How long B 4 gas goes sour?

[DeeVeeEight]

Worry warts? So, have you ever taken your boat into a big body of water? I said if it were me I would drain it. Why, cuase the last place I would want my system to fug up on me is in open water.

He will do want he wants....if it was for a car, I'd fire it up and see what happens. Drain it into 5 gallon gas cans...run the first fivegallons through a DD or simalar vehicle. If all goes well, then drain the rest into 5 gallon jugs and just transfer to the car. Within a couple of weeks it's gone. Or, if the car runs fine, then maybe take a chance on the boat.

Yep, that's a good idea. Dilute it with new gas on something you don't care about as much. I thought people are talking about dumping on the ground. Well maybe mrvette.

I wasn't thinking about open ocean or a big lake. Don't want to take a chance there. I don't know if there is such a thing as a water grabber filter for a boat. A quick search returned this. http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=6427

I would take it to a local gas station for them to reclaim the old fuel. They have large tanks for waste oil, solvents and the like.

 

[JeffP1167]

I can tell you 12 year old gas doesnt do to good :rofl: started my 82 vette which had about 8 gallons in it and while the car would run it ran like it was on 6 cylinders and I could only handle being in the garage just a minute before it stunk me out. When syphoned out it was a rusty brown color but would still burn if ignited.

 

[DeeVeeEight]

40 gallons? That's a lot of money if you want a refill.

I think that in a sealed container, water free gasoline will last forever. If it's not sealed, daily cycling temperatures from hot day time to cool night time will cause the tank to "breath." I think the effect would be to vent off the aromatic hydrocarbons in the fuel and also breath in water vapor in the air. Since gasoline today has alcohol in it, the water can dissolve in the gasoline. I worry about the water situation, since I don't drive my 68 much, I worry about rust forming in the tank or corrosion in the carburetor which is made out of pot metal. Also, I do know that if you get a layer of actual water on the bottom of the tank, a reddish brown anaerobic bacteria can start to grow in the interface between the gasoline and the water. This stuff can clog up fuel filters. Also, just plain old tank rust and rust forming in the steel fuel lines is a potential filter clogger.

In your situation, for me, I'd worry about rust forming in the fuel tank and clogging up a fuel filter. If there's any rust in the system, the rocking of the boat will kick up the rust. Anyway to stir or agitate the fuel to see if it turns to a reddish brown color?

For old gas that's lost it's aromatic content, I'd think buying a can or two of Torco, would do the trick. The guy that dyno tuned my 08 (Andy Green of A&A Vettes), says it's the only fuel additive he's found that actually works. Best I can tell Torco is really just heptane and octane, so these are the aromatics you want back into the fuel. His story was that on an ~700 rear wheel hp car, Torco allowed him to dial up advance to get another 70 Hp.
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About bacteria fuel for disbelievers. Just months after WWII ended, military aircraft in Japan, Philappines, etc. began having problems with fuel filter clogging. The AF equipped a B29 with lab equipment and my father, a chemical engineer, was one of the civilians sent on the trip. The plane flew from Wright Patterson AFB to Hawaii, Philippines, Japan, etc. My dad's seating assignment was in the tail gunners position. By the time they got to the Philappines, they knew what the problem was. They kept it a secret since they wanted a boondoggle trip to Japan. It was the trip of a lifetime!

With the end of combat operations, the AF decided to drop the octane rating of av gas to save money. The drop in octane, and particularly the tropical warmth of places like the Phillapines allowed anaerobic bacteria to start growing if there was any water present in the gasoline. The recommended solution was simply to increase the octane specification level to war time levels.

Returning from a trip to Mexico in the late 60's, by Mustang fuel filter clogged. The fuel was reddish brown. I think they had to drop the tank to flush it. Who knows what it was..just plain water generated filling station tank rust or maybe those infamous bacteria.

The gas tank on my boat is a big plastic box. I am pretty sure it breathes as you describe. Torco, huh? Where can I find this stuff?

 

[010752]

Seafoam contains alcohol. Not recommended to add alcohol to e10\
Seafoam, stabil and Startron all contain naptha, a cleaner and octane booster.

A couple months ago I started using Startron, primarily in small 2 stroke engines and small engines not used a lot. In small engines the e10 was causing lean out heat problems and burning cylinders etc. This stuff was supposed to help prevent that and also supposedly make gas last as long as 2 years. Even claims to rejuvenate gas. Tales care of the algae problem. Lots of postive feedback with small engine people.
AT 9 bucks at Walmart for a bottle that treats 128 gallons, it was worth a try for me. Got some stuff that isn't used regularly and certainly don't want to fuss with chainsaw, generator, backpack blower, trash pump, forklift etc when you need it.

http://www.starbrite.com/whatsnew/Startron_Story_V2.pdf

http://mystarbrite.com/public/pdf/LIT010V2.1-101.pdf

http://mystarbrite.com/startron/

You can get a fistfull of water in your e10 at anytime from a gas station.
I had 75 gallons of 1-2 year old gas stored for hurricanes and just added 5 gallons to my dd tank after every fill until it was gone, no problems.

Racor water separators have been the industry standard for marine engines as long as I can remember. Pricey, but very good.

 

[DC3]

Seafoam contains alcohol. Not recommended to add alcohol to e10
Seafoam, stabil and Startron all contain naptha, a cleaner and octane booster.

A couple months ago I started using Startron. . .

Good catch on the alcohol in Sea Foam and thanks for the heads up on Star Tron. I ran across it the other day and was wondering about it.

I actually had a guy tell me to forget Sea Foam and just use a mix of diesel and naptha in a 2 parts diesel to 1 part naptha ratio. I thought he was crazy until I came across this site: http://hildstrom.com/projects/seafoam/index.html

Maybe the home brew mix less the alcohol would be a good choice for ethanol based fuels?

DC

 

[68/70Vette]

The gas tank on my boat is a big plastic box. I am pretty sure it breathes as you describe. Torco, huh? Where can I find this stuff?

I've never bought Torco, but I did Google the word and came up with their website. They have charts showing how standard pump gas octane ratings will increase with the addition of one, two, or three of their bottles. To be accurate, I should go back and look again at their website, but have a look yourself. I think a 16 ounce bottle costs $8.50. If you go to a local auto parts store and look at the "octane boosters" for sale, you'll see that they are often just 6 or 8 ounces and cost almost as much. Torco's website's charts show elevations in octane rating as you pour in two or three bottles.

Since I don't drive my 68 that much, I have thoughts of just filling up the tank with alcohol free racing fuel. It'll be expensive but if it helps me keep my new fuel tank, new stainless steel gas lines, and new pot metal Holley carb rust free, I sorta think the expense may be OK. If you want to buy alcohol free racing gas, stay away from "oxygenated" racing fuel. Oxygenated is a code word for ethanol added!!!!!!!!!! Anyhow, for now and the next few weeks I'm driving the 68 so I can use normal pump gas without worry for a while.