My gas may have gone bad during storage?!

Snakeyes · Apr 5, 2005

It's been ages since I have posted here, lets just say I've had some tough times as of late, but I think I'm back. Anyway, last night I was cleaning the garage some and decided to take a wiff of the gas because I know when gas sits too long it can go bad (I had to store her early last year, because of the "tough times"). Well, it kind of smells like lacquer. Last summer I tried to help my Uncle get his Stang started and it ended up being bad gas, I mean his sat for well over a year and it smelled real bad!! My gas isn't that bad, but it doesn't smell like gas anymore. So I have a few questions. First, there is only about a 1/4 of the tank of this stuff, would I be alright filling it up with good gas to dilute the bad stuff, or would the bad stuff still gunk up my fuel system (if it would even start then even)? Or should I be thinking about trying to siphon out the bad stuff? Or is there any additive I can put in with good gas? It'll probably be another week or two before I am ready to start her, but I'd like to have this problem figured out soon.

Thanks!
Jim

BlackGT89 · Apr 5, 2005

From what I've heard the stabilizer (Stabil, etc) will not rejuvinate bad gas, it has to be added while it is still fresh. I'd try to start it with what's in there, but be prepared to siphon it if it presents a problem. Sorry about the tough times, welcome back.

Snakeyes · Apr 5, 2005

Thanks! Lets say it starts with the gas that's in there. Do you think if the gas is bad and gunky (is that a word? ), that it will cause any other problems, like with my injectors or fuel pump, etc?

Jim

squeeeg · Apr 5, 2005

If it were me I would fill it up and dumpa bottle of gas dry in there. It should start at that time.

snoboardcore · Apr 5, 2005

this is just my opinion if you really want to do this. When i had to do emissions on my car i would run denatured alchol from home depot about 3 gallons with 2 gallons gas and it made the gas super high octane and i started with 91. If you dump about a gallon with whats in there with about 2-3 gallons of the highest octane you can get from pumps but no higher than 93 you should be all set.

Snakeyes · Apr 5, 2005

Hmmm...interesting. Not sure about the whole alcohol thing though? I can get 110 octane race gas no problem, would that suffice? And what is it about the high octane that would make things alright? Sorry for all the questions, just don't want to F anything up.

By the way, the reason it isn't starting is because I need a new battery, not because of the gas. For all I know, when I throw a new battery in there, she'll start just fine? I'm still a little concerned that even if she did start, that the bad gas could do more damage to the fuel system, basically gunk it up?

Thanks,
Jim

d50man · Apr 5, 2005

i have a fix

Remove the fuel filter and turn the key on to drain the tank. Then add HEET iso stuff and some good gas it worked wll for me and my old cars out in the yard(backwoods)

DarkMesa8 · Apr 6, 2005

Siphoning is a PITA in my opinion, that tube never goes where you want it to go.

If it starts, I would count my blessings, drive it till the gauge hits E, and hit a gas station with a bottle of fuel system cleaner.

65ShelbyClone · Apr 6, 2005

Snakeyes said:
Hmmm...interesting. Not sure about the whole alcohol thing though? I can get 110 octane race gas no problem, would that suffice? And what is it about the high octane that would make things alright?

The octane has nothing to do with this and it doesnt even help for emissions testing, so dont go out and fill up with 110 or alcohol.

I think you could just dilute the old 1/4 with 3/4 of new and be fine. If you think you'll still be concerned, then just siphon the old varnish out and use it in a lawnmower. Its not that big a hassle, just try to use tube that isnt too curly or it WILL be a hassle.

qplk11 · Apr 6, 2005

I would NOT use that gas. Drain almost all of it out then put in fresh gas. I like the idea of removing the fuel filter and turning the key. The only concern is if the fuel pump continuously pumps with the key on.

DarkMesa8 · Apr 6, 2005

qplk11 said:
I would NOT use that gas. Drain almost all of it out then put in fresh gas. I like the idea of removing the fuel filter and turning the key. The only concern is if the fuel pump continuously pumps with the key on.

Unless you have a tube to guide the fuel to a contain, you will get gasoline everywhere with this method.

Pump doesn't run continuously with the key on, just primes. You can prime it and prime it listening for a change in sound (stop immediately) or when you think you've got enough get removed.

Think of it, when you stall your car you haven't touched your key, yet the fuel pump stops running.

snoboardcore · Apr 6, 2005

65ShelbyClone said:
The octane has nothing to do with this and it doesnt even help for emissions testing, so dont go out and fill up with 110 or alcohol.

I think you could just dilute the old 1/4 with 3/4 of new and be fine. If you think you'll still be concerned, then just siphon the old varnish out and use it in a lawnmower. Its not that big a hassle, just try to use tube that isnt too curly or it WILL be a hassle.

if denatured alcohol doesn't work they y did the first time i fail with 32.04 and u had to have 12.0 or below and when i ran emissions with the alcohol it went down to 10.54

Snakeyes · Apr 6, 2005

Thanks for the input everyone. My brother has a siphon pump, I am going to borrow it and see how well that goes, basically get as much of the bad stuff out that I can. I also bought some Iso Heet and some Gumout complete fuel system cleaner that I'll use when I put some good gas in. So hopefully all that will be good enough.

Jim

65ShelbyClone · Apr 7, 2005

snoboardcore said:
if denatured alcohol doesn't work they y did the first time i fail with 32.04 and u had to have 12.0 or below and when i ran emissions with the alcohol it went down to 10.54

65ShelbyClone said:
The octane has nothing to do with this and it doesnt even help for emissions testing, so dont go out and fill up with 110 or alcohol.

Where did I say alcohol wouldnt help with emissions? I said high octane does not help. Alcohol is high octane, but thats not why it helps when you have a probe up the tailpipe. It is a light hydrocarbon derivative that carries its own molecular oxygen.

Snakeyes · Apr 7, 2005

Well I tried to siphon out the gas last night, with no luck. The tube kept getting stuck at the same spot, so I never did get it all the way into the gas. So I'm thinking at this point I will add some Iso Heet and Gumout fuel system cleaner and fill her up with good has and hope that good enough!?

65ShelbyClone · Apr 7, 2005

I really dont think you'll have any problems just running it through diluted w/fresh, even without additives. Besides, most pump gas has some kind of detergent in it so running a tank or two through after will likely clean up anything that might have been left by the stale gas.

DarkMesa8's idea of pumping it out with the pump is also good, but you'll have to turn the key from OFF to RUN a million times. Then again, you might be able to siphon/pump the gas through the fuel filter by sucking it out through the pump/pickup.

Snakeyes · Apr 7, 2005

65ShelbyClone said:
I really dont think you'll have any problems just running it through diluted w/fresh, even without additives. Besides, most pump gas has some kind of detergent in it so running a tank or two through after will likely clean up anything that might have been left by the stale gas.

DarkMesa8's idea of pumping it out with the pump is also good, but you'll have to turn the key from OFF to RUN a million times. Then again, you might be able to siphon/pump the gas through the fuel filter by sucking it out through the pump/pickup.

Well I'm leaving work soon, I plan to work on it tonight and hopefully get it running. I already bought the additives, so will probably use them anyway. Either way, it's nice to at least hear people say it should be alright, some friends have said the same thing. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks!
Jim

Snakeyes · Apr 7, 2005

Ok, all is good now. I put the additives in, and then went out to get what I needed (new battery and filled up my 5 gallon gas tank). Put it all together, put the 5 gallons in, and then went to start the car. Nothing...I had power, fuel pump primed even, but when I turned the key the engine wouldn't turn over, no clicking...nothing! Long story short, I checked and cleaned every connection I could get to, and it starts fine now. I think the alarm system (was on the car when I bought it) is screwed. Ultimately some corrosion on a connection on the alarm system seemed to be the problem. Anyway, thanks everyone, I think I was overly paranoid about the gas all along.

Jim

squeeeg · Apr 7, 2005

glad you got it running

BlackGT89 · Apr 8, 2005

Nothing like the sound of a 5.0 coming back to life !

My gas may have gone bad during storage?!

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