OT Stale Gasoline/Oil mix Uses?

allfoden · Aug 27, 2010

I have about 5 gallons of stale (1 year old) gas/oil mix form outboards. Can I use about 1 gallon at a time in my car with a full tank or will the oil in the mix screw up the cat and exhaust sensors? The gas today degrades so fast.

Guest · Aug 27, 2010

Good question, I would think you would end up with spark plug fouling issues and a little smoke out of the tail pipe. Seems to me two strokes do not like stale gas that will run fine in a four stroke.

viper · Aug 27, 2010

As long as the fuel was sealed and does not have the obvious stale stink, it would be fine to dilute with fresh fuel.

Do NOT put that in an emission control vehicle with O2 sensing. 2-stroke oil and O2 sensors do not mix. Great for valves though! I recommend using it in your lawnmower and such along with some fresh fuel. It probably is not as bad as you think it is. If fuel is exposed to the air though, it degrades fast. Faster than it did 5 years ago....

Sea Farmer · Aug 27, 2010

I usually pour it into my 2002 pickup truck. Well, not into the truck, but into it's gas tank.

Haven't had any problems over the years, but the total amount over all that time has probably been less than 15 gallons. I do make sure that the truck's 34-gallon tank is nearly full before I add the mix, so it is well-diluted.

knudsen · Aug 27, 2010

Back in the 70's, when it was cool to do so, I used to pour the gas/oil mix on the county road in front of my parents house to knock down the dust, along with diluted used motor oil. Once I turned 16 and got a ratty truck, I poured it in the gas tank.

I use Lucas top cylinder lube and fuel injector cleaner in my 99 Grand Cherokee. Mainly because gas mileage goes up 3 mpg and it pays for itself. Never had a problem with plugs, sensors or cat.

Funny, I bought it by accident, wanting fuel injector cleaner. Noticed it was oil when I was putting it in my Range Rover. Cleared the errors, so the cleaner part seemed to work. Cheaper than regular Lucas injector cleaner too.

crossthread · Aug 27, 2010

I keep a wide mouth container in the back of my shop for such things as untrustworthy gas. It holds about a gallon or so and is great for degreasing really nasty stuff.

Guest · Aug 27, 2010

I use it as charcoal starter, don't tell anyone who eats my BBQ.

bruto · Aug 27, 2010

I usually put that stuff in my lawn mower. It doesn't notice the difference. If it starts at all, it will probably run all right, and if it's already started, it will probably run on stuff that hardly ignites at all. My current mower has a Wisconsin engine which is relatively indifferent to fuel quality, but I used to have a Briggs and Stratton mower that I would start and warm up on a half cup of gasoline and then run on #2 fuel oil. It was fine as long as you didn't stall it.

Walter A · Aug 27, 2010

Our city has central located recycle bins. The one near my home seem to be a magnet for people who are cleaning out garages or sheds. In a year I manage to pick up a half dozen red or blue fuel containers either full or partial full. The kerosene ones mostly seem ok and get used in my spare shop heater. The gas ones mostly smell stale and oily. That stuff seems to do real good at cleaning paint brushes and can parts.

I tried some in my '95 S10 V6 Vortec and it ran like crap until I went through a couple of tanks of clean fuel.

I have managed to keep my home and shop supplied with enough spare gas cans and haven't bought one for years.

20# Propane bottles get dumped too. Half the time they are the new style and most have some propane left. My grill loves them. They then go to my shop to be used for heaters in the winter months.

Walter A.

Sea Farmer · Aug 27, 2010

Dualkit said:
I use it as charcoal starter, don't tell anyone who eats my BBQ.

Please see my post 556 in the "venting" thread on the Shop management board. Then feel free to flame away, seeing as you already have the fuel

Muffler Bearing · Aug 27, 2010

I put a half-gallon of gas/oil mixture for my two stroke dirt bike (approximately 25:1) into my 1995 Thunderbird and then filled the tank to make sure it was very diluted. I had an idle air control motor fail about 2 weeks later, while I was still on that same tank.
I don't know if it is just sheer concidence or not, but I refuse to ever put oil/gas mixtures into my cars tank again.

Forestgnome · Aug 27, 2010

Sea Farmer said:
I usually pour it into my 2002 pickup truck. Well, not into the truck, but into it's gas tank. Haven't had any problems over the years, but the total amount over all that time has probably been less than 15 gallons. I do make sure that the truck's 34-gallon tank is nearly full before I add the mix, so it is well-diluted.

I do the same in my 94 F250. Never had a problem.

jackal · Aug 27, 2010

Put it in your neighbor's car, or in his favorite flowerbed.

JAckal :cheers:

gmatov · Aug 27, 2010

My kid, once upon a time, cut my grass with my Sears garden tractor. Thought she was low on fuel, grabbed a can from the garage, was blue, but what the hell? Filled the other half or so of the tank with Diesel. Tractor ran like hell with it in the tank.

BUT, it does not have O2 sensors and all the other emissions controls, so nothing to hurt but, possibly, plugs fouling. Didn't. I haven't tried the same since. Tractor runs like a bear with regular gas.

I wouldn't use it in a monitored car. Not even a gallon or 2 at a time. O2 sensors are expensive, and the filter screen in the fuel pump will hold up to gasoline, but Diesel, for one, and possibly lube oil, will melt the plastic mesh "prefilter" sock on the in tank pump. That is one of the warnings they give you, or did, back in the day when everybody wanted to swap out a gas engine for a small Diesel.

Cheers,

George

moonlight machine · Aug 28, 2010

I just put it in my truck, 1990 chev 1ton dualy big block.....It has used a quart of oil in 1500 miles for the last 200,000 miles. a bit of stale pre mix is just fine, full tank or empty.

Guest · Aug 28, 2010

Sea Farmer said:
Please see my post 556 in the "venting" thread on the Shop management board. Then feel free to flame away, seeing as you already have the fuel

I mix my charcoal with wood, I honestly can't tell the difference in meat taste whether I have started it with bad gasoline, dirty paint thinner, charcoal lighter or paper. Maybe the wood covers up the gasoline taste in the meat?

Sea Farmer · Aug 28, 2010

Dualkit said:
I mix my charcoal with wood, I honestly can't tell the difference in meat taste whether I have started it with bad gasoline, dirty paint thinner, charcoal lighter or paper. Maybe the wood covers up the gasoline taste in the meat?

Maybe, or maybe you're one of the knowledgeable barbecuers who wait until the charcoal is hot and ready before putting the meat on. By that time the fuel should have burned off. I was being a bit off a smartass before

Axle · Aug 28, 2010

Muffler Bearing said:
I put a half-gallon of gas/oil mixture for my two stroke dirt bike (approximately 25:1) into my 1995 Thunderbird and then filled the tank to make sure it was very diluted. I had an idle air control motor fail about 2 weeks later, while I was still on that same tank.
I don't know if it is just sheer concidence or not, but I refuse to ever put oil/gas mixtures into my cars tank again.

Coincidence, and maybe not. IAC valves do fail, but they also carbon up over time (erratic idle, or hunting idle speed the usual signs. Throttle body cleaner will clean them up)

The IAC vibrates a pintle to meter air into the engine to control idle speed (one incoming air hole on the filter side of the throttle body, outgoing hole feeding the engine side of the throttle body) Now, one could conclude that an IAC with significant buildup has kept its normal operating area relatively clear, but the poor fuel used required more air to maintain idle speed, so all of a sudden the pintle gets forced into a very dirty area in its bore and wreaks havoc on its operation if not jamming it entirely, causing the engine to stall when it had no throttle input (idle, coast conditions). So really, the poor fuel unmasked a problem that was going to strike anyway, on the bright side, it saved you the aggravation of going through the poor idle quality phase.

Alex.

AlphaGeek · Aug 28, 2010

For what it's worth, I have successfully reconditioned stale gasoline and used it in my late-model fuel-injected truck, 5 gallons at a time, using PRI-G. A small bottle goes a long way.

The fuel was stored with the rest of my disaster-preparedness gear and by the time I realized I'd left it untreated/unrotated for too long, it had turned. I really didn't want to dispose of 25 gallons of gasoline, so I was very happy when the PRI-G treatment actually worked. Since then I've been more careful to stick to the correct schedule for adding Sta-Bil and/or rotating it out for fresh fuel.

-AG

AeroE · Aug 29, 2010

Blend the old with fresh gas. It ain't rocket science. If you're worried about using two cycle blend in a new automobile, add it in small concentrations.

If you're ultra worried and are still using the machines the fuel was blended for, blend it with fresh blend and press on. 50/50, 25/75, 33,67, whatever - chances are the old fuel will work fine anyway, just give it a good shake to mix the oil back into the gasoline.

OT Stale Gasoline/Oil mix Uses?

Aluminum

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Titanium

Diamond

Stainless

Titanium

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Stainless

Titanium

Diamond

Aluminum

Stainless

Titanium

Diamond

Diamond

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Diamond

Cast Iron

Plastic

Cast Iron

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