old gas

[sybil]

My boat has not seen the water in about a year and a half, when I stored it I added a stabilizer to the fuel. Last night I did a little reserch on the internet and found that gas will turn to varnish in about 6 to 8 months. My question is,How do I remove the gas from my tank and what to do with it after it is removed,I think in the 50 to 60 gallon range. Also the article I read states that the tank itself can become coated with this varnish that can flake off at a latter time clogging filters, carb jets etc. What do you guys think?

[ray koziatek]

dude your screwed sell the boat for 29.00bcks

[borderline 350]

Dear Sybil,

Give us some more info. Covered boat? Stored inside, outside, not covered, where, etc. Prepare yourself, don't start it without changing the water separator/filter. If it doesn't have one, other measures will have to be taken. Don't panic yet, If you put stabilizer in it, that stops a lot of problems. A lot depends on the ambient temperature and humidity. The fuel will be way down on Octane rating but probably burn well in your lawn mower etc. If this boat was stored in Florida, thru the summer months, you will have a problem with it's condition1............JBB

[seasquirrel]

I would drain it and rinse out with a few gallons of new gas. Slosh it around good (trailer it or rock it back and forth to get rid of that old gas that can varnish and adhere to the sides of the tank. I have seen it look like a sheet film of plastic. Too much hassle to risk running that stuff in your carbs/injectors/pumps,etc.

[Mower]

I am a huge fan of stabil. In my business I run it in everything that isn't used every day. I stored plow trucks for 9 months never started it and left it out side no problems. I just purchased a ford f350 that had fuel in it from over two years ago, it sat as part of estate, I put plates on it and drove it 2 1/2 hours home and never skipped a beat. Trust your stabil. At fuel prices in a marina or even at a gas station I would run the boat in your drive and see what happens, I'm willing to bet that fuel is good. if not you have the option of running dry gas, octane booster and mix in some fresh gas. I would not dump $150 to $200 in fuel on a possibility.

[seasquirrel]

I think that 150 bucks is cheap insurance against all the nasty stuff that 1 1/2 year old gas can do to a engines system. Engines that run seamingly perfect in the driveway on muffs can run completely differently while under power and load on the water. This could translate to way more money and more importantly time fishing. I would not want to risk a trip/day/weekend on it myself. I also use stabil when I store my boat for the winter. Just my thoughts. Good luck.

[L&M]

As Bill and Mower said above. As long as you have a water separator filter on it, ( if you don't put one on. It's a good investment) and replace it before you start it up, and check and replace it a few times after, you should have no problems especially if you had a stabilizer in it. If you have a filter on it the only problems you might encounter is the old fuel that was setting in the carb for that long varnishing. After you have run it awhile and if it seems ok add some fresh fuel and, or octane booster to it to get what's in there back up. On another note: If it hasn't been run in a year or so pull the coil wire & ground it and, or disable the ignition system, and turn the engine over until you have oil pressure before you fire it up. I am assuming this is an I/O. But the same will hold true with an O/B depending on what it is.

[dcso]

comparing apples to oranges, years ago i bought a jd hay baler with a wisconsin engine that had been stored and covered for 12 yrs with mytesry oil. it didn't run perfectly but it did start and did run well enough to bale hay.

i guess it all depends on how it was stored

my two cents

ted