ago during hurricane Irene I started up my Honda generator that had ten year old gas in it. It ran fine.

Eric

MOP
06-23-2014, 06:34 PM
A marine engine is under constant load unlike your friends truck, use it for week killer or in the lawn mower!