Does petrol turn bad?

[larrysanders]

Hi, i've got an petrol outboard and I've got several approved petrol containers, one of which hasn't been used in several years (maybe 4) but it still has a couple of litres of unleaded in it. My question is; does petrol turn bad after time or is it ok it use? If it's not ok, where do you dispose of petrol? Any suggestions, with thanks.

[Morat]

It certainly does when left in a fuel tank (which is vented). I would imagine that if your containers are completely sealed then you'd be OK. You can tell when it's really gone - it looks like varnish!

Edited May 15, 2011 by Morat

[larrysanders]

It certainly does when left in a fuel tank (which is vented). I would imagine that if your containers are completely sealed then you'd be OK.

 

 

So petrol goes off when it's exposed to air then?

[Timleech]

So petrol goes off when it's exposed to air then?

 

Present day petrol does seem to have a shorter shelf life than used to be the case, I seem to remember reading that it's something to do with the refining being a bit different because other fractions are used more.

I've disposed of old petrol by adding modest amounts to a fullish tank in a car, (old pushrod Fiesta), no problems & it means it's not wasted. Even got rid of small amounts of stale 2-stroke mix that way

 

Tim

[blackrose]

I'm not sure if it's the exposure to air that does it? Isn't it just that the octane rating gradually drops as the molecules separate? I should imaginge 4 years is pushing it a bit. As to where you'd dispose of it Tim's idea is probably best. Whatever you do resist the temptation to burn it on a bonfire - too many accidents happen that way.

Edited May 15, 2011 by blackrose

[Guest]

I'm not sure if it's the exposure to air that does it? Isn't it just that the octane rating gradually drops as the molecules separate?

 

That is my understanding too..

[nb Innisfree]

I think it's down to the lighter fractions evaporating and lowering the ignition point, putting a piece of polythene under the filler cap of a lawnmower and screwing down tight before winter storage prevents any evaporation and it is easier to start next spring.

[tillergirl]

Our local council recycling yard has a container where you put old oil (oil is where petrol comes from isn't it). I'd be tempted to ask if I had any if it could go in with that if I was unsure of what to do with it.

[Timleech]

I think it's down to the lighter fractions evaporating and lowering the ignition point, putting a piece of polythene under the filler cap of a lawnmower and screwing down tight before winter storage prevents any evaporation and it is easier to start next spring.

 

Best to empty the carb by running it dry if possible before winter (not always easy to predict when the last run of the season will be for garden equipment though!), saves problems with varnish deposits in the carb.

 

Tim

[Grace and Favour]

Give it to someone whom has a car, they can add it to their tank of fresh petrol

Silly to waste it

[Guest]

Petrol past its sell by date has a very different smell, but I wouldn't be able to describe it. That said, I used to race bangers, and have bought many cars that have been stood for years, and they were all capable of running on the fuel in the tank. In fact if there was plenty in I used to shove it in my road car. It was a Lada and would run on almost anything that resembled petrol.

[Albert Smith]

Bought one of those cheap and nasty £99 generators some years ago, filled it up with petrol but never used it. Dug it out a few months ago and attempted to start it with no success. A friend with knowledge of 2 stroke scooters took it apart, the carb was full of what looked like varnish. It's what happens (so I was told) when you leave an engine without draining the carb. Fresh petrol soon had the genny working again

 

Albert.

[kitman]

Just used some 2 year old petrol in my car from a sealed container. Filled the tank half full and then filled the rest up with new petrol, ran fine.

[cheshire~rose]

Some years ago we imported a "barn find" Austin Healey 100/6 from California to restore and the fuel remaining in the tank did (as Catweazle suggested) have a very different smell to it. We were unsure if it was any use as we had no way of knowing if anything had been added to it in its past the other side of the Atlantic and so were wondering where to dispose of it when the YT lad that worked for us volunteered his ageing Honda Civic to be a guinea pig for it.

 

I can confirm that on this occasion there was no apparent problem caused to the Honda by using the fuel but I cannot advise if it caused any longer term damage -

 

The problem came some months later when he called in late one winter evening as we were closing the unit, desperate to borrow some fuel as the Honda was running on fumes and he had no money till the weekend. We tld him to help himself to the can we kept in the back of our pick up truck but to refill it at the weekend.

 

Next day we learned that he had poured the full can into his almost empty tank and drove off home only to get round the corner and the engine just spluttered to a halt. In the darkness and in his own haste it was the can we used to store spare water in he had poured into his tank!

[Strads]

sympathise with Tiller girls comments - but must local authorities are only "licenced" for "oil" - the local one to mee wouldnt accept badly mixed oil and diesel..

 

so if you get turned back dont be too supprised,,,

[Nose Miner]

If it's gone bad, give it to a diesel boater to put in diesel fuel. I'm always more than happy to take something like that off someones hands.

[mayalld]

If it's gone bad, give it to a diesel boater to put in diesel fuel. I'm always more than happy to take something like that off someones hands.

 

So, not content with destroying your body by drinking canal water laden with dog crap, you want to do your engine no good at all.

[RLWP]

Some years ago we imported a "barn find" Austin Healey 100/6 from California to restore and the fuel remaining in the tank did (as Catweazle suggested) have a very different smell to it.

 

<snip>

 

How I miss the smell of four-star. This unleaded just isn't the same

 

Richard

[Nose Miner]

So, not content with destroying your body by drinking canal water laden with dog crap, you want to do your engine no good at all.

What I do with my body and my engine is my business I would have thought. Do you have such a small life that all you have to do with your time is make silly comments like this?

[mayalld]

What I do with my body and my engine is my business I would have thought. Do you have such a small life that all you have to do with your time is make silly comments like this?

 

Of course it is your business, just as what I have to do with my time is my business.

 

However, if somebody advocates drinking canal water or putting petrol in diesel engines in a public forum, it is entirely reasonable to point out the follies of both, lest the unwary actually believe that either is anything other than stupid.

[Nose Miner]

Of course it is your business, just as what I have to do with my time is my business.

 

However, if somebody advocates drinking canal water or putting petrol in diesel engines in a public forum, it is entirely reasonable to point out the follies of both, lest the unwary actually believe that either is anything other than stupid.

In your view.

[mayalld]

In your view.

 

Indeed so.

 

However, given that the whole point of a forum is to express your own view (otherwise, why would anybody post), that's just fine.

 

You have expressed a view that it is fine to drink filtered canal water complete with dog crap, and to add petrol to diesel engines. I have expressed a view that neither is sensible. Others will have their views, still others will form views based on the views that are expressed.

 

It is a remarkable phenomenon, called discussion and debate.

 

If you don't like discussion and debate, please take care that the door doesn't slap into your arse on the way out.

[Guest]

You have expressed a view that it is fine to drink filtered canal water complete with dog crap,

 

Dead dog with your dog crap sir?

[cheshire~rose]

How I miss the smell of four-star. This unleaded just isn't the same

 

Richard

sorry to go

 

 

I miss the smell of Redex burning - I remember the days when the conical shaped Redex dispenser used to sit on the Castrol oil cabinet next to the tall Avery Hardoll petrol pump with the glass globe on top and you could buy Redex by the "squirt"

I used to sit in the back of my Dad's old Anglia 105E (usually with my long hair severely snagged by the rear window catch) wathing the fins in the sight glass spin round as he filled up.

 

Nostalgia aint what it used to be

 

I also miss the prices that applied in those times

[RLWP]

<snip>

 

watching the fins in the sight glass spin round as he filled up.

 

<snip>

 

Oh my... That takes me back

 

Richard

 

What about bullet hole stickers to go on your windscreen. One of the petrol companies gave them away free. Or striped tiger tails