Disposal of Old Gas

[sailme2]

After reading some of these

old gas is no good horror stories, yesteday I put 2 gal of last year's oil mixed outboard gas in my truck. I have a very thirsty 2004 Dodge 1500 with 4.7l v8. It has a 36gal gas tank. I put in 2 gal of 'old' gas and 21gal of fresh from the pump gas. The only difference I noticed was my usual 14.6mpg became 14.4....but...it was 91 degrees yesteday and the air was working hard.Now, that said, I also know that fuel injectors won't pass water, and I know how my gas was stored and how clean the tank is, so I wasn't too concerned. Unless you have other fuel problems....water, dirt, sludge, etc...mixing fresh gas with older gas should let you use the older gas, although I've read that E85 gas doesn't store well. This could become a whole new can of worms for disposal problems....glad my boat's tank is only 20gal and not 200 like the power boats.

 

[Dick Westwood]

Dump it at the gas station

I change mine every year too. There's a couple of local gas stations that'll let me dump my old gas/two-stroke-oil mix in with their old oil (the stuff from oil changes). I'm not sure it's legal for them to do it, but they don't mind so…

 

[Paul H]

Moonsailor....I don't know where you came up

with the fact that gasoline is a short chain hydrocarbon...Gasoline is a complex mixture of MANY MANY hydrocarbons...aromatics, parrafins, olefins, and napthenics to name a few...I would take more care in telling people they're clueless without doing a little more research first...;-). FYI...engine oils are also complex hydrocarbons as well...dibenzothiophenes, Anthracenes...etc....

 

[MoonSailer]

Organic Chemistry

http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0

 

[Paul H]

OK...sure...Moonsailor...

I'm not going to argue the point....*o...have a look at my profile and see what I do for a living....

 

[Rick D]

40 Gallons of Old Blended 2 Stroke Gasoline

I got rid of about 40 gallons from an old outboard tank by giving it to my Dad's gardener who used it in their equipment. I assume they cut it with some new fuel too, but don't know for sure. Anyhow, they were happy to take it. However, he had access to a bunch of 5 gallon containers. That's another issue. No gas dealer, boatyard or dump would take it. I found a toxic disposal site 80 miles away that would take gas once a month and you had to surrender the containers. Wasn't a real atractive option.BTW, I had 2-month old fuel in my OB go bad which required me to O/H the carb (sitting in my dink in Catalina no less). I'm not sure if it's California summer blend or what, but the stuff is going bad fast. Rick D.

 

[MoonSailer]

Alcohols??? A note to Paul

All fuel isn't created equal and I try to get gasoline without alcohol for use in my outboard. I've been lucky and have never had any "go bad". I always turn off my gas and run the engine until it stops before storage. The gas mix in the carborator will evaporate and leave a residue that can plug up your jets. A little WD-40 and a piece of fine wire will usually clean it up the jets.Paul I'm not a chemist but do have a minor in chemistry. I guess technically I'm a molecular biologist. But i've only been working in the laboratory for about 25 years. Longer if you iclude the lab work I did while getting my masters degree. My Masters Degree thesis was on treating waste water from a coal gasification plant. Talk about a witches brew of noxious chemicals!!!! I could rather easily clean up the waste water's acute toxicity which primarily came from ammonia and phenol. But my treatment had no effect on the PAH's , heterocyclic compounds and other complex nasty stuff. I tried analysis with an HPLC and it ruined the C-18 column. Since analysis wasn't critical for my thesis I didn't pursue that data. My wife's cousin is a petroleum engineer for Exxon I'll ask him about gasoline sometime.

 

[Timo42]

All this chemistry

is great but from a practical point of view as the guy who has to diagnose and repair your car, I have enough trouble with california gas, summer gas winter gas, gasohol, pemex etc without adding something that the vehicle was not designed to burn into the mix. Yes you may not notice a difference right away, but the effect can be subtle and cumulative, causing corrosion to sensors, injectors, and other expensive parts. A few years back we had problems with fuel level sensors failing on GM vehicles, they traced the problem to higher than normal but still within federal limit sulfer levels in the fuel. We all agree oxidized gas doesn't burn as well, otherwise why not use it in your boat? The tank in your boat is vented, the boat is on the water, there is water in the gas, not enough to be visible but it is there. Give it to the gardener or the guy with the old pickup just don't use it in your third biggest investment after your house and your boat.  TimPS Yes,we used to pour atf, water etc down the carb, not anymore, and that was done for a purpose, not just to dispose of old fluid, and definitely not something to try at home.