Old Gas

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Princess Valiant

Princess Valiant

A.K.A. Rainy Day Auto
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I have a car that had sat for 13 years in indoor storage and the gas tank is like half full. (Amazingly the gas gauge still works too. )

the car starts and runs ok but obviously needs a tune up , I am a little concerned with the gas.

Should I try to pump it out or drain it and get rid of it

OR

Should I just burn it off since the car starts and actually runs on this old gas.

I have the storage receipts so 2003 is the newest this gas possibly is.
 
I would have to imagine 13 years old gas is full of varinish and lots of stuff to mess up the carb even the fuel line from back to front. I always just drop the tank, BUT a half full tank will be heavy!

if you can siphon it out, that is best for you!

if they put in Sta-bil, I wonder how long that stuff works!!!?????????
 
barbee6043 said:
I would have to imagine 13 years old gas is full of varinish and lots of stuff to mess up the carb even the fuel line from back to front. I always just drop the tank, BUT a half full tank will be heavy!

if you can siphon it out, that is best for you!

if they put in Sta-bil, I wonder how long that stuff works!!!?????????
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seafoam and octane booster, use it.
 
I'd likely do the same as above. Premium and seafoam and drive it, but I'd be concerned about the bottom of the tank. I'd at least add an extra inline filter.
 
I bought a John Deere combine a year ago with a 1/2 tank of 30 year old gas. Yup it sat in a barn 30 years. We got it running and drove it 5 miles to a friends farm. It misfired and ran like crap. We added 20 gallons of fresh 87 octane and drove it home 40 miles without a lick of trouble. At harvest it never had trouble and ran it almost empty before adding more gas. I would just top it and run through the mix without worry.
 
Just ask my brother Blu340dart if you should run old gas in something you actually care about!!! I think his plow truck is still running like crap after putting 5 gallons of old gas in about 3 years ago!! It'll be fine" was the last good word he has to say about that!!!
 
I'd worry about the possibility of varnish jacking up my internals. Siphon the crap out and replace with new and some seafoam and and drive a full tank through it (pretty cheap insurance compared to what could happen). Then fresh fuel and go...
 
Drain all you can then drop the tank for inspection.

The last one I took out like that had a nasty, thick black sludge in the bottom.
 
If you can get rid of it, that would be best. If your going to rebuild the carb or not use it, you may try just running it out, but it may still tarnish your fuel system
 
I would devise some way of filtering it and using it a bit at a time A gallon to a tank etc

Years ago you could get REAL chamois which were good for filtering and were supposed to separate moisture from fuel.

Nowadays they are synthetic, I doubt they do the same
 
HEET is a good additive that works well for this type thing. Comes in a small red bottle.
 
We drain all we get 3 or 4 a year. Best weed killer you have ever seen didnt say that though. Been that route bought way too many fuel systems because of trying to go on the cheap n run it through.
 
Drain, Fresh Premium, Heet or Sta-Bil, New in line filter, enjoy. Are the potential problems really worth the few hours of work???
 
My brother bought a car from the neighbor here. It had sat for over 6 years. We were expecting to have to drain the gas tank and clean the whole fuel system.

It started right up with a new battery, and he drove it with the old gas in it - no problem...
 
My concern is that without the tank 1/2 full the condensation built up on the upper half of the tank. As soon as you fill it up, it will wash the rust through the system. Drain it. Drop it . Check it. It's a pain, but the only way to be sure.
 
furyus2 said:
My concern is that without the tank 1/2 full the condensation built up on the upper half of the tank. As soon as you fill it up, it will wash the rust through the system. Drain it. Drop it . Check it. It's a pain, but the only way to be sure.
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yes, the upper half of 1/2 full tank will do that, maybe not so bad in dessert where you a re, but......

.in the fall I fill all my tanks completely, yes I run them till hot once a month. I want the entire talk full of gas for that reason.

I have pulled how??? many tanks over the years? rust, gas turned to varnish, the filter long gone on the pick up????? ever look inside a 50 years old fuel line, the long one???? ha
 
I love how some people talk about how ethanol in the fuel jacks up carbs and fuel system components, and then other people add Heet and never have trouble. Evidently nobody recognised what Heet actually is.

I'm betting the fuel in the tank is fine if it still burns at all at this point. I'm also betting there's a thick layer of not-fuel at the bottom of the tank that will, at the least, plug the pick up strainer.

I'm with the guy that said drain it and burn it a bit at a time. The fresh gas will dissolve a lot of the junk and varnish. That tank was probably full when it was parked, which means there should be minimal condensation rust in it.
 
furyus2 said:
My concern is that without the tank 1/2 full the condensation built up on the upper half of the tank. As soon as you fill it up, it will wash the rust through the system. Drain it. Drop it . Check it. It's a pain, but the only way to be sure.
Click to expand...

x's 2 an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
 
drain it into 5 gal buckets , set it in the sun ( or is it still snowing there!?), and it will evaporate over a few days. wait... you will pollute the atmosphere, like a jet plane!?
 
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