Old Gas question...

[RhainyC]

By now, the gas in my tank is about 4 months old...I hope the truck will be up and running within a couple of weeks, weather permitting the work that needs to be done on the wiring harness.

So my question is what, if anything, do I need to add to the gas in the tank before I start driving her? I plan on changing the fuel filter before we start driving her, and after a full tank or two of gas. Is there anything else, short of draining the tank, which I cannot do, that should be done to be sure the fuel I have in there won't harm the engine?

Sorry for the silly questions, but just call me brain dead these days from stress...

 

[James909]

Short of draining the tank which you said is not an option there's not much else you can do. I think it's a good idea to change the fuel filter and then to do it again after you've ran some fresh gas through it. Maybe consider running some fuel system cleaner through once the truck has fresh gas in it. In the future if you know that the truck is going to be sitting for a little while, the best thing to do is to add some fuel stabilizer.

Edit: I just noticed that you said it will be a few more weeks before the truck is running again. It can't hurt to add a little stabilizer now to prevent the gas from degrading further.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

I think you hav ea few options.

You can add some fuel stabilizer now to prevent future degrading like someone else suggested, and perhaps just run through some good gasoline. Like top it off with the good stuff, run it empty, then fill up again, run empty and repeat a few times till you feel comfortable, then change your fuel filter.

Or, if you don't want to drop the tank to empy it, what about siphoning it out? I don't think these tanks have the prevention built in to prevent it from happening, so you might consider that.

 

[Mickelsons]

4 months old is not that old, fill it up and run it.

 

[rustbucketMI]

i agree 4 months is not that bad. Add fuel stabalizer now, fill the tank with good stuff then run it dry. Drive the piss out of it for the first tank to get as much flow thru the system as fast as possible. 2nd tank run a fuel system cleaner thru it.

Money spent: $10 for cleaner and stablizer + 2 tanks of gas(which you would use anyway)
Time spent: as long as it takes to pump gas

 

[Four0Sport]

when i blew the 4.0 in my 93 it had 3/4 tank in it. it sat for 9-10 months, cant remember, all i did was throw in a bottle of sta-bil and some octane booster and never had any problems with it. ran it through, then filled up with fresh gas, coldnt tell a difference.

 

[Mickelsons]

I have had a vehicle sit for way over a year and just toped the tank off and went, but if you want to spend your money on additives go for it. I am sure they need to make a living also.

 

[RhainyC]

Thanks all for the awesome suggestions. I think I will add some stabilizer, it's not spendy, and then once the poor thing is up and running, do the full tank fresh, along with some injector cleaner and new filters.

I have had gas go bad on me before so I do know that I want to do something to help decrease the chances of problems.

 

[Four0Sport]

ive had gas go bad on me b4 also.. whenever something major happens to one of my vehicles its always right after i filled up the tank. Karma i guess. but the last time this happened it didnt sit nearly as long and ran very poorly, maybe this past time i didnt need the additives, but im sure they didnt hurt.

 

[corkey]

the system is not open to get air, if the cap has been on,
run it and forget it,

 

[mikeinri]

.. whenever something major happens to one of my vehicles its always right after i filled up the tank. QUOTE]

Wow, is that the understatement of a lifetime.

I once put 40 gallons of gas into our old RV, with over 250 miles to get home. Not 5 minutes after getting on the highway, it started sputtering like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Seems the gas got water into it in the tanks at the gas station after a heavy rain. Never thought I'd get home, but we made it. Scared the daylights out of the dog, not to mention anyone who tried to pass us as the exhaust was backfiring!

Anyway, my experience is that old gas doesn't seem to affect my old Explorer too badly. Definitely keep up with your fuel filter on a regular basis, and it can never hurt to have clean injectors (i.e. normal maintenance).

Mike

 

[99XSP]

Every year, I store my "summer car" from November through April or May (yeah, northern Indiana, what do you expect), so for at least 5 to 6 month. After that, the Explorer is sitting till the first snow hits.

I fill up the gas tank to avoid rust building up and that's it. Never ever had any problems with it starting or running in the spring (or winter).

I personally believe that all those additives are only worth it if you store something for much longer times.

Greetings!

 

[Cj02mercurymounty]

Have a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer 4.6 V8 cars been sitting about six maybe seven months do I need an empty out my fuel before I drive or should I drive it empty fill up and then add stabilizer to it

 

[Gadget X]

My 94 sat for 3 years when I first bought my house. It had a half-tank of gas in it when I parked it, and 3 years later, all I did was put in a battery and fire it up! Never saw any issues with the "old" gas, but I do always run 93 octane in it.

 

[Cj02mercurymounty]

My 94 sat for 3 years when I first bought my house. It had a half-tank of gas in it when I parked it, and 3 years later, all I did was put in a battery and fire it up! Never saw any issues with the "old" gas, but I do always run 93 octane in it.

im running 87 and i have just under 3 qtr of a tank