Bad gas

F

Fishin' Mission

Cadet
Joined
Mar 13, 2003
Messages
17
Can gas be so bad that it will not run. The gas in my aux. tank stalls my motor. I don't know how old the gas is...probably over one year and it has some water in it. Anything I can do to revitalize it or should I just pump it out.
 
L

llfish

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 2, 2003
Messages
695
Re: Bad gas

Yes it can and with the water you have double trouble. Dispose of the old gas and get some fresh gas. In fact you can do damage to your motor if you use the old gas.
 
C

carrotsnapper

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Nov 17, 2004
Messages
243
Re: Bad gas

My understanding of gas is that it begins to break down after a couple of months. After one year I would think that it is completely gone. I agree with Grumpy, dump it and get fresh and then make sure to rotate it frequently. There is a gas storage addative you can use but it's best to just keep it fresh.
 
S

Solittle

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Apr 28, 2002
Messages
7,518
Re: Bad gas

Gas will usually be OK if stabilizer is added for up to one year. After that it is anybodies guess. Whether it is one minute or one year old it is best to have a spin type water separator/filter in your fuel line to trap the crud & water.<br /><br />As Grumpy posted it is better to get rid of the old gas that you have now. Some will advise that it is OK to dump it in your car but I'm not in that camp.<br /><br />There is a process that can be used to "clean" old gas (up to a point). I think it is called scrubbing and is done by specialized equipment. They suck out the old gas and run it through special filters and back into the tank. This is more often used with diesel fuel though.<br /><br />Years ago I bought a 27 1/2' boat with old gas in the main tank. It buggered the carb big time. It smelled like kerosene, was cloudy and looked like brownish orange juice - vile stuff. I had to get a commercial outfit to pump it out - big bucks there.
 
G

gss036

Commander
Joined
Jan 18, 2003
Messages
2,914
Re: Bad gas

Year old gas should still burn, I would think the water is your bigger problem. I run my old gas in my riding lawn mower becaue it runs full throttle most of the time and seems to do just fine, but it is never over a year old.<br />Install a water seperater filter and keep an eye on it and keep duming out the water.
 
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