how long can gas sit?

[redcoupe86]

my car will be getting some touch up paint on some of the front end stuff, and my car will need sit for about 2 months (as I will be doing this myself?

How long can gas sit in the car before becoming sludge?

[javadog]

2 months should be fine. If you want, you can add some fuel stabilizer to it, which can be bought at any parts store. You never know, your planned two months might turn out to be a little longer than you expect.

JR

[KNS]

I put some gas in a jar about eight months ago just as an experiment to see how long it would take to go bad. Still looks good!

[tsuter]

I always fill my tank when its one quarter to half full. Been doing that for 26 years. 18mpg avg. for 72k miles.

So how much 26 year old gas is still in my tank?

[sammyg2]

Gasoline that is vented to atmosphere will lose about one octane point per month for the first few months (depending on temperature and humidity) as the lighter ends evaporate, but that shouldn't be the main concern:
modern gasoline is a blend of straight run gasoline and reformed or cracked molecules. The reformed and cracked molecules are not as stable as naturally occuring molecules and they change configuration over time because of oxidation and moisture absorbsion, which creates waxes and varnish.
Put some sta-bil in the tank, keep it topped off, and you can store it for many months without problems, except for the octane loss.
A sealed container (like a jar) will be less suceptable to the octane loss and breakdown.

[concentric]

From what I understand, I wouldn't expect gas to last over 2 years, with a stabilizer added, maybe less.