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.
The car is where the stale fuel goes…
Unless it’s a nice car.
I’ve used three-week-old fuel and I was fine, but I’m not sure about pushing it past that. If you’re a car too, you could possibly drink it to get your money’s worth. If you’d rather be safe than sorry and don’t want to risk causing harm to your engine, though, I’d just take the loss and dispose of it.
Definitely fine. I fill up my car like…once a month, if that.
What everybody has said here. I’ve got cans that have gas from years ago between the boat, weedeater, lawn mower motor cycle etc. I keep a little shy of 20 gallons on hand and cycle through it first in first out. That run just fine in anything I put it in. The 2 cycle mixed gas is the worst offender as I use so little of it it might take me years to make it through a gallon.
That said three weeks is nothing. The gas I put in the chainsaw two weeks ago had been in the can since the last administration, and it cranked up and ran without fail for hours, the only time it quit was when it ran out.
Yep same here.
Biggest thing to worry about is leaving gas that has ethanol in it, in the tank/carburetor of your small engine machines. It gunks up the carb and wreaks all kinds of havoc.
So I run rec gas only, in those machines, personally. There might be other solutions, but this has been simple and foolproof for me. Hasn’t failed me yet.
If I knew the ethanol gas would be replaced with rec gas in the next few months, I’d run it. But thus far I’ve not taken the risk.
Start worrying about it when it’s last years gas, you’re fine
Let’s say it is over a year old, what would happen if it’s used in a car?
ChrisFix said once (in the first Mustang video at 7:40) that you try old gasoline in your lawnmower. If the lawnmower works, you can probably use it in a car.
I just ran my snow blower on fuel bought in October… If I don’t use it all, it goes in the truck in March/April. It may have done 89 this season… But I’ve never had issues with 87. Except for 2cycles… Buy the canned/ethanol-free stuff or switch to electric.
3 weeks is fine. Add stabilizer now. It will be fine in a vehicle.
Should be fine on more modern cars (ie. Everything with fuel injection, newer than 1990)
I run gas that’s probably 1-2y old in my pickup and never had any issues.
Just beware that ethanol might hurt rubber lines if you have them. So best to mix it with some new gas over time
Three weeks should be good to go, easily. Back when I had a gas lawnmower I was rarely refilling the big jug, though those little engines are a bit more forgiving. Some hybrids will keep gas in the tank for a year before they force a burn-off.
I’m certainly no expert but it’s my understanding that it takes gas at minimum three to six months to go bad. Apparently high ethanol gas goes faster. But I think you’re probably fine to use it.
Nah you’re good
I have a car that’s been sitting in my driveway for a year now and it’s really fun when i start to think about stuff like this
Same; I have a busted diesel I need to fix.
Apparently some fucking squirrel or something chewed through the harness holding my O2 sensor on the engine or whatever, so the O2 sensor doesn’t work, so i couldn’t pass an inspection and then I just haven’t had the fucking money to follow through with trying to get it inspected in my new county (which doesn’t require emissions inspections) or anything, knowing the entire time that my car just gets more and more fucked the longer it sits there
I’m guessing those tanks have been sealed from when you filled them?
Gas goes bad primarily from absorbing water from the air, oxidation, and evaporation. Since the tanks were kept closed, the gas will last for years.
Gas cans that are used frequently need stabilizer because every time you pour a little to fill a lawnmower, fresh air gets in to replace the volume poured out.
I dont know anything about this but in (yes fictional) apocalypse novels the gas in car tanks always goes bad after several months.
Nah, it might be a little less spicy after a year, but still plenty useful, even for years it can remain functional. Months is nothing.
Source: grew up on a farm. Own gas powered yard tools.
Correct, they’ve been sealed since I filled them three weeks ago. Thanks for explaining a little more around how gas degrades.
Three-week-old fuel is brand new. I don’t even fill up my car that often.
No issue here.
