How Long Does Stored Petrol Last?

[E55BOF]

I ask because I filled up the bike from my jerrycan yesterday, set off, and a couple of hundred yards from home cough...splutter...splutter... silence. Plenty of churning on the starter, but still silence.

I syphoned out as much as I could from the tank today, put in six litres of fresh 95 octane, and after a bit of churning to clear the lines, it fired up and after a little spitting and coughing ran normally.

I don't know how long the fuel had been in the can, but it smelt and tasted the same as I recall from the last time I did any syphoning...

And a second question; how do I dispose of about 25-30 litres of petrol that has gone off? I don't have anything else petrol-driven, like a lawnmower, so that's out.

 

[BigJase88]

3 months

After 6 months yer struggling

 

[Bortig]

Maybe you council tip, they do oil, as regards the taste I'll leave that with you, yuk.

 

[StMarks]

Now it has such a high percentage of ethanol, it seems to have a much shorter shelf life.
In an open system (vented motorcycle fuel tank) if it is stored in an location that can be damp, it can absorb water from the atmosphere & that's what does the harm.
Fwiw I leave my Motorcycle fuel tank brimmed with Shell V-Power to try to avoid these issues when it's stored.

 

[E55BOF]

Interesting. The bike had stood unused, with half a tank in it, for about six months until a month ago, when I filled up with fresh fuel, and I had no problems.

 

[E55BOF]

Double post- deleted.

 

[markjay]

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

This has been an issue for low mileage plug in hybrids. If they’re just run on electricity, owners are advised to keep the petrol level low so that it gets used up within the year.

That said, if you’ve ever seen Sherry being made, you’ll wonder how petrol can ever be “fresh” because we just keep topping up and then old and new just swirl around in the tank. (Sherry’s made in great kegs which are partially drained each year, then topped up with new)

 

[Bellow]

In car systems (sealed) petrol is pretty long-lived. I'll be firing up my motor this afternoon on fuel from early 2020.
Not so good in unsealed where the more volatile elements (required for cold starts) can flash off. Note, it's the cold starting and running that is affected - not the fuel's octane. It should be safe to introduce a gallon at a time into a near full tank in your car without incident to get rid of it.

FWIW, the parameter that applies is the Reid Vapour Pressure and paradoxically given ethanol is less volatile than petrol, its addition to petrol causes the petrol to be more prone to the evaporative loss of the volatile elements.

 

[Petrol Pete]

A mate of mine has an old Yamaha XJR 1300 with carburettors , he is a numskull and despite being told to drain his tank and carburettors prior to leaving his bike stand for almost a year , he thought he knew best.

After trying to start it recently it went off in the back of a van and the carburettors are being overhauled/re built as we speak . There are many 'winter fuel stabilisers' out there but in my mind draining it all out is best , or , running it often.

 

[Benzowner]

I run a petrol lawnmower and often keep petrol from one year to the next, never had any problems, but I do wonder whether shaking the can walking from the shed to the mower helps

 

[st13phil]

The bike had stood unused, with half a tank in it, for about six months until a month ago, when I filled up with fresh fuel, and I had no problems.

Higher ethanol content fuels do "go off" quite quickly (and have other issues such as moisture absorption).

I frequent a particular motorcycle forum that is quite US-centric, and they've had to deal with high ethanol-content fuels for a number of years plus many riders lay up their bikes for the winter months. Almost without exception, they use Sta-Bil products to avoid the fuel in the bike "going off" with very good results.

 

[ALFAitalia]

6 months sounds a bit pessimistic......I've had bikes stood still for years and a car or two that were projects awaiting completion. They all ran fine when started....the only thing I noticed was a different exhaust smell. That said as soon as they were driving I filled them up to dilute the old stuff. I'm sure they wont run 100% perfect on old fuel....but they will run.

 

[HappytalkAgain]

Spooky seeing this thread.

With all the talk of possible power cuts this winter I thought it was a good idea to see if my ole Honda genny would be good-to-go should the worse happen.

It took a good few attempts but it eventually fired up all the same. Can’t honestly remember when I last put petrol in it. Must be at least 18 months.

I plan to install an isolation switch to the combi so at least we’ll have heating & hot water.

 

[HappytalkAgain]

……….but I do wonder whether shaking the can walking from the shed to the mower helps

Reminded me of the Orangina advert: ‘Shake the bottle, wake the drink!’

 

[Swotty]

Spooky seeing this thread.

With all the talk of possible power cuts this winter I thought it was a good idea to see if my ole Honda genny would be good-to-go should the worse happen.

It took a good few attempts but it eventually fired up all the same. Can’t honestly remember when I last put petrol in it. Must be at least 18 months.

I plan to install an isolation switch to the combi so at least we’ll have heating & hot water.

+1

Genny was filled with 95 RON 2 years ago and started fine last year (no need to use it) and fine again yesterday.

The Corvette was filled up with 98 RON over a year ago. Apart from problems with the fuel pump - now changed - she starts first time, every time and there's half a tank left.

Sadly the hedgetrimmer - unused for 10 years - refused to start today.

 

[Phil1968]

In my bikes I use Briggs & Stratton "Fuel Fit" intended for lawnmowers that sit over the Winter months, as anything with "motorcycle" on the label tends to give them a licence to print money. It does the same as Stabil etc. I have two fuel injected bikes, one is 38 years old, the other 15, both start up & run fine after a lay up with the Fuel Fit. Maybe your fuel absorbed water over time due to the ethanol content, the modern stuff does lose it's ability to combust in an engine if stored over more prolonged periods too. There is an old school trick of adding methylated spirits to water logged petrol that then allows the water to mix with the fuel & then allowing the engine to burn it.

 

[Bellow]

There is an old school trick of adding methylated spirits to water logged petrol that then allows the water to mix with the fuel & then allowing the engine to burn it.

Something I was reading yesterday threw up that methylated spirits is 90% ethanol, 2% methanol and 8% water. Neat ethanol would get the job done then were it available and without adding any more water.

 

[roviw1]

Spooky seeing this thread.

With all the talk of possible power cuts this winter I thought it was a good idea to see if my ole Honda genny would be good-to-go should the worse happen.

It took a good few attempts but it eventually fired up all the same. Can’t honestly remember when I last put petrol in it. Must be at least 18 months.

I plan to install an isolation switch to the combi so at least we’ll have heating & hot water.

A couple of years ago , for a friend, I changed his switched fuse spur that isolated his boiler programmer and the system for a single ordinary 13a socket. Then on the lead from the original spur to the programmer I fitted a normal 13a plug, I cannot remember whether or not we downgraded the fuse in the plug but if you look in the original switched fuse spur then just use the same rated fuse that the spur used, then plugged it back in.
In the event of a power cut all he would then need to do would be to unplug the lead and plug it into his generator via an extension lead.
His boiler was actually in an outhouse but it could still be done if the boiler isolator spur was indoors and the extension lead could be run through and outdoors to the generator.
As a side note you maybe ought to get a sparky to do the job if you are at all not absolutely sure you know what you are doing.

I am waiting for a sparky right now to fit a proper changeover switch unit to my place ready for any issues if I need to connect my Inverter generator in the event of power cuts.

 

[E55BOF]

Thread Hijack Alert...

Back to the subject of the thread?

In car systems (sealed) petrol is pretty long-lived. I'll be firing up my motor this afternoon on fuel from early 2020.
Not so good in unsealed where the more volatile elements (required for cold starts) can flash off. Note, it's the cold starting and running that is affected - not the fuel's octane. It should be safe to introduce a gallon at a time into a near full tank in your car without incident to get rid of it.

FWIW, the parameter that applies is the Reid Vapour Pressure and paradoxically given ethanol is less volatile than petrol, its addition to petrol causes the petrol to be more prone to the evaporative loss of the volatile elements.

I won't be putting the stale stuff in either of the AMGs, and I only use at most about eighty litres a year in the FJR nowadays, so most of it will have to be disposed of. My local tip will take five litres at a time, so no problem actually doing that.