stale fuel

[merlyn]

Hi ,i am new to the world of owning a morris minor having bought my first minor back in july 11, would it be possible to have your thoughts on a item which is supposed to help the fuel in the tank stop loosing its octane level (diamond shaped item for sale on a well known auction site) i am thinking of winter months not using the car ,or is it better to drain the fuel tank??
many thanks William.

[charlie_morris_minor]

save your money, drain your tank

[stag36587]

couldnt agree more.

[DaisyMayFozz]

load of rot whatever it is.


drain the tank

[chrisd87]

Personally I'd just leave it with whatever petrol is in the tank. If you're particularly concerned, you could run the petrol down low before laying it up. That way, if it does go off you don't have to throw much away. I recently ran a Minor on 2 year old petrol without issue (and a motorcycle on 8 year old stuff), so I doubt a couple of months will render it unusable.

[PGH]

I have laid up cars over winter for 15 years and have never had a problem with the fuel.

[bmcecosse]

Ideally you should FILL the tank before layup - to prevent condensation forming above the fuel on the inside of the tank. And I agree - don't waste money on gimmicks!

[RobThomas]

You can buy stuff for chainsaws that preserves the higher aromatics in the fuel. Fuelguard and Putoline ring a few bells. On my aeroplane I had starting issues after 3 months idle when the stale fuel wouldn't ignite. Drained the cheapo Tesco fuel off and topped up with fresh. Started staright away.
I used the drained fuel in the Morris and it worked. I guess that modern fuel loses 'something' that keeps it from working in highly strung engines but the sidevalve seems to run happily on any old cr4p. The preservative also suggests that it will keep seals from drying out and keeps the ethanol from eating fuel lines. About £8 a can on Ebay.

Worth having? Dunno.

[merlyn]

Many thanks for all who advised on this issue

[Budgie]

stale fuel ,i recently helped to start a freinds 15 year old jag that had been idle for 3 years and with a new battery put on and a few turns later ,away she fired and kept on running fine all day long!

[IaininTenbury]

i tried some 40+ year old fuel last year in the Minor. Oddly enough, it conked out 2 miles down the road. Not sure what it proved other than 'stop being silly'.....

[rayofleamington]

I've had an issue with stale fuel on a car left for 5 years - this was back around 97. Since then I've not had the problem so maybe it was worse in those days - certainly it was a common concern back then as fuel blends were not the same as 70's and 80's fuel which ahd not tended to go stale.
As regards leaving a car over winter - I've never had a problem in a Minor.
Some of mine get left for many years but I've not had an issue for a long time now.

[linearaudio]

Possibly a very difficult one!
My Punto had been laid up for over 3 years in an open barn with a half tank, and started, ran and passed the emissions test fine.
However.... that was probably pre-ethanol days petrol. In the last couple of years we have had 5% ethanol put randomly in our fuel, which makes it more volatile, but also more unstable. As I understand it, the volatality is toned down by other additives, but the ehanol content loses its volatility quite quickly, hence you could end up with staler fuel quicker!
So very old petrol may end up fresher than not so old stuff!
Also obviously depends on storage temperature, humidity, and the volume of fuel compared with the surface area exposed to the air.
The "nose" of the petrol, like a wine, can also indicate its vintage- if it smells like old paint then it probably won't even burn with a match!

[morris van]

I used to have an A35 van that had been stored for 16 years without being started and all I did is clean the fuel pump and the van started first time and ran perfectly with 16 year old petrol.I also got a generator today which has stood in the for over 20 years and it started with the 20 year old petrol which was still in the tank.

[RogerRust]

I'm starting to worry about ethanol in modern fuel - could be 10 % next year. The problem is that the ethanol absorbs water and then you get corrosion. I'm thinking of putting something in to stabilise the fuel. A few of the more reputable companies have introduced products for this problem.

I guess what I'm saying is 10 year old fuel may be OK but 2011 petrol with ethanol may not be.