Stale petrol......

Seems life is about 6 months but that's in a sealed container.
Octane rating is dropping after a few weeks.

AutoSpeed - The Life of Fuel

Not sure that octane rating has any effect. Interesting that some brands were felt to be better for storage.


Colin

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gromit

Can't afford to have loads of Land Rovers sitting around with full fuel tanks so I think I might drop the contents, leave the tank vented and switch to a temporary tank when I want to move it around the property.
Once it gets back on the road I can re-connect the tank.


Colin

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In that case the best thing you can do is drain and air dry the tank then split the pick up line with a union fittig.

grab an outboard tank and mod a primer line to fit the union or braize a pick up onto a jerry pourig neck and use that for your shuttlig and routine runups.

Got a reply from BP Technical Dept.

The attached provided information of fuel storage life, the copper in the carburettors and lines reacts with sulphur in the petrol to form the gums so use a low sulphur petrol like 95 octane or 98 octane.

A fuel conditioner such as used for outboards can be used and then add fresh fuel before you use the engine.

For cleaning out the gums a mix of Toluene, acetone and methanol or methylated spirits works, the ratio is 40% toluene with 30% acetone and 30% methanol.


I've been trying Acetone with limited success, looks like I need to add some Toluene & metho.
The fuel pickup was almost completely blocked with resin/gum, just need to clean the resin from the tank, de-rust & seal.....


Colin

The fuel issue is annoying and when it turns to varnish like gum in the carby etc it is a pain to clean out. Recently had this happen to one of our Honda stationary engines that had been sitting for some time. Interestingly a two stroke outboard that had been sitting for several years fired straight up when I tried it. Maybe there is something in two stroke oil that preserves the fuel and prevents gumming! Cheers, Mick.

Picked up some Toluene today so I'll have to make a brew and try it.
I'm guessing but it's probably 'carby cleaner' I'm making but in a larger quantity (and cheaper).

Mick, interesting with the two stroke situation......


Checked another couple of vehicles and if they don't get a run soon I'll be draining the fuel system and using a plastic bottle for the occasional run up.



Colin

If I have fuel sitting around eg for the generator I try to buy 98. Based on seasonal experience where the mowers don't get used for around 6 months. :cool: