How long does it take for petrol to go "off"?

[MITCHAY]

Originally Posted by Joes_meat

I started our old 84 Honda Civic after four years of sitting in one spot. Started first go. Did blow a lot of smoke for the first few minutes though. Ran the same as always.

Ah good old Honda reliability. Starts first time, every time! :

Sort of reminds me of when I went looking for my car. This guy spent $45+k on a new car yet let it sit there for a year or two maybe more!

Blew smoke when he started it and I said "**** that" not to mention general upkeep of it. The clown wanted $30k for a sale. No ******* way!

[merlin]

I've always wondered about this too as I thought it would make a great investment. Say you go out now find the cheapest price you can (say about 99c a litre) then buy $30,000 worth. Store it a silo, then in 5 or 10 years sell it for the going rate (who knows what it would be, I would bet over $2 a litre. Would make a good investment if fuel didnt go off but unfortunatly I have been told this would not work as it would go off within 6 months - even if you put an additive in it would still last 1-2 years max.

[MITCHAY]

Originally Posted by merlin

I've always wondered about this too as I thought it would make a great investment. Say you go out now find the cheapest price you can (say about 99c a litre) then buy $30,000 worth. Store it a silo, then in 5 or 10 years sell it for the going rate (who knows what it would be, I would bet over $2 a litre. Would make a good investment if fuel didnt go off but unfortunatly I have been told this would not work as it would go off within 6 months - even if you put an additive in it would still last 1-2 years max.

Well you could pretty much bet it would be higher than it is now :

[ltd]

Unleaded shouldn't go off, especially since there are specific additives in it to enable it to maintain its properties. As long as you don't get vaporisation in the tank (ie no fuel cap) then it shouldn't go off. Getting condensation on the tank even just a little, can prevent your car starting. This is because water is heavier than fuel and water is goes through the pickup first and as we all know, is not combustable. What we really need are those fuel drain ports as seen on light aircraft that allow you to view the bottom of the tank fuel for debris and water.
Back to the car fuel though, what is a pertinent point is that your car should be run at least once every month to prevent seals from drying; your AC should be run atleast once a month to prevent same and ultimately lose gas.

[MarkAW]

Originally Posted by nicholas

all two stroke motors inc outboards should have petrol shut off and carbs ran dry before being put away

nicholas
I'm not sure if your advising people to run the 2 stroke out of fuel by turning off the fuel and allowing the motor to die by fuel starvation. If this is the case then thats the best way to ruin a 2 stroke. Note this does not apply to 2 stroke iol injection usied in the larger outboard systems. They can be safely starved of fuel.

These engines rely on the oil to the bearings and cylinder wall being supplied by the fuel vapour but if the motor is spinning without fuel like I suspect your recommending then the motor is moving without lubrication.

If your worried about leaving fuel in the carby, then drain the bowl. Generally turning the fuel off and a few seconds later turning the motor off using the engine stop is the best way to stop a 2 stroke.

[MarkAW]

Originally Posted by woodsy109

I can guarantee that they don't deliver "warm fuel". About a year and a half ago BP started taking into account temperature when selling fuel to servos

You need to go back and talk to someone at BP.

I purchase hundreds of thousands of litres each week from Shell (BP even under state contract is too expensive).

1. Fuel is sold hot, usually just below the ambient air temp of the day - todays temp is expected to be in the mid thirties, in-ground tank temp at my Homebush site is 23.86 degrees. This wont vary much from night to day maybe a degree or two but may get as low as about 14 degrees in mid winter. On a tri ax tanker load approx 32kL I'll loose about 400 litres of fuel.

2. The application of temperature compensation to fuel deliveries (L15 delivery) only applies to retail outlets. It doesn't apply commercial purchases. The use of L15 has been in place for at least 10 years. Non temp compensated fuel is less expensive - 1.23 cents per litre (todays price) to take into account the loss.

[Tote]

I was involed with a service club in the mid nineties that was working with communities in the islands north of New Guinea. The people there were running their vehicles on fuel left in US fuel dumps at the end of WW II.

Regards,
Tote

[Cooper69S]

when i had my cooper s it was off the road for 9 months while i was doing up the engine. when we came to fire it up it wouldn't start - tried for ages but no way was it going to fire. i was thinking there was a problem with the s/h weber carby i'd bought for it, but the next day when we tried some fresh fuel it fired straight away - i'd never heard of fuel going stale before then - was BP ultimate...

[Sledgehammer]

Originally Posted by Tote

I was involed with a service club in the mid nineties that was working with communities in the islands north of New Guinea. The people there were running their vehicles on fuel left in US fuel dumps at the end of WW II.

Regards,
Tote

Diesel?

[Piotr]

According to Shell Australia’s Technical Advice Centre Manager, Warren Scott, you can generally store fuel in a sealed container for around six months before it starts to deteriorate. This assumes it’s kept relatively cool and away from direct sunlight.

"Gary Whitfield, Senior Fuel Chemist at BP Australia, says that in the right conditions, fuel can last up to 12 months. But once the container is opened, the fuel will start to degrade."

Mr Whitfield claims fuel in a car’s tank can last for up to four weeks before it becomes considerably denser. When this happens, the engine is effectively over-fuelled (without any change in injector pulse-width) and there’s an increased chance of carbon deposition onto spark plugs and inside the combustion chamber. This can cause driveability problems such as stutters and misses.

“Regular unleaded fuel will lose a small amount of octane over time but in our low-sulphur and high detergent Ultimate fuel it might increase very slightly. It might increase 1 RON in four weeks – but it’s not something I’d bother chasing,” he says. This one is interesting

Quoted taken from http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_3051/article.html

[xr8 007]

Hey Casper,

If you need someone to keep the car running here and there so the fuel doesnt go off and the motor isnt left sitting there I"M YOUR MAN. I'll take it for a little spin here and there. ahahahahahahahahhah :- )

[Casper]

Originally Posted by xr6007

Hey Casper,

If you need someone to keep the car running here and there so the fuel doesnt go off and the motor isnt left sitting there I"M YOUR MAN. I'll take it for a little spin here and there. ahahahahahahahahhah :- )

Mmmmm, thats a great idea!





NOT

[Tote]

Originally Posted by Sledgehammer

Diesel?

AVGAS I believe, the dump was near an old airfield.
regds,
Tote

[Casper]

Problem solved. Burned it all up today till the light came on.. then filled it up with a fresh tank.. which I will try to use faster this time :

For the record, it didn't "feel" any different on the old fuel.

[HLC]

just drive more.

[Joes_meat]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

Ah good old Honda reliability. Starts first time, every time! :

Sort of reminds me of when I went looking for my car. This guy spent $45+k on a new car yet let it sit there for a year or two maybe more!

Blew smoke when he started it and I said "**** that" not to mention general upkeep of it. The clown wanted $30k for a sale. No ******* way!

Actually, it was a pretty reliable car. My dad never serviced it in the 15 years we had it. We drove it with a slipping transmission for 4 years, still driving fine when I sold it. (For $50 to a mate who used it for burnouts.) Lasted another three months. The motor still turns over first go though.