Over and over people come on the forums with the most common problem these days, BAD GAS.
Everyone was warned about 10 years ago that this would happen and many did not listen.
If November goes the wrong way, Ethanol will go from 10 to 15% and you might as well put your old Jag in a museum UNLESS you drive it everyday.
There are no less than 6 posts on the forum with the same issue no matter what year or model OLD Jag.
How many times must we read .....the gas was like mud , black or brown, I cleaned it out and put a new filter, it runs fine for ten minutes than all hell breaks loose.
Again if you do not run you car on a regular basis, drain the tank or sell it.
Our old cars have a vented system and carbs, air an moisture creeps in and turns the gas into SUGAR WATER.
Once your car has gotten that bad....ONLY 30 TO 45 DAYS!
Everything must be removed and replaced. You cannot cheap out, it will only destroy the carbs, floats and fuel lines.
Most old men , who are hard of hearing do not want to listen, its like their own body , It aint what it used to be.
Additives, water seperaters, almost help, but once moisture, which is everywhere sets in its alllllllll over.
Unless you can find LEADED GAS at an airport, highly illegal these days in the states...
DRIVE THE DAMN CAR!
Your kids wont want it anyway.
Enjoy the ride.
GTJOEY1314

 

yep- key is to drive it! Putting the gas tank and gas in the car is the last thing I will do in my restoration. I am restoring another car, and frustrated because I can't drive it, but I need to be able to run it at times, and can't keep fresh gas in it.

 

I can't remember seeing any such posts with gas that's 30-45 days old. It's always gas that's many years old or the age is just unknown.

There's nothing special about leaded gas (avgas) that give it a significant edge- so the same people with the same car would be posting the same problem.

 

Your in Canada, there are still places up north with no Ethanol.
The states are a different matter.
Again, look up ETHANOL KILLING OLD CARS.
Leno is the biggest name on the list.
Just place a small baby glass fruit jar in the garage with a little gas in it , leave it for 30 days a take a PICTURE........
GTJOEY1314

 

The best advice is always: Just drive the car. I haven't had a problem with month old gas but I try to rotate my fleet weekly.

 

Here's the inside of the gas tank of my old Corvette. It's been run exclusively on E10 since the late 1990s. The gas you're looking at was 2 years old at the time. Do you seen any corrosion?

The sky is not falling. Please let Jay Leno know.

 

Mikey what year is your corvette?
GTJOEY1314

 

Mickey, What year is your corvette?

 

Thanks- for the post on the gas tank- that is exactly my experience-no issues

 

What was your issue? Mikey what year is the vette?
GTJOEY1314

 

Mikey, Remember my heading, You turned your hearing aid off...

 

I think it's a Stingray.

Jaguar Picture by Mikey | 2639717 | JaguarForums.com

 

No, my hearing is great thanks.

Just wondering why you're so anxious to know the year of the car as it's not related to the gas-going-stale-in-30-days myth. The car has an open tank, so if gas was going to go bad from moisture, it would have already happened.

I can show you dozens of pics of similar cars, all with no signs of the horror stories and sky is falling stuff that keeps popping up.

 

Thank you Mikey you have humor and get it....
If the car is a sealed system it takes forever.
Open another story.
I too had my 66 Sting Ray until they made upgraded floats and seals, every two years the big holley would collapse .
I DROVE THE CAR AS WELL, BUT NOT ENOUGH.
Once upgraded all was fine, but again, upgraded rubber lines, gaskets , washers and all.
You have many people calling a car junk when its really 40 years of non service.
Or simply , if you don t use it, it cant break, but we know sitting is the worst.
Heated garages, insulated buildings all help.
But there is a true link to ethanol and OLD cars if not upgraded to modern materials IMHO .
Just changed my o rings on my 2004 Aston Martin Vanquish.
So enjoy.........my new show after FORD GT AN AMERICAN ICON is done on Velocity will be Jags and Astons......maybe we use you.
GTJOEY1314

 

I see old cars that still have the original 40 or 50 year old fuel lines and hoses. Irrespective of ethanol, that's just plain foolish to think that they won't fail, risking a fire.

E10 compatible materials have been around since the 80s, there's no excuse to not have them on a car or motorcycle.

 

If you think your classic car doesn't get driven often enough, just ask anyone who owns a boat. I've kind of adopted the advice once given to me by an outboard motor mechanic. I bought an old boat that had been sitting for two years and took it to an outboard expert for recommissioning before I first put it in the water. After the tune-up, he advised me to never fill the 16 gallon tank all the way because the little 85horse Suzuki 2-stroke probably wouldn't use that much gas all season. Rather to keep it at about 1/4 tank and only put in as much gas as I expected to use each outing. That way I'd keep the gas fresh. I never had any issues, but I towed in a a few other fishermen whose boats wouldn't start. So now I do the same with my vintage cars. I've heard the argument that the top half of the tank might rust if its not submerged in fuel but here in Texas, I've not seen any evidence of that. Maybe that's a concern in rustier climates. One of my classics is a Corvette like the picture above where you can see the inside of the tank very clearly through the large filler neck and I've had to replace sending units and such, giving me ample opportunity to inspect all my cars tanks. Also once the car show season ends, I add a little "Sta-bil" to each tank since I drive them much less during the winters.

 

There are a number of "magic potions" on the market which are supposed to eliminate or reduce any detrimental effects caused by Ethanol. I prefer to use higher octane fuel, at a cost, which have little ethanol added!

 

I've yet to see any product that could possibly do any such thing. Like most snake oil offerings, their inventors focus on preventing things that just would not have occurred in the first place. Pretty clever as they can make statements like '100% effective'.


You may find, in addition to ethanol not being Satan incarnate after all, that higher octane fuel may have just as much ethanol as the lower ratings. Are the petrol pumps in the UK required to display the content?

 

In the UK we have a changing situation where the base line for ethanol is 5 percent rising to 10 percent. My understanding is that all fuel containing more than 5 percent has to be identified at the pump. Higher octane fuels have been of lesser content with some makes having no ethanol. Anyone that doubts the effect of ethanol, and there are a few using this forum, should look up the Automobile Association's comments on their web page. I believe them to be independent and objective.

 

Which auto association are you referring to? Could you post a link please?

I'd like to compare my real-world findings of 20+ years to theirs. Other members here with 30+ years of experience (also having NO issues), might also wish to read.