It’s been about three-and-a-half weeks now since I filled up a couple 5-gallon containers in anticipation of power outages during a winter storm. Since I’m a dumb dumb, I did not add stabilizer at the time, but I do have some Seafoam stabilizer on hand.
I understand fuel degrades over time and running degraded fuel can damage engine parts. Should I pour the fuel into my vehicle or will that gum up my car’s engine? Is it still worth adding stabilizer today so that I can continue to store it in my garage for a rainy day? The only other responsible alternative I can think of is taking it to a hazardous disposal site in my county. It’s octane rating 87, I believe it also has ethanol, in case that makes any difference.


Three-week-old fuel is brand new. I don’t even fill up my car that often.
No issue here.
Depends on where you are and the conditions of storage. If the fuel has a lot of ethanol and it’s been stored in a damp environment, I definitely wouldn’t characterise it as brand new.
But yeah, drop it in the car and top of with fresh fuel and you’ll be fine.