old gas in tank

[Matt in Alameda]

After filling my brand new Drake's gas tank in my 1935 Ford 5 Window coupe I broke an axle. I finally am putting every thing back together 1 1/2 YEARS later! What about the gas.....it has gotten a deep amber color in the glass bowel on the fuel pump (59AB motor). Do I drain the 18 month old gas out and put fresh gas in....if yes how do I get rid of the old gas? Or do I take 6-7 gallons out and fill up with fresh gas and when the time comes to refill I add the gas I took out and fill up again with fresh gas so I have a final dilution of 50% for the whole tank......or do I just drive it as it is? Is this even something to worry about? Thank-you,.....Matt in Alameda

[Capt Kirk]

I only have a couple years of experience with lower 48 gas...Alaska gas doesn't do what you described. I've had gas problems with my small lawn and garden equipment after wintering over. My vehicles have seemed to have done fine over winter. I don't know about a year and a half. I would suspect that if the fuel is "amber" it has changed...might run ok but not the best. If it was me, I'd drain the tank and bowl and use that gas in a lawn mower or something else that I didn't care much about. It's $25 worth of gas...treat your car right and your lawnmower like crap!

[lotsagas4u]

Pump it out, use a couple gallons in your daily driver car, when you fill up.

[Terry,OH]

ditto on using the gas in modern car a couple gallons at a time, the computer can adjust to it. Just burned up about 11 gals. of 3 year old gas. Don't use it in a mower or lawn equipment, they can't handle it. Mowers and lawn equipment are supposed to burn 89 octane. You may not be able to even pull start a edger or whip on the old gas.

[Bored&Stroked]

I'd at least dilute it with 50/50 new stuff. I can't see it causing you any real drama in the end.

[stangblue]

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Drain the tank flush the line let the old crap evaporate outside.

[Planojc]

Old gas makes good weed and fire ant killer.

[G.M.]

Smell down in the filled neck if it's bad you can smell it. Put some
MMO in the tank and you won't have any problems. If the tank gets
hot the gas spoils faster. G.M.

[TStiles]

If you drive the vehicle only occasionally, you might consider using a good fuel treatment product. When I fill up my Jerry cans, I always add this product. That gives me up to two years to use the gas. I also use it in my flathead vehicles when I fill up. I've never had a gas problem since I started using the product. Not once. Been using Startron treatments for over 15 years in both gas vehicles and diesel boats (they also make marine products).
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[19Fordy]

stangblue got it right.
There can be no benefit of running stale gas through
your carburetor and fuel system.

[V8COOPMAN]

I'm having a hard time understanding and relating to the misery that SO MANY folks seem to have with other-than-fresh gasoline. The only fuel generally available in our area 20 miles northeast of Houston is 10% gasohol. I've never had a problem with it over the winter in any of my lawn equipment. Better example yet.......my mother-in-law died Sept of 2013. She had just filled-up her '98 Grand Cherokee. Today, I still have it sitting near the fence on the far side of our 2-1/4 acre place. I continue to go out every two or three weeks and start the thing, run it for a few minutes and move it around a bit........STILL, on that 3-year-old gas. I had to put a cheap-ass battery in it a couple of months ago, but the ancient gasohol still starts right up.....NO "Stabil" or any of that stuff. Go figure! DD

[Barlea]

Coop, having visited your neighborhood a few short times in the "winter", I can't imagine anything or anyone being adversely affected by sitting idle. Enjoy..

[37 Coupe]

It shows up more for me in my small engines with naturally smaller tanks. Leaf blower and weed wacker is tough to get off of choke or even half choke with old gas. I have some old gas in my '37 but it seems okay,I do have MMO in it though. I have an older John Deere tractor that I only use with snow blade and I could not get it to run off choke when it was warmed up.Tank did not have much in it but I remembered it was a year old at least.Put in some fresh fuel and it engine leveled right out. Local lawnmower chainsaw shop owner told me that a lot of engine failures seemed to be a combination that he had seen.The aluminum block and ethanol fuel but strangely more failures with owners saying they had used Sta-Bil with the ethanol. Could either be true that the combination is causing problems or people have used Sta-Bil for a reason,engine is sitting a lot. He claims that the industry knows that ethanol is a real problem with an aluminum block and piston and Sta-Bil is adding to it.The chainsaw engine I took to him started fine but seized quickly,mayby breaks down the oil to gas mixture. I see stores like Lowes is selling cans of fuel and oil already mixed and states it is Non etahanol,problem is it about $8.00 for the can and I don't think it was a full gallon. Kinda shows that industry knows there is a problem.

[markdtn]

I put it in my lawn mower. I cut it 50/50 with fresh super unleaded and have never had an issue.