It’s been about three-and-a-half weeks now since I filled up a couple 5-gallon containers in anticipation of power outages during a winter storm. Since I’m a dumb dumb, I did not add stabilizer at the time, but I do have some Seafoam stabilizer on hand.
I understand fuel degrades over time and running degraded fuel can damage engine parts. Should I pour the fuel into my vehicle or will that gum up my car’s engine? Is it still worth adding stabilizer today so that I can continue to store it in my garage for a rainy day? The only other responsible alternative I can think of is taking it to a hazardous disposal site in my county. It’s octane rating 87, I believe it also has ethanol, in case that makes any difference.
ChrisFix said once (think it was the first Mustang video) that you try old gasoline in your lawnmower. If the lawnmower works, you can probably use it in a car.
I just ran my snow blower on fuel bought in October… If I don’t use it all, it goes in the truck in March/April. It may have done 89 this season… But I’ve never had issues with 87. Except for 2cycles… Buy the canned/ethanol-free stuff or switch to electric.
Three-week-old fuel is brand new. I don’t even fill up my car that often.
No issue here.
I’m guessing those tanks have been sealed from when you filled them?
Gas goes bad primarily from absorbing water from the air, oxidation, and evaporation. Since the tanks were kept closed, the gas will last for years.
Gas cans that are used frequently need stabilizer because every time you pour a little to fill a lawnmower, fresh air gets in to replace the volume poured out.
Correct, they’ve been sealed since I filled them three weeks ago. Thanks for explaining a little more around how gas degrades.
If you are concerned about it, you can mix 5 gallons at a time in your car with the remainder being fresh gas. I.e. if you have a 15 gallon tank, use 10 gallons of new gas with 5 of old.
3 weeks isn’t all that long though, its probably fine as long as you didn’t leave the cap off.
What kind of car is it potentially going in?
Thanks for weighing in. It would be going into a Mazda 3 or a Honda CRV.
If they are non turbo, it should be fine. If they are turbo cars, run premium for the new fuel and use a minimum 3 to 1 ratio of new to old fuel just to be safe.
Really, 3 weeks is fine but I don’t want to lead you astray and cause problems here lol. I’d run it though.
Don’t worry, it’s still more than good enough to drink, it takes a lot longer for it to spoil! Enjoy 😊
Three weeks should be good to go, easily. Back when I had a gas lawnmower I was rarely refilling the big jug, though those little engines are a bit more forgiving. Some hybrids will keep gas in the tank for a year before they force a burn-off.
I have a car that’s been sitting in my driveway for a year now and it’s really fun when i start to think about stuff like this
Same; I have a busted diesel I need to fix.
Apparently some fucking squirrel or something chewed through the harness holding my O2 sensor on the engine or whatever, so the O2 sensor doesn’t work, so i couldn’t pass an inspection and then I just haven’t had the fucking money to follow through with trying to get it inspected in my new county (which doesn’t require emissions inspections) or anything, knowing the entire time that my car just gets more and more fucked the longer it sits there
I’m certainly no expert but it’s my understanding that it takes gas at minimum three to six months to go bad. Apparently high ethanol gas goes faster. But I think you’re probably fine to use it.
Nah you’re good
Should be fine on more modern cars (ie. Everything with fuel injection, newer than 1990)
I run gas that’s probably 1-2y old in my pickup and never had any issues.
Just beware that ethanol might hurt rubber lines if you have them. So best to mix it with some new gas over time
