In January, I took a new job in Seattle. I parked my car safely in the garage in Sarasota, FL, thinking that I would send for it sometime in March. I am actually getting her next week.

My guess is, with the hot Florida temps, that 6 month-old gas is probably shot. I would like to siphon it out, and start with fresh fuel.

Does anyone know if a 1/2" OD plastic tube would make it down the filler pipe into the tank, so I could do this? Or is the whole plan silly?

Thanks for any advice.

 

gas is a lot better than in the old days. its not stored as long as it use to be. i leave the gas in my boat end of Sept to memorial day it starts right up no stabilizer

 

was it full?

 

I wouldn't worry about it. It'll be fine.

 

and I had stabilizer right there, but I thought it would only be there for about 10 weeks, and cooler ones at that.

I just hope that there's no gumming or residue left anywhere. Maybe some STP Fuel Injector Cleaner, or something like that would help.

 

If the car starts (and it most likely will), you should be fine.

I once had a motorcycle stored for over a year and a half with stabilized fuel in it. Even though good Sta-Bil had been added originally, the fuel still had that "bad fuel" odor. I figured I'd see if it would kick over anyway and it did... on the first try. Even the exhaust had that same "bad fuel" odor... very strong. But the bike ran great, seemed to be running at top performance. I put some miles on it in no time and then topped off the tank with fresh new fuel... no problems.

Take the car out for a quick 100 ride and then top off the tank with some fresh fuel. It's a lot more fun than trying to siphon fuel.

I would say do not put anything in the fuel tanks of this car other than fuel unless you have a very good reason. If something inside the fuel tank(s) gets damaged (pump or gauge sending unit), it is a HUGE pain to repair... big job. If the car is running fine, do not use any fuel additives.

 

I would siphon it out, I just went through this on my 69 camaro. Gas turned into varnish in about 4 months of inactivity. I had to replace the fuel lines, sending unit and fuel pump. Fuel stablizer is cheap insurance.

I would siphon out as much as you can, then fill it with a couple gallons of good stuff. Everyone else might be right, might work fine. I know my 69 was in bad shape.

 

Indeed in some instances things will get gummed up bad. I bought several used bikes in the past (cheap), with 5+ year old fuel in them. What a mess, had to rebuild the entire fuel systems... that gum and varnish can be really nasty.

But in Velocity Jonny's case, if things DID get gummed up, the damage is already done... and I'd think the car either will not start or will run poorly, perhaps throw codes, etc. If that's the case, then indeed work will need to be done including siphoning out the fuel.

BUT, as a quick easy test, if the car DOES start and run normally, I don't think it's necessary to siphon out the fuel. I'd think that the worst thing that could happen would be some extra deposits on the plugs... in theory... maybe. But you'd only run say 100 miles on the 100% old fuel anyway before topping the tanks with good stuff.

I've left cars sitting for 3 - 4 months with no stabilizer and the fuel still smelled fine and the cars started and ran fine. But I'm in the northeast... the temperature and humidity levels I believe do play a part.

Not sure how scientific this is, but another quick test... pop the fuel cap and sniff the fuel. If it has that super strong raw "bad fuel" odor, maybe it is worth siphoning some out perhaps. But if it smells fine, I really don't think you need to worry. Not sure if the "odor" is a reliable indicator, but in my experience, anytime fuel went bad, it emitted that horrible strong odor.

And as I mentioned in my above post, I was still able to run fuel that had that bad odor anyway and the vehicle ran perfectly, no problems or damage. I was probably right on the edge of having problems but not quite yet there.

So here's a question... can fuel go "bad" without emitting that strong nasty odor?

 

You might have a hard time getting a hose in far enough to siphon. If you did how do you get to both sections of the tank?

 

Didn't they do something with these tanks nowadays to prevent you from siphoning gas?

 

is it even possible to feed a hose down the filler pipe and get to the fuel? If so, are the two halves of the tank connected, so that I can get it all?

 

GM put in very restrictive screens oin the filler neck hose in the mid 70s during the gas crises of that era. (To combat gas being stolen)

I know a GM pick up truck of 5 years ago was still blocked. I would think its ver possible that its still being done today.

 

I wouldn't bother with it even if it was a year.

 

6 months is not that long. There are plenty of garage queens that have 6 month old gas in them. The gas in my '79 Camaro is 10 months old and I just drove it with no problems.

 

yea, no way you getting gas out of that vette, when the hurricanes hit here a couple years back, everyone was trying to siphon from their cars and only some of the real old cars would let you do it, anything that is not like 20 years old you are not getting the gas out of.

 

it's not milk, it's gas, it'll be fine.....

 

You might have a hard time getting a hose in far enough to siphon.

I recently tried it myself and was unable to do it. My hose went
in about 16 inches and would go no farther. I think a screen is blocking it, though had no problem siphoning out of my 2001 Monte Carlo.

 

Remove the cap and smell it, if it smells like varnish you are in trouble. If not run it. There is nothing worse than having your fuel turn to varnish in the fuel system.

The fuel mfg's say the storage period is 90 days. The more fuel there is the better it stores. My 300 gal bulk tank has kept fuel usable for a year but I have had it turn to varnish over a summer before in lawn mowers. Hot temps speed up the process. Leaded fuel from the good old days would keep for ever. The chemicals in modern lead free make the storage life a lot shorter. Good luck.

 

I doubt that gas will be a problem, but your battery is going to as dead as a stone. You will probably be needing a new one, not just a jump.

 

I dont think 6 month old fuel is anything to sweat over, go ahead and fire it up! But although it can possibly gone bad (I doubt it)... If its only a half of tank now then add more new fuel to it and crank the block.