Can Gas go bad?

[LoudmouthMormon]

I'm not in the habit of getting good information from CNN, but they did seem to try hard on this piece.

Can gas really go bad? (http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/04/09/aa.bad.gas/index.html)

[Cowboy]

Yes it is true. I use Sta-Bil gas treatment in all my vehicles that sit over the wintertime. Also all my gas storage has it added as well.

[bokbadok]

I disagree. My father, a mechanic (so I trust his opinion) assures me that if gasoline cannot evaporate, it will not "go bad". If it is stored in a container that is capped and full, there is no evaporation--hence, the gas would not go bad. Even in the tank of your car - the gas will evaporate only to a certain point into the available airspace, and then no farther, unless the gas cap is off the tank.

A "self venting" gas can probably does allow evaporation and so you may need to use a stabilizer in that type of container.

I store all my small engines (lawnmower, tiller, etc) with the tanks completely full without any stabilizer all winter long (5-6 months), and they start up just fine in the spring.

[Cowboy]

Gas will last for at least a year before it starts to weaken. So 5 or 6 months is OK. If you want to store it more than a year you will need a stablizer.

[LoudmouthMormon]

My father, a mechanic (so I trust his opinion) assures me that if gasoline cannot evaporate, it will not "go bad".I believe him. Trouble is, all of my plastic gas cans are designed to 'breathe' with the temperature changes, as gasoline expands and contracts.

And with yearly highs in the 90's, and lows in the -10's, any kind of gas I store dang well better be able to breathe or else it will crack whatever it's sitting in.

I'm sure you can get pressurized gas cans (you can get anything with enough $$), but right now, I just swap out the gas every General Conference. No stabalizer, cheapo Walmart 5-gal gas cans.

LM

[BackBlast]

I disagree. My father, a mechanic (so I trust his opinion) assures me that if gasoline cannot evaporate, it will not "go bad". If it is stored in a container that is capped and full, there is no evaporation--hence, the gas would not go bad. Even in the tank of your car - the gas will evaporate only to a certain point into the available airspace, and then no farther, unless the gas cap is off the tank.

A "self venting" gas can probably does allow evaporation and so you may need to use a stabilizer in that type of container.

I store all my small engines (lawnmower, tiller, etc) with the tanks completely full without any stabilizer all winter long (5-6 months), and they start up just fine in the spring.


What happens is the gasoline varnishes and eventually starts to grow critters in it, some kind of bacteria or algae. If the gas is old enough you have to use some kind of pesticide in it, it *can* be treated and used but you're asking for trouble if you simply try and burn it.

You use a stabilizer like Sta-bil or Pri-G (my preference) to keep it from varnishing and to keep the growth at bay. 6 month old gas is marginal - if it's going to see any longer than 3 months use the stabilizer.

Brandon