Well I'm finally back from Korea and the car (97' XK8 Convert) Has been sitting for a year & 2 months now. We towed it on a car dolly across country & it's been flooded/won't start since. There's at lest 6-7 gal of gas in the tank still. My plan is to put a small amount of oil in each cylinder again ( had no luck getting her going last year even after doing this) to try & get compression back. If I fill the tank with fresh fuel will this be enough to dilute the old gas enough that it won't cause ignition problems? Or am I better served siphoning out what I can & then refilling? I have 2 1/2 weeks to get this thing running again before I have to move again. If it fires up we're driving it instead of towing it this time. Other wise I'll have to get creative to get it on a trailer not running or hope it catches fire.

 

I believe that gasoline has a useful life far beyond that portrayed by fuel stability products. Some of my yard tools use gas at least that old and start right up. Concentrate of getting compression back.

 

Very true.

 

I would check your fuel pressure and be sure you have spark. You may have had a cylinder washing issue but the car has been sitting for a year. I have a little information on the no start situation. I think your fuel is ok. Nikasil No Start Cylinder Washing I hope this helps.

 

Very true. I remember reading somewhere that an open container of the most well known stabilizing product actually has a shorter shelf life than gasoline. How ironic.

 

Got it fired up last night. Found one of the relays on the passenger side worked it's self loose. Pushed it in & she fired right up. Gotta love the simple things even after they've made you look dumb.

 

dont bUy that fuel doesnt go bad? Ive ruined a generator, pressure washer, a $500 fuel pump in the race car and the fuel tank, pump, and sender in my suburban from rust. the other stuff from gummed up fuel passages. All from bad gas. The generator and pressure washer never ran correctly after letting fuel sit in the too long. Both I replaced the carbs and they ran great after that. The suburban tank I dropped after i had put fresh gas in it 2 yrs ago and with all the ethanol in the gas absorbed enough water to put alot of rust in the tank rendering the pump and sender inop. Nothing that $500 and a online order to LMC couldnt fix
I just gave away my old mower and had bought a new one 3 months ago. I gave it to friends. when they came to get it, it wouldnt start. Opened the tank and the fuel smelled, so I dumped it, put in fresh and fired up and ran great. Glad I checked it first cause theyre not mechanically inclined......
I do run stabil in everything now unless I drive it

 

Kudos to you! On the road again!

 

I'm with Brutal on this one. I put Stabil in my generator,pressure washer and cars if they're going to sit for awhile. My Generac has never failed me in over 12 years of doing this to the fuel. I also run the engine with the fuel valve shut to run excess fuel out of the carb knowing that the carb will always hold a little bit of fuel in it which will gum over time. Just asked my old neighbor in Seattle who couldn't get his Honda gen started after a power failure in winter---I'm glad I wasn't married to his wife that night.

 

Any engine that I own (and I own an assortment as a homeowner and boater) that runs gas gets the carb run dry and the tank emptied before they sit for more than a week at a time. Keeps them all run fine.

Today's gas additives wrecks havoc on small engines...

 

Five years ago I owned an ultralight airplane which used a two stroke motor. I no longer own it, but back then I had a 5 gallon gas can in which I would pre-mix the oil and gas for the ultralight's 2-stroke. I've been using that same can of gas in my weed-whacker for the last five years. It still runs fine. I know that's just an anecdotal story, but if you listen to the Sta-Bil people, they'd tell you that my weed whacker should have died 4 years and 6 months ago.

Having said that, I don't fault the people who use Sta-Bil. Each person makes their own choices. I'm more of a risk-taker, so I'm willing to chance ruining a $135 weed-whacker. Other people figure "better safe than sorry".

 

Oh... but the ethanol in the fuel is a whole nuther issue. I understand Brutal's problems with ethanol and rust are common. However, is there a product out that that can neutralize the corrosion from the ethanol?

 

Yeah i sensed that about you
i have frined that runs ultralites and builds owns experimantals. My favorite is his 1/2 scale( ithink) of a p-51 mustang. It looks awsome. According to him fast, and seats 2. You know i take chances and when it comes to gas, and i paid dearly for those choices. I seem to like the school of hard knocks and find fault with my kids for the same. Why is it that way we find others faults so easy to fix but struggle with many of our own and many of the same
that generator i just had to replace when i started building the cabin in the country and that was a $800 ouch. It ran fine a couple yrs the last i used it.
As far as ethanol i used to be able to get gas without a yr ago driving out of town when ide go rock crawling. It was always worth another mile or two per gallon in mileage. The best defense is draining, past that a full tank of fuel to limit air and moisture above gas in the tank. Racers that run methanol have to drain their systems or risk bad corrosion and water absorbsion. Thats even worse though cause its 100% methanol. This is another reason why most fuel tanks, lines, and fuel parts are plastic, plastic doesnt rust