Sammy G, experts: How long does it take for gasoline to "go bad"??

[speeder]

How long before it A) loses octane, and B) becomes something that would actually cause harm if you ran it?

If it still looks and smells OK, am I in the clear? TIA.

[Bill Verburg]

The smaller the quantity the quicker it goes bad, lawnmower chain saw, snow blower gas can go bad in a couple of months, Motorcycle in ~ a half year, a 20 gallon tank a year or more

A full tank which hasn't room for condensation or air circulation helps, as do cooler temps. Snow blowers are the worst because of their small tanks and stored all summer.

[speeder]

Thanks, Bill. My next question would be how does one dispose of bad gasoline? (~3 gallons).

[Bill Verburg]

Very carefully

[pwd72s]

Denis, Do you know anybody with an old pickemup? Preferably Carbureter equipped, pre smog law? If so give it to them....That's how I get rid of the stale gas here...including chain saw oil/gas mixed. I just dump it in the tank of my '77 Dodge pickemup, then top off the tank with fresh. Seems to eat it with no problem. A tip for future storage...Sta-Bil works. I use it in all my lawn mower gas, and it seems to last through the non mowing season with ease as long as Sta-bil has been added.

[Hugh R]

Neighborhood Haz. Waste roundup. Not the storm drain!

Check here http://ladpw.org/epd/hhw/schedule.cfm

[Bill Verburg]

Great idea Paul, a stoneax/carbed US V8 would never notice a small amount of bad gas

[cbeers]

to get rid of gas, go camping and make a fire

Even better, put it into an empty beer bottle, screw the cap back on (after punching a small hole in the cap) and set it upright back into the fire. Soon, it starts to bubble and boil, next thing you know, it makes a HUGE fireball mushroom cloud!!!

***I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS ACTIVITY***

I just happend to have seen it one time. It is very impressive, but still scared the crap out of me to even be around that.


-Chris

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by Bill Verburg
Great idea Paul, a stoneax/carbed US V8 would never notice a small amount of bad gas

Darned right...a few gallons of stale gas mixed in the 25 gallon rear tank of a '77 Dodge pickemup running a 360 with a 4 barrel? As long as it contains no H20 or flaky bits, never a burp! Whoever you gave the stale gas to would probably be thankful

[anthony]

I've heard horror stories about "varnished" fuel ruining engines though in the past I've had project cars sit for up to two years and then run without problem on the gas that was in the tank (I didn't know better back then).

[patkeefe]

I bring mine to work and put it in my boss's tank. He hasn't noticed yet.

[speeder]

Well, I just poured 2 gallons of it into my Volvo V70-R, I'm going to dilute it w/ several gallons of new premium unleaded. Fingers crossed, but it still looked and smelled like regular old gasoline. What terrible thing could have occurred w/it, chemically speaking? Just loss of volatility or octane? (Two completely different things).

This will really be the test. I don't want to tell you guys how old the gas was, (OK, I'm not really sure but possibly 5+ years), and the Volvo will throw a fault code and light the CEL if it so much as detects a slight mis-fire. (It is a fairly high-output turbo, but stock).

I realise that this is not exactly Porsche-specific, but hey it could be, right?