Life span of gasoline

[beeman]

They squeeze out more petrol out of every barrel of oil. Old day's fuel had higher octane as standard. Utah our gas is get this 85octane for regular. I know of no manuafacter that recommends this. Everyone uses it though as it's least expensive. Something about altitude not requiring 87 min.

[went522]

A bud came ice fishing with me last weekend. His old jiffy had gas in the tank that was 2 years old, yes, 2 years...his auger ran like a top all weekend!

My mower doesn't get used from sept-may...7 months. It starts fine and runs well even though the gas has been in the tank for 7 months. Snowblower...same thing.

My atv doesn't get any use from april-oct. 7 months and it starts/runs just fine.

Non of the above were ever "treated". I run some stabil in my boat tank, not even sure why besides the hype...but I do. If gas is bad after 3 weeks...I must be lucky because that "bad gas" has been running my motors just fine for many, many years.

BIRDDOG

[Miami Vice]

REW
Do you think temperature has an effect on how long gas stays fresh?
I work for a golf car company near Miami Beach, Florida.
I just want to mention something about batteries before I ask you something about gasoline.
We have snowbird customers who leave an electric golf car with 6 batteries in it, for 7 months in an un air conditioned garage where temps are in the mid to high 90's for most of that time.
When they come back down from the Mid West in the winter time, many times their batteries are ruined.
We suggest that they hire someone once a month to come by the house to charge up the batteries in the summer.
We have other customers that have vacation houses in the Bahamas Islands with gas golf cars. When they are gone for 7 months their gas golf cars are sitting in 90 degree + weather for most of the time. When these customers come down from the Mid West in the winter time many times they find their carbs plugged up with varnish & gum. The ones that use Stabil or other fuel stabilizers have much less problems.
Almost everyone on this site who stores their boat for the winter without stabilizing the gas, has their gas sitting in an average of 40 degree temperature (or even colder) all winter long.
Most of you don't find a problem in the spring time.
But if the gas was stored at a 50 degree higher temperatures for 7 months would it break down much faster?
Miami Vice

[REW]

Miami,
Good question.
Certainly, batteries discharge faster when the temperature is warmer.
As a matter of fact, if batteries are stored at -40 or so, there is virtually no self discharge at all. Of course the problem with doing this - if for some reason, the batteries become discharged in this very severe cold, the batteries will freeze, the water will expand, and blow apart the batteries.

In the case, of gas, certainly high temperatures cause volitale components of fuel to evaporate more quickly than at lower temperatures.
Of course, over the case of many months - most fuel will evaporate from carbs - whether the temp is +90 or 30 degrees.

Certainly, it is a good idea to stabilize gas to help prevent the formation of the gum that is left behind when fuel evaporates.

But, the fact that fuel evaporates from a carb - doesn't necessarily mean that the bulk of the fuel that is being stored in the gas tank is going bad or breaking down.

I will just leave it to folks who know and understand petroleum products better than I to answer the questions.

I just simply know that many many folks have various types of internal combustion engines stored for years and especially, if stabil has been added to the fuel, the engine is cranked a few times and the engine starts and runs fine.

So, if that is true - I have to beg the question -
What do knowledgable folks mean when they say that fuel breaks down and becomes BAD?

I am thinking that if a fuel starts an engine and lets it run without misfiring that the fuel must be fairly fine. Perhaps the engine is generating less power. But, it still appears to be able to be started without issue and run and power a machine with out issues.

Take care
REW

[beeman]

Bought 2 stroke snowblower used $50 bucks looked new toro 5.5 suzuki commercial motor. Got the motor freed up with pb blaster, now the carb had jelled crap with red varnish pieces jacking it up. It ruined the carb shaft that was some pot metal and snaped in half when tightening a bolt. Need a new carb now.

[Shellback]

I'd bet my generator's gas is 2 years old. It will start and run fine. At 2 years old, it doesn't have ethanol though. I need to drain it or run it out of gas now. I'm pushing my luck. Trouble is if I drain and refill with ethanol gas, I could be worse off.

[TomP.]

Another part of this gas senarrio is with the carb ratings and EPA standards these new engines small and large are running so much leaner, which translates into smaller fuel passages in carbs and injectors and they are non adjustable. The particuls that would pass thru an older carb can put the stop on some of these new fuel delivery systems.