ENER Old gas. 50 year old gas

33dInd

33dInd

Veteran Member
Watching a segment up on YouTube
Bunch of characters doing
Will it run
They drag in old cars to see if they can get them running again

Well

One fellow started work on a 1965 rambler rebel convertible
Car had been parked since 70/71
Original owner died. His son got it and promptly garaged it. Never to be driven again
So
After the YouTube guy had done all his checks. Electric. Oil. Spark. Etc.
he noticed the gas tank was full on the gage
And he commented. That gas had been sealed in the tank since it was parked and he was curious if the gas was good
He put two filters on the gas line Primed the carb.

And it fired up and ran
On the old leafed non ethanol gas
It ran ruff and it smoked like crazy
But it ran on 50 year old gas.

So. If this situation was true as presented
It’s proof that the powers that be are doctoring gas today to prevent our ability to store it
Yeah. I know that ethanol additives will make the gas short lived
And. I’ve heard lots of mechanics saying the gas won’t last long which we all know
And even with stabil in the gas it’s not much use after a year

Just an intresting thing to consider
Nothing else
 
phloydius

phloydius

Veteran Member
I've heard a few old timers make mention of this from time to time, as a belief they had. Although I don't know if I ever heard of it being that long of a time frame. Most were "many years" for pure older fuel vs "6 months" newer ethanol additive.
 
wobble

wobble

Veteran Member
33dInd said:
Watching a segment up on YouTube
Bunch of characters doing
Will it run
They drag in old cars to see if they can get them running again

Well

One fellow started work on a 1965 rambler rebel convertible
Car had been parked since 70/71
Original owner died. His son got it and promptly garaged it. Never to be driven again
So
After the YouTube guy had done all his checks. Electric. Oil. Spark. Etc.
he noticed the gas tank was full on the gage
And he commented. That gas had been sealed in the tank since it was parked and he was curious if the gas was good
He put two filters on the gas line Primed the carb.

And it fired up and ran
On the old leafed non ethanol gas
It ran ruff and it smoked like crazy
But it ran on 50 year old gas.

So. If this situation was true as presented
It’s proof that the powers that be are doctoring gas today to prevent our ability to store it
Yeah. I know that ethanol additives will make the gas short lived
And. I’ve heard lots of mechanics saying the gas won’t last long which we all know
And even with stabil in the gas it’s not much use after a year

Just an intresting thing to consider
Nothing else
Click to expand...
I think the efficiency is being decreased as well to produce less mileage.
 
D

Delta

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Interesting. My uncle parked a pickup on the farm in Kansas after a trip to California in the mid 60s. Thirty years later his son aired the flat tires, jump-started it, drove it to the local filling station, filled it, had the oil changed, and bought new tires.
 
S

seagull

Veteran Member
I have a Cub Cadet snowblower. Brand new from dealer....wouldn't start. Took it to dealer and he said they worked on carburetor....$69. That was 2 years ago. same thing happened again last winter and grandson took carb off and poked small wire into tiny holes that had lacqured up. Today....same thing. I have to take the carb apart and use the wire to clean out the holes the gas flows through. Great design.....ehhh? My neighbor suggested getting boat gas. It is unleaded and has no ethanol. I thought as time went on our engineers would improve things......guess not. Or....maybe the gov't came in to help us.
 
dstraito

dstraito

TB Fanatic
A friend had a '68 mustang that sat for 3 years. He didn't want to mess with it anymore. He sold it to me for $100
The gas smelled rancid. I pulled the tank, cleaned it out, let it dry and put it back on. Put in fresh gas and the car started up. It had a banged up body but good motor and transmission. I bought another '68 mustang with no motor or transmission by straight body. I took the good motor and trans out and put it in the other car and then had a nice mustang with custom seats, and then had to sell it for the divorce. Oh well, it was good experience (the car, not the divorce)
 
West

West

Senior
Kinda related...

Few years ago, I had to change the fuel pump in my van. Started having problems with it not starting, cranked good but no start. No dummy light.

Got it to the dealer, and they said $300 to diagnose and then $1200 to change pump/sending unit.

Got it home and replaced my self. Cut hole in the floor board and changed pump. Took me about 45 minutes and another 15 minutes to fab a access panel.

Just had to do it again on another rig with the same system. This time it took me about 50 minutes total, including changing fuel filter. $200 pump/sending unit.

Both failed around 120k miles. Could be the rotten gas or design. IDK. Do know that I've gotten water in my gas from local gas stations. Then have to run HEAT through it. About this time of year too.
 
S

Select

Senior Member
seagull said:
I have a Cub Cadet snowblower. Brand new from dealer....wouldn't start. Took it to dealer and he said they worked on carburetor....$69. That was 2 years ago. same thing happened again last winter and grandson took carb off and poked small wire into tiny holes that had lacqured up. Today....same thing. I have to take the carb apart and use the wire to clean out the holes the gas flows through. Great design.....ehhh? My neighbor suggested getting boat gas. It is unleaded and has no ethanol. I thought as time went on our engineers would improve things......guess not. Or....maybe the gov't came in to help us.
Click to expand...
On those small engines that you can, on the last use of the season--- while it's running, cut the gas off at the tank and let the engine use up all the gas in the carb. Next year it will be ready for you when you need it.

For the 2-cycle engines; you can buy the mixed gas in the can and it's been stored for over 2 years with no start-up issues. A small engine tech advised a friend not to use the canned gas in Sthil equipment as it burns too hot.
 
feralferret

feralferret

Veteran Member
I used to have to replace or rebuild carburetors on my 2 stroke equipment every couple of years. The parts and repair place I bought my last leaf blower from told be that it was the ethanol in the gasoline causing this. He was right. I started getting only the ethanol free premium to mix with the oil. That was six years ago. I haven't had a carburetor go bad since. BTW I only use the synthetic oil. Better engine wear.
 
W

Wolfcreek Farm

Wolfcreek
33dInd said:
Watching a segment up on YouTube
Bunch of characters doing
Will it run
They drag in old cars to see if they can get them running again

Well

One fellow started work on a 1965 rambler rebel convertible
Car had been parked since 70/71
Original owner died. His son got it and promptly garaged it. Never to be driven again
So
After the YouTube guy had done all his checks. Electric. Oil. Spark. Etc.
he noticed the gas tank was full on the gage
And he commented. That gas had been sealed in the tank since it was parked and he was curious if the gas was good
He put two filters on the gas line Primed the carb.

And it fired up and ran
On the old leafed non ethanol gas
It ran ruff and it smoked like crazy
Use PRI- G.........I've used gas which was over 5 years old....treated with Pri-G..........use Pri-D for diesel fuel.
Click to expand...
 
Ractivist

Ractivist

Pride comes before the fall.....Pride month ended.
My opinion. Use ninety octane on small engines.. Use the proper amount of oil....or slightly more. Oil, in general is your friend. Too much and it smokes, too little and it runs like a banshee till it siezes up..... something like that.
The lines are small, if the oil in the gas settles into the carb, it's gunked up. Clean it out, carefully, and one has a perfectly kept carburetor.... it's a fact of life. Run it dry, and avoid the clog. P G, hands down.
 
Knoxville's Joker

Knoxville's Joker

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Ractivist said:
My opinion. Use ninety octane on small engines.. Use the proper amount of oil....or slightly more. Oil, in general is your friend. Too much and it smokes, too little and it runs like a banshee till it siezes up..... something like that.
The lines are small, if the oil in the gas settles into the carb, it's gunked up. Clean it out, carefully, and one has a perfectly kept carburetor.... it's a fact of life. Run it dry, and avoid the clog. P G, hands down.
Click to expand...
Stihl says to use minimum 90 octane gas, but equipment will run on 87 octane. I use 93 octane with stabil and usually have good results. I use ethanol free gas. I have not really had many issues, other than towards the end of the season when gas is old, then the saws tend to bog down a little and lose a few horsepower, but I make sure to use up all of it each year.
 
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