Gasoline OK after 12 months.

[ultrarunner]

I've read a lot about fuel going bad over time...

So far... I've been lucky not to have experienced it...

Here's a couple of examples...

I was clearing some downed trees in Olympia WA and had to leave unexpectedly... full tank of fuel sat 23 months in the Stihl saw and it fired right up... I was set to drain it and decided to try and start it... it started on the third pull... used all the fuel in the tank and kept going all day.

Brother has a 2006 SeaRay boat that was stored with full gasoline tank for 12 months and it fired right up yesterday and the family spent the day cruising Tahoe without incident.

Could it be that most problems people write about occur with rubber type gaskets and fuel lines mostly found in older equipment?

Over the years, I brought a lot of old cars back to life... the smell of what's left of 20, 30 or 40 year fuel is something I'll never forget... the saw and boat fuels didn't have that old fuel smell.

 

[bp fick]

Too many variables. The gas might have been high quality in the first place and blended with some nice additives. In this day and age of boutique refined fuels, for specific regional EPA mandates, generalities are hard to make.

Other regions mandate so much ethanol that more issues seem to arise.

There isn't a whole lot anyone can draw from your examples, except you had a good experience. For others, their mileage has absolutely varied!!!

Some "gas" seems too crappy, that it doesn't make a year in storage, and that's all there is to it.

 

[buck12]

Like bp said its hard to tell what variables determine how gas ages. I had five gallons of gas that I got when a neighbor moved and gave me all kind of stuff out of his shed. I wanted the gas can but did not want to chance running it in anything. The gas sat in my shed for over a year when I gave it to my Dad to use on some stumps he was burning. Dad mistakenly ran it in his mower (same type of can). He said the mower ran fine and that he didn't realize his mistake until later. On the other hand I have had problems with an ATV and chainsaw that sat for only a couple of months. Maybe someone can explain.

 

[whistlepig]

It's not the gaskets that will be a problem. After gas ages for too long it will "shellac" or "varnish" in your carb. These are hard deposits that have to be physically removed from the carb. Plugs up everything. We're talking sandpaper, Gumout, paperclips, and what ever it takes to clean these hard deposits from your carb. I've had it happen twice. You will lose a whole day each time you fix it. I use fresh gas and/or Stabil now.

 

[carpenter383]

Another thing to consider is they change fuel mixtures by the season, so a winter mix would most likley not compare equally to a summer mix as far as storage goes.

 

[radioman]

maybe. I have a homemade wood splitter that used to start no matter what. Ever since I started storing it outside , I have to drain the tank and put fresh feul in it so I can get it started. Dunno if i need seafoam or what.

 

[Bird]

I think I've posted this before, but . . . in 1970 I bought a new 2 hp Johnson outboard motor to use on a canoe (and later on a jon boat). It had a one quart gas tank and the tank was full, with the oil mixed, but no Stabil in those days, when I found I was being sent to Northwestern University for the 1971-72 school year. So that little outboard sat for over a year with that gas in it. When I finally used it again, it started right up and seemed to run just fine on that old gas. I always carried a one quart plastic oil can (or bottle) of gas, so if the motor ran out, even in rough water, I could just dump that quart of gas into the tank without spilling any. And when the motor ran out of that old gas and I dumped in a quart of fresh gas, I'll bet that little motor picked up 500 RPM.:laughing: So the old gas worked OK, but there was a noticeable improvement with fresh gas.

 

[DEWFPO]

I've recently been using gasoline that has been stored for 3 years and I have not been having any problems with it whatsoever in whatever I put it in. In this case it was stored in sealed gasoline containers. And it even contains 10% ethanol. Its almost impossible around here to get fuel that doesn't have ethanol.

I have never had problems with gasoline stored for 12-18 months and left in machines and equipment. They have always started and run fine. I've never used any fuel stabilizer in gasoline that I have left sit.

DEWFPO

 

[ultrarunner]

My saw shop says... run dry at the end of the season.

In the 70's I always did that until I had a problem with rust developing in the tank... the Honda Dealer said to keep the tank completely full...

 

[dodge man]

I've seen gas go bad, and I mean really bad to the point it smells really funny, but it usually takes years for it to get that bad.