petrol shelf life, and side effects?

[mark99]

I have some "off petrol" where to dispose of?

 

Several years old.

[tree monkey]

1 hour ago, mark99 said:

I have some "off petrol" where to dispose of?

 

Several years old.

Pour in your car tank, I bung upto 5ltrs at a time then fill up from the petrol station

[Naughty Cal]

12 hours ago, tree monkey said:

Pour in your car tank, I bung upto 5ltrs at a time then fill up from the petrol station

Or Not!!

We did this with 15 litres of fuel that had been sat around in the outboards remote tank for about 9 months in the Datsun. Car ran like a twat and the engine management light came on. Had to run a couple of tanks of fresh fuel through it to get it running anything like right again and get the light turned out. 

Not worth it and we won't do it again.

On the other hand the XR4i has sat idle for about 18 months now yet fired up straight away with the fuel that was in the tank. It's running a bit lumpy but will be fine again for some fresh fuel. It isn't fussy about what it runs on.

[tree monkey]

41 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Or Not!!

We did this with 15 litres of fuel that had been sat around in the outboards remote tank for about 9 months in the Datsun. Car ran like a twat and the engine management light came on. Had to run a couple of tanks of fresh fuel through it to get it running anything like right again and get the light turned out. 

Not worth it and we won't do it again.

On the other hand the XR4i has sat idle for about 18 months now yet fired up straight away with the fuel that was in the tank. It's running a bit lumpy but will be fine again for some fresh fuel. It isn't fussy about what it runs on.

Well the 5ltrs of 50:1 2 stroke I have bunged into my tank made bugger all difference to my finely tuned micra.

Done it twice now I think and once in a ford escort

 

[Naughty Cal]

1 hour ago, tree monkey said:

Well the 5ltrs of 50:1 2 stroke I have bunged into my tank made bugger all difference to my finely tuned micra.

Done it twice now I think and once in a ford escort

 

The Almera must be a bit more fussy then because it took great dislike to old petrol!

Running like a dream again now with its new timing chain. Be good for another 150k miles now.

[David Mack]

On 09/03/2018 at 08:24, Naughty Cal said:

Or Not!!

We did this with 15 litres of fuel that had been sat around in the outboards remote tank for about 9 months in the Datsun. Car ran like a twat and the engine management light came on. Had to run a couple of tanks of fresh fuel through it to get it running anything like right again and get the light turned out. 

Not worth it and we won't do it again.

Did you put all 15 litres in at once? I would have put a bit in at a time over several fills to keep the old petrol well diluted.

[Momac]

I find last years petrol works okay in my lawnmower.

But if its several years old it may be no good at all.

 

[Dr Bob]

19 minutes ago, MartynG said:

I find last years petrol works okay in my lawnmower.

But if its several years old it may be no good at all.

 

If it's several years old, it may be worth sharpening the blades.

[Naughty Cal]

On 3/12/2018 at 23:19, David Mack said:

Did you put all 15 litres in at once? I would have put a bit in at a time over several fills to keep the old petrol well diluted.

No. We just lobbed it all in then filled it to the brim with fresh stuff. So 15 litres of old to 45 litres of new.

It didn't like it in the slightest and we will never do it again.

32 minutes ago, MartynG said:

I find last years petrol works okay in my lawnmower.

But if its several years old it may be no good at all.

 

We leave the gardener to sort out his own fuel.

[Momac]

1 hour ago, Dr Bob said:

If it's several years old, it may be worth sharpening the blades.

Yes . I am several years old and  would benefit from having my blades sharpened. 

[nb Innisfree]

1 hour ago, Naughty Cal said:

No. We just lobbed it all in then filled it to the brim with fresh stuff. So 15 litres of old to 45 litres of new.

It didn't like it in the slightest and we will never do it again.

We leave the gardener to sort out his own fuel.

No wonder if didn't like it at that ratio. 

[cuthound]

6 hours ago, MartynG said:

I find last years petrol works okay in my lawnmower.

But if its several years old it may be no good at all.

 

Likewise, same for my 2 stroke leaf blower. Starts first time ever time after almost a years non-use.

[ronnietucker]

Tried starting the engine today and it went lovely.

Initially. the engine was a bit rough, but it settled down after a minute. In fairness, it wasn't until later I realised that I hadn't given it any choke, so I'm surprised it started at all first time!  ?