Disposal of Old Gas

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Gary Wyngarden

Gary Wyngarden

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Mar 4, 2004
347
Hunter 37.5 Orcas Island, WA
I almost never use my outboard (Mercury 3 hp two cycle) since I row my dinghy almost everywhere. But I'm getting ready to leave on a five week cruise and want to take my outboard with. I did the appropriate maintenance last fall, running the fuel tank dry, shaft grease, etc. But my spare gas can is half full of old gas with some two cycle oil mixed in. I'd like to replace that with some fresh gas, but I'm not sure what the environmentally friendly way to dispose of the old stuff is. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Gary Wyngarden S/V Wanderlust h37.5
 
Dave from Mi.

Dave from Mi.

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Jun 4, 2004
189
Catalina 30mkIII Elk Rapids, MI.
Old gas

Hi Gary; I take good care of my outboards, and replace the gas each year that is left over. I use it in my lawnmowers, weedwackers, chainsaws, leaf blowers' etc, etc. Not a problem so far. If you don't have many such items, ask a neighbor if they want some free gas. At close to $4 a gal. a lot of people are not picky. Have a great trip Dave
 
R

R. Barrick

Old Gas

I've have dumped it into the gas tank of my car several times and have had no problem. You wont't even notice it.
 
Gordon8780

Gordon8780

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Oct 30, 2006
8
- - Port Townsend WA
Old gas

I use the lawnmower/old car method. If this won't work, check with your local fire station for recomendations.
 
S

scott

It was just a ruse from Gary

to get in a little " I have the best dingy in the world" comment. So Gary, where are you heading? I'm envious.
 
Timo42

Timo42

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Mar 26, 2007
1,042
Venture 22 Marina del Rey
Old gas newer car

I don't know how new your car is, but if you put old gas mixed with oil in your car make sure to tell your mechanic that you did so when it starts running bad, newer cars are very picky about what they run on, and you could damage o2 sensors injectors, or the cat converter. Just find a household hazardous waste roundup in your area to properly dispose of old, contaminated fuel. Don't make my job any harder than it is. *o Tim
 
C

Clyde

Use it or recycle it

You can take your dinghy for a "Joy Ride" and burn all the old gas or you can take it to a waste recycle center. If you don't want to burn it in your two-stroke gas engine, I wouldn't burn it in your car engine. The two-stroke oil in the old gas will foul your spark plugs and cause other problems. If you want to recycle the old gas you would have to bring it to the mainland, it appears that San Juan county doesn't have a household recycle center. You can checkout the State of Washington Department of Ecology's website for the nearest household waste recycle center; it would probably be Skagit county for old gas. Checkout the Department of Ecology's recycle location database online or call them at 1-800-RECYCLE. Unfortunately you would probably waste more gas recycling the old two-stroke gas by bringing it to the mainland. Fair Winds, Clyde 1-800-RECYCLE https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/recycle/ Depart of Ecology http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/index.html
 
M

MoonSailer

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Jun 7, 2007
875
Pearson- 323- Mobile,Al
Lawn mower or car

Two cycle oil burns well. I routinely use my 2 cycle oil in my 4 cycle lawnmower. And I have dumped it in my car and truck tanks too. I'm assuming a reasonable amount of fuel..less than 5 gallons. Usually I'm using straight two cycle in the lawnmower. With a 17 gallon truck tank 2 gallons isabout 10% and has no effect that I can detect. At $3 /gallon I'll take any old gas that anyone wants to give me.
 
higgs

higgs

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Aug 24, 2005
3,736
Nassau 34 Olcott, NY
At the price of new injectors...

I would not let 2 cycle gas anywhere near my car. Maybe I am being two cautious, but year old 2 cycle gas sure ain't gonna do your injectors any good.
 
Timo42

Timo42

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Mar 26, 2007
1,042
Venture 22 Marina del Rey
IMHO

As a professional mechanic for 25 years and an ASE master tech I would no more put old or contaminated fuel in a vehicle than I would drink bilge water. *box Tim
 
JungleJetJock

JungleJetJock

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May 18, 2007
100
Hunter 260 Dallas
gettin' rid of it

Usually, I just dump my old gas right there in the water. It helps keep bottom growth down. J/K I have put it in the tank of my truck with no ill effect. It was only from a 2 gal tank into about 20 gallons of gas so it got dilluted way down. The only thing I can think it would do is maybe foul the spark plugs due to increased carbon but the oil content is so very very little that I doubt that would happen, and hasn't to me.
 
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sailme2

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Aug 14, 2005
50
Pearson P=30 Lake Huron
A gallon or two

at a time shouldn't hurt any car or truck. My truck has a 36gal tank, and the only thing that gets hurt adding 1 or 2 gal at a fillup is my back from holding the gas can in place.... :) My lawnmowers and garden tractor don't care either....they just make a little more mosquito killing smoke.. :)
 
Timo42

Timo42

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Mar 26, 2007
1,042
Venture 22 Marina del Rey
Old fuel

2 gallons of old fuel with 2stroke oil in it, $7.00 Tow bill, drain clean fueltank, replace fuel filter, flush injectors, dispose of 15 gallons of gas, $800 Look on customers face when I tell him warranty doesn't cover repair, priceless
 
B

Ben16737

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May 14, 2004
99
Catalina Capri 22 Town Creek, MD
Not the car...

Like others have said, I wouldn't chance messing up touchy electronic sensors and injectors by putting old 2 stroke gas in my car. However, I would see no problem running it through my lawn mower, or something similar. I think it would take more than just some 2 stroke oil to kill my old Briggs & Stratton mower engine.
 
M

MoonSailer

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Jun 7, 2007
875
Pearson- 323- Mobile,Al
Oh MY GOD

It's incredible that this thread has gone on this long..... 2 cycle oil won't hurt a 4 stroke engine!!!!!!!!!!! Clean old gas won't hurt anything if mixed with newer gas. I've done it with my car my truck my lawnmovwer and my goldwing motorcycles.....no problems. Now if we are talking dirty gas with water in it that is another matter. Gasoline is a short chain hydrocarbon 2 cycle oil is a longer chain hydrocarbom especially made to burn well in internal combustion engines.... I guess with the death of shade tree mechanics there are a growing number of people who are clueless.... Heck I've seen mechanics pour oil directly down the carborator of older cars... Smoke like hell but then they run better afterwards.
 
Brian D

Brian D

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Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
This is a good discussion...

I have 2x30 gallon fuel tanks on my boat. They are about 1/2~2/3 full of fuel that is around 2 years old. I am torn between siphoning it out or just using it until it is empty. My biggest concern is will the engine quit on me during a critical maneuver in a crowed harbor? Siphoning is an option but it will take some time to fill several 5 gal gas containers. So I am very interested in what is being said here.
 
M

MoonSailer

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Jun 7, 2007
875
Pearson- 323- Mobile,Al
Some sites argue about how good is it

Here is a link to a forum where the argument isn't about 2 cycle hurting the engine it is about how much it helps a 4 stroke engine... theoildrop.server101.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&...&Main=903905
 
B

Brian M H23

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Oct 3, 2006
1,033
Hunter 29.5 Toms River
50/ 50 ATF / H20

Is what my dad uses on the ol muscle cars to decarbonize the combustion chambers. Rev it up and send it right down the throat of the carb. As for 2 stroke oil.. fuel injectors arent going to care, if anything I'd expect the little bit of oil to help it. And old gas isn't going to hurt anything, it just doesn't burn as well. In fact, a smart enough EFI computer should sense this and increase the mixture for the duration of the old gas in the tank. Sediment and junk will clog your in-tank filter, or you inline if you are lucky. But "old" and "full of sediment" don't have to correlate. Water is bad. It will just sit in your gas tank and slowly work its evil magic and corrode from the inside out. If it gets sucked up, it will run terribly, and do all sorts of bad things. And water DOES correlate with old gas, because of condensation in the tank, especially if left outside. My personal action when I changed / put fresh gas in my outboard's gas tank? It went into my f150 and was gone before I made it home from the marina. (small consolation from the $160 gas bill moving my boat from the delaware bay to lake ontario)
 
W

Warren Milberg

I've had this same problem/issue

here on the East Coast re "properly" disposing of old fuel. In this area, and hopefully in many other locations around the nation, there are toxic waste disposal sites -- usually they are never near your home or open at convenient hours. In my case, I called the local fire department and they told the location nearest me. BTW, they use some of these old fuels to train with. They have an old buidling they douse with old fuel and burn it down again and again. Hopefully, you have such a site somewhat hear you.
 
C

CharlieCobra

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May 5, 2006
1,140
Knutson K-35 Yawl Bellingham
I used to do that with ATF to clean the valves

years ago. Not with the new cars though, too much crap to ruin.
 
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