Life of stored gasoline.

[toms68cst]

Unfortunately, my truck sometimes sits in the garage for a while without being driven much.

My truck has been running like crap recently and I’m wondering if the gas is getting old. I think the last time I topped it off was mid-summer.

What’s the shelf life of gas? I recently heard on a news story that gas only lasts a few months without going bad. I thought you were good for a year or more. I also thought they added chemicals nowadays to extend its life.

What are the signs that your gasoline is getting old? How will an engine run if the gas is getting old?

Thanks, Tom

[PanelDeland]

Seems to me like it gets old quicker these days.I don't drive mine as much as I probably should so I seldom fill up.I usually put about what I'm going to use in it when I pass the station on the corner.You probably are at about the end of it's life.I would fill it and use an additive,maybe "Stabil"Then run it pretty low on fuel.

BTW You can usually smell when it's getting bad.If it smells bad then it probably is.

[flashed]

I used to always keep my cars stored with a full tank of gas but not now .Since ethanol has been added I keep as little as possible in them as it goes bad quickly.In my small engines such as chain saws ,weedeaters and lawn mowers I run them completely out when done with them as the ethanol destroys the fuel lines on them.

[Richardwa]

I have never had gas go bad in any of my vehicles, probably cause I don't put much in them. In my boat, with a plastic fuel tank I have had gas with ethanol go bad in less than a month during the summer. Stabil seems to prolong the life of the gas some, but it still doesn't last like the gas we used to get

[sbc10guy]

By us we have a couple stations that sell 110 octane turbo blue, i heard that this doesnt go bad. I put it in my car for storage this winter, i dont know if anyone else has heard of this but it may be a good idea if you plan on storing your car for an extended period of time.

[oldblue1968chevy]

TTT hMy truck will be doing alot of sitting for the next 4 years while im in the A/F

[northerngmc]

I left my motorbike in the garage for 7 weeks this summer without draining the carb or adding stabilizer and the idle jet was plugged. While researching online I found this to be a common issue from gas going bad and gumming things up.

My 68 is parked for most of the winter and I filled the tank last weekend and added a can of stabilizer.
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[Lee H]

Originally Posted by sbc10guy

By us we have a couple stations that sell 110 octane turbo blue, i heard that this doesnt go bad. I put it in my car for storage this winter, i dont know if anyone else has heard of this but it may be a good idea if you plan on storing your car for an extended period of time.

Wrong, if sitting for more than a few months you need to add stabilizer. Today's gas goes bad fast. 20 years ago you could leave a car sit for years and start it up. Not any more.
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[oldblue1968chevy]

When you guys say 'todays gas' are you refering to the 10% ethanol content in most gasoline?

Whatta bout co-op's gas or other ethanol free gas?

[QKENUF4U]

ETHONAL STA-BIL (greenish bottle now) and run it to get it thru the system/carb and youll not have problems anymore.....

yes as stated gas doesnt stay GOOD for long anymore...... perfect example is my brother 86 yz490 thats been sitting for 12 YEARS... it started and idled perfect in less than 10 kicks when i went home last month..... i wouldnt trust the new gas to do that ... i figure it was the oil in the gas that kept it from varnishing up.........

[bobs409]

The crap ethenol is only good for 30-45 days from what I read.

I hate that I have to use this garbage in my antique Chevy's but that's a whole other thread!

[special-K]

I don't know what the shelf life of this crap they call gasoline is. A couple few months at best. My tow truck sat through the cold months because it had no choke and was too hard on it to try and start. Last spring I had to tear the carb apart and rebuild. There is Stabil in the tank. Even that only works for so long. Make sure if you use Stabil you use the latest version. Using the original product with this expensive mixture they call gas is worse than doing nothing at all.

[71sierragrande]

These guys know alot more than I do about this subject. But I recently was out of town for an extended length of time and my truck sat in the garage for about a year. She cranked right up and ran fine on one year old 87 octane...

[mrein3]

I heard a local talk radio car talk guy state that the ethanol blended fuel that they sell here in MN can go bad in as soon as two weeks. TWO WEEKS!

EVERY small engine I own only gets gas from a pump that says ethanol free. Yes it costs more but when you're forking over $5k plus for decent lawn mower, what is 25 cents more per gallon?

Have you priced a new outboard lately? They too get ethanol free and only ethanol free. On my previous outboard I ran ethanol gas through it exactly twice. And both times I had to rebuild one of the 6 carbs on it.

I used to NOT treat the ethanol free gas but my Toro dealer told me that for the price of a few ounces of Stabil, you should probably treat that gas too.

Now my procedure for cars that sit and other stuff with big tanks like my bass boat and my Toro lawn mower is to start running on treated gas a few weeks before they sit. That way treated gas is for sure in the carb. Smaller items like snowblowers and small lawn mowers I simply run them until the gas is gone.

This past spring I mixed 50:1 gas for my chain saw. I got in the habit of writing down the date and mix on a piece of masking tape on the handle of the can so I know it is mixed and at what ratio. I mixed that 50:1 on April 14th. On July 1st a big wind storm blew down a 70 foot tree in my yard. I put that 2 1/2 month old gas in my chainsaw and couldn't get it started. I did nothing but mix a fresh batch and the saw started on the first pull. That was ethanol free gas I mixed with in April that "isn't supposed to go bad".

Long story short:
Buy ethanol free gas from a trusted source. If it is going to sit more than a month, treat it.

[cdowns]

in my daily driver if i do not use it much the gas degrades enough in 2-3weeks that the check engine light comes on due to the degrading of the gasoline// the higher the octane the faster the degradation is i think or so it seems, but when the higher octane is good it burns better in the lawn and home items

for my lawnmower trimmer powerwasher etc i just buy very small quantities at a time and do not store anything for more than a week for those things
even my motorcycle i try to park with as little gas as possible and always run the carb dry b4 parking

[flashed]

I cant find ethanol free gas near me so Im stuck with the other stuff.

[Dunenutt]

I run Turbo Blue in one of my quads. It lasts a long time. It will lose some of its perfomance, but does not go rancid like pump gas.

If you go through emmissions testing, you may have issues.

It has a pungent smell when burned, and will remain long after you have used it up. I run the old stuff in my lawn mower, makes my yard smell like a race track

It is also $$$$$$

[sbc10guy]

Yah the smell of turbo blue is one of my favorites, another reason to add it. I did not know that it went bad quickly, i will have to add stabil too.

[webfoot]

One of the major problems is that ethanol absorbs water and can actually phase out of solution (separates) if it absorbs enough. The ethanol can absorb moisture from humidity.

Google "ethanol phase separation" for more info. There is a website somewhere that lists places local to you where non-ethanol gas is sold. I live in podunk USA and there are 3 stations like this close to me. Oregon recently allowed some stations to sell non-ethanol premium fuel because this stuff was tearing up boats like crazy.

[PanelDeland]

When we could buy Gasoline(the real stuff not cat pee),it had lead in it and lasted well.I think the new stuff just has enough ethanol in it to keep the cat pee from stalling the engine completely.There's no choice other than the non-ethanol but even it seems like crap.

[bobs409]

Originally Posted by flashed

I cant find ethanol free gas near me so Im stuck with the other stuff.

Me too! I think there are 9 stations in the whole state of PA and the nearest is about 60 miles away from me! Not a happy camper about it.