Old Gas

[BPVan]

I did a quick search on this topic in our forums and did not seem to find anything. Anyway...

My van has a custom tank in it, looks to be about 20 gallons. When I bought my van the gas in it was about a year old so before I embarked on the 120 mile drive here I put 92 octane in it hoping it would mix with the old and balance out the stale stuff a bit. It only ended up taking 4 gallons of new gas, but it ran all of those miles with no issues (due to fuel anyway).

As I am about a week away from firing up the new motor it occurred to me I may, or may not have to be concerned with this fuel. On my motorcycles I never had a problem with gas sitting for 6 months to a year but then again its only 4-5 gallons and I burn it up fast :D .

Question is should I try to add stabil or something else before turning this thing over? I already have the fuel lines blown out going to the tank and everything forward of the pump is brand new. Am I over thinking this?

[Luva65wagon]

Starting a new engine isn't quite like starting an old one, so you don't want to introduce a new untuned, unbroke, need to break in the cam (I assume) engine to an instant dose of badness.

If my best-guess estimate is right, you probably have about 15 gallons of old fuel in the tank. Adding 5 more gallons of fresh fuel will do more in your favor than adding Stabil, because Stabil is for keeping fresh gas fresh, but will not make old gas fresh. That might be OK to add more fresh gas, but I'd really suggest burning off the old gas in something else (donate it to Jeff in his Aerostar -- that'll burn anything) and go fresh on your first run.

You may also give the gas the sniff test. Old fuel has a distinct smell, which is not like regular gas. I can't describe the smell, but anyone who knows the smell can tell if it is good or bad. If it smells OK, you might be OK.

I know Stabil claims fuel goes sour in 6 months, but I have a motorcycle just about the same as yours, and it sits longer than 6 months at times with the same fuel. And even though I have it, I rarely remember to add Stabil to my tanks in the Winter. :(

[pbrown]

You also might pull the tanks drain plug if it has one. Water will sit on the bottom and will drain off first. then the color will turn yellow. Put the plug back in at this point. You don't want to suck water into your new engine.

[Jeff W]

(donate it to Jeff in his Aerostar -- that'll burn anything) :(


I'll be right over with the hose! I'll even give you a ride to Shell so you can buy fresh.

I agree - why spend all yout time tuning your new set-up on old gas.

[BPVan]

Why do I feel a "While your at it" coming on? This one in particular would be addressing the sending unit in the tank.

All very good points, thanks. Jeff, lets pull that Mr Fusion off of your engine and dump some of this gas in there. :banana: