Old GAs

[Abalone]

I was in a lawn mower shop last week and I overheard the mechanic tell a costumer that gas should not be stored in a tank any longer then Forty days. Sixty if you add stabalizer.

[corrirod]

That's a little dramatic I think. Especially when you consider the fuel in your boat usually sits for ??? months before the next season? I just pumped out close to 200 gallons of fuel out of my Tolly that had been sitting for 3 1/2 years and I'm still not convinced that it couldn't have been burned without any trouble. :shrug:

[1pump]

Last summer I decided to get my PWC out of mothballs. I was kicking myself because it had been stored since 2001 with a 3/4 full tank and no stabilizer. :help:
I pressurized the tank but couldn't get anything out of it, so I assumed the gas had evaporated through the vent. So I changed the filter and tried to fill the tank with fresh gas, but it only took about 3 gallons. :bigshock: There was still 10 gallons of 3 year-old gas in my 13 gallon tank! D'oh!
Rather than try to flush the tank again I took it out and ran it. Much to my surprise, it ran great. No missing, sputtering or hesitating. I ran that tank out and filled it again and couldn't even tell the difference. And PWC engines are a lot more tempermental than outboards.

I also work for a gas terminalling company. We have gas sitting in tanks a lot longer than 60 days. You know where it goes? Right into a tank truck which takes it to your friendly neighborhood gas station. And who knows how long it was sitting around before we got it.
Some of the stuff that happens to petroleum products before the consumer buys it would surprise you. :eek:

[STGRule]

I think it's water that condenses in the tank as much as anything. I stabilize the full tanks when we have boats down long enough over the winter. Small gas engines should have the fuel run out of the carbs to prevent the goo when it evaporates (this one is true folks, don't ask me how I know). If the tank is full enough to prevent the condensation and you add the stabilizer (just cheap insurance), it can sit a good long time in a tank.

[Rescue3]

Gas does start to deteriorate very quickly and I've heard the 30-45 day figure before. That said, stability is a variable quantity and gas will remain combustible much longer than that. The issue is, what is it doing to the tank, lines, filters, and engine in the process.

As for the ones that run after long periods of unstabilized storage I'd suggest two possible explainations. First, it maybe that one of the additives (Chevron's Techron comes to mind) might have a stabilizing agent and/or effect. The other is, as I frequently tell my wife, it is often better to be lucky than good :cool: