How does gasoline go "bad"? When?

[Existential Angst]

Basically answered all my questions -- I don't necessarily agree with it all, but it's a good discussion. For example, it's very difficult to oxidize a hydrocarbon without enzymes, catalysts, and the like. And I don't think the "lost volatiles" in old gas amount to much ito performance.

Bottom line is, I don't think "bad gasoline" ito age is much to worry about. After this bullshit with Sandy, NOW we got a gas crisis, so ahm fixin to store a bunch. I figger I'll "exchange" it yearly -- it's own pita, but it beats waiting 4 hours on line for 10 gals of f****ng gas.

I used to scoff at survivalists.... but not any more. I'm realizing that urbanites/surburbanites are essentially walking around with their cheeks spread.

[jon_banquer]

"Bottom line is, I don't think "bad gasoline" ito age is much to worry about."

I don't agree. If you store it you need to use a stabilizer.

[Existential Angst]

"Bottom line is, I don't think "bad gasoline" ito age is much to worry about."

I don't agree. If you store it you need to use a stabilizer. ==============================================

Mebbe a stabilizer would help for really long periods, but I think it could be stored for a year and still be OK, without stabilizers. The article seemed to indicate as much, if stored properly.

[Steve W.]

I have stored gas for a year and although it will run a modern vehicle IF you blend it into fuel already in the tank you can tell that it isn't quite right. In small engines it runs MUCH worse. I rotate my gas every

3 months, not hard to do if you just dump the can into your vehicle, then fill the can back up. I tag all my cans with simple string tags and a marker. I have 20 gallons that is back-up for whatever. Then there are a couple others that are for the mowers/trimmers/ saws and such. The mixed fuels get mixed 1 gallon at a time and ONLY with non-ethanol gas. The saws and trimmers run MUCH better without the booze. So do most air cooled engines. The ethanol causes the engine to run leaner and hotter causing problems.

[Existential Angst]

In response to jb, I think gas left in a lawn mower carb and gas left in a storage can are a bit different.

But, I'm all for feedback here, and mebbe 1 year is too long. I proly couldn't handle the gas-exchange hassle more than every 6 mos, tho.

The article did point out that booze gas should be more prone to aging effects, as the hydrophilic ethanol can attract more crap, like, well, water.

I'm basically looking for a ballpark as to what I can reasonably get away with, storage wise.

Funny thing, tho, this gas aging stuff.

[jon_banquer]

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I think the problem is how gummy the gas gets with time from all the additives they now use. The gasoline sold today is garbage compared to what it use to be.

[bob haller]

I occasionally use gasoline to clean bearings.

i would cean the bearings and leave the small pan outdoors overnite. by the next day all the gas would of evaporated leaving just some greasy dry crud i would wipe out with a rag and toss,

these days the gas leaves a non evaporating residue thats very gooey and perhap 1/5 the total of the original gas...

it never evaporates........

[Michael A. Terrell]

Briggs & Stratton tell you not to store it for more than 30 days.

[Scott Dorsey]

You'll find most of the newer small engines sold have enlarged jets to run a little richer. If you're having issues with ethanol, drill your carb jets out one numbered size and you should be good to go.

--scott

[m6onz5a]

I've also heard that some small engines won't run very well with the

87 octane fuels, but they run just fine on the 92-93 octane fuels. I myself haven't run into this.

[clare]

This is true with companies like Shell Canada that put NO hooch in the 93, and 10% in 87. Premium runs fine, regular like crap, and mid-grade so-so on engines that are sensitive to hooch in the gas.

[Ignoramus417]

I always used old gasoline, in my pick-up truck, adding it little by little to new gasoline.

i

[Jon Danniken]

That's because the alcohol/water fraction doesn't evaporate off overnight, and it's "gooey" because the material you removed from the bearings is in it.

Jon

[bob haller]

I left a pan of the goo sit outside in a covered area for a month, the gooey sludge never evaporated, in earlier time just a hard crud would remain by the next morning.

gasoline has really changed

[Steve W.]

I'd do that but you can get ethanol free premium gas locally and since the engines I have call for 90 octane+ it's just as easy to go that route. It runs about 20 cents a gallon more than the cheap stuff, but I'm only buying maybe 50 gallons a year. For 10 bucks it just isn't worth the trouble to re-jet.

[Tegger]

"Existential Angst" wrote in news:50934a73$0$24752$ [e-mail]:

TEL, MMT, and even MTBE were/are added at the refinery before the fuel was sent to the distribution centers. There was no special handling needed at the DCs.

Alcohol, on the other hand, is added to the gas at the DC /while the truck is being loaded immediately prior to its daily deliveries to retail outlets/. It is necessary to do this on account of the high corrosiveness of alcohol, and on account of the tendency of alcoholized fuels to spoil quickly. This special handling is expensive and troublesome for distributors, and was/is one of the objections to oxygenated fuels.

At the level of the individual home user, year-old oxygenated gas would be just fine, since any trouble you may experience would involve you alone. Refiners, distributors, and retailers cannot afford the risk, considering their high volume and their exposure to liability.

[clare]

No, the heavy crap is (sometimes) oxidized fuel - basically a light tar - and occurs even if you haven't used it as a cleaning solvent. This id with OLD gas. Fresh gas should almost totally evapourate, but there is usually enough left to cause at least a stain.

[clare]

The crap I removed from my generator smelled bad enough - and it was last run a couple years ago so it was not the "old type" gas - although it WAS old.

[Larry W]

Storing gas without stabilizer in a fuel can or other approved container is not the same as leaving the fuel tank of your mower or other gasoline powered equipment. (2 stroke engines are especially sensitive) When gas is not drained from carbs and fuel system gums and deposits can block small orifices and fuel passages and prevent the engine from starting or running properly. If the engine fuel system & carb is drained, and then filled using a can of year old gasoline, it will probably run OK, (may be slight performance loss with older fuel) OTOH if the same gas is left in the equipment's fuel tank and fuel system for a year, there very well may be starting or running problems.

[David Combs]

So, start up the lawn-mower for a minute or so mid winter?

David