Bad/Old Gasoline
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Bad/Old Gasoline
For fuel injected vehicels, what does old/bad gas DO to a car exactly? What are the physical symptoms of having bad/old gas? And if there's any damage done, what can be done to repair it?
I'm working on a car that has been running sporadically on and off again for the past few months and is still using the same tank of gas (aside from two gallons of new fuel being added about a month ago). Would adding fuel stabilizer work or is it better just to drain the tank and refill with new gas? And, what's the proper way to get that gasoline out of a tank anyways?
Sorry if this isn't making a whole lot of sense, I'm writing this at 1:20AM after working on said car for several hours!
I'm working on a car that has been running sporadically on and off again for the past few months and is still using the same tank of gas (aside from two gallons of new fuel being added about a month ago). Would adding fuel stabilizer work or is it better just to drain the tank and refill with new gas? And, what's the proper way to get that gasoline out of a tank anyways?
Sorry if this isn't making a whole lot of sense, I'm writing this at 1:20AM after working on said car for several hours!
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Originally Posted by Caplax40
For fuel injected vehicels, what does old/bad gas DO to a car exactly? What are the physical symptoms of having bad/old gas? And if there's any damage done, what can be done to repair it?
A couple of years ago I wanted to mow some grass with a push mower. I ran out of gas in the mower and had none in the spare can. I then siphoned some out of a vehicle that had been sitting for about two years. The mower ran okay, but the grass wasn't too tall so the mower wasn't worked that hard. Anyway, when it came time to shut the mower off, it would not shut off! It continued to run despite not having any ignition to fire it. I then realized that it was running on bad gas. Not sure if I did any damage to the mower, but I'm sure it didn't help it any. It continues to be a good mower and I use it still....
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Bad Gas has a characteristic smell, not sure how to describe it but once you smell it you know. It doesn't smell sharp like fresh gas, it smells kind of funky and not as harsh to the nose.
I had a car that sat for about 6 years and one day I decided to drain the tank and burn it in my daily driver. Big mistake.
The gas had a lot of sludge, as I discovered later, stupid me thought filtering thru some clean rags would do the trick. This sludge clogged up the fuel filter which caused my car to starve for gas.
The symptom on that car was that the car barely had enough power to get up to freeway speed. It ran smooth but had no power. If you floored it, it would go to high RPM but not make any power. At first I thought the tranny was slipping. Eventually I figured out that the computer was downshifting to compensate, thus the high RPMs, but there was still not enough power for me to feel the downshifts.
I changed the filter, ran some Techron and several tankfulls thru the car and it was fine.
The fuel stabilizers may be worthwhile, but I never tried them for longer than the winter season in the lawn equipment gas cans.
Good Luck,
Jim Henderson
I had a car that sat for about 6 years and one day I decided to drain the tank and burn it in my daily driver. Big mistake.
The gas had a lot of sludge, as I discovered later, stupid me thought filtering thru some clean rags would do the trick. This sludge clogged up the fuel filter which caused my car to starve for gas.
The symptom on that car was that the car barely had enough power to get up to freeway speed. It ran smooth but had no power. If you floored it, it would go to high RPM but not make any power. At first I thought the tranny was slipping. Eventually I figured out that the computer was downshifting to compensate, thus the high RPMs, but there was still not enough power for me to feel the downshifts.
I changed the filter, ran some Techron and several tankfulls thru the car and it was fine.
The fuel stabilizers may be worthwhile, but I never tried them for longer than the winter season in the lawn equipment gas cans.
Good Luck,
Jim Henderson
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