last Autumns petrol

[chrissd330]

I mixed some 2 stroke petrol last Autumn,its still in the tank,is it ok to use now,or should I mix some fresh? I can put it in my old 4 stroke lawnmower (might smoke a bit.)

[spartacus]

You're safe enough. Top up with fresh fuel if you can. You're likely to foul the plug on your 4-stroke lawnmower with pre-mix. I do that all the time!

[chrissd330]

Thanks Spartacus ,should I mix spare cans of fuel before a trip ,or at sea,as I don't want to take mixed fuel home,straight petrol for lawn mower.

[HDAV]

I've done it just top the can off with fresh add the correct amount of oil and give it a good shake........

[hymerbeliever]

The guy at the lawnmower place is always telling me never to use old fuel but I have never had a problem even with 2 stroke. I once put 10 litres of 100:1 in my daughter's Fiat 500 and it ran fine...no smoke at all!

[kaman]

I was at my local outboard service shop last week and an old boy was in with his Honda outboard 8hp I think.
I overheard the mechanic telling him to avoid using fuel over a month old and if at all possible avoid supermarket and budget petrol as there is more "bio products in them".
I thought that it was just diesel that had environmentally friendly sourced products in it???
Anyhow I tend to chuck my old petrol into my motorbike and top up the outboard tanks and keep them relatively fresh.

[Fenlander]

Like others I've never had old fuel cause a no-start or faulty running... even up to a year or more old. But I do give a nod towards the spirits of the sea by diluting with fresh fuel (if the tank was full taking some into the mower can to allow room to add new).

It's much easier now I run a 4-stroke as after a run I "sell" surplus fuel to the daughter for her car and use fresh for each trip.

The "bio" product the guy refers to is ethanol which is already at about 5% in most standard unleaded but the EU has decreed it will be at 10% by 2020. At 10% it could well cause issues with older engines not designed for it.

He is/was right that the premium unleaded didn't have ethanol added but I'm assuming that will change as we move to the 2020 deadline. I need to look into this as I'd wondered about changing to premium unlead for the Suzuki.

The potential problems with high percentages of ethanol are corrosion particularly of brass and alloy carb parts, high solvency damaging rubber hoses and seals plus causing deposits in small carb passages/jets, potential for harder starting both hot (vapour lock) and cold!

[jeffstevens763@g]

off of the BP site
Petrol in sealed containers
The storage life of petrol is one year when stored under shelter in a sealed container. Once a seal is broken the fuel has a
storage life of six months at 20°C or three months at 30°C.
i have the full pdf but i guess it will time out before download
cheers

[jeffstevens763@g]

try this

[Fenlander]

That download is interesting Jeff and supports the view that the BP Ultimate (and I assume other brand premium fuels) is more suited to intermittently used engines. I must investigate the ethanol issue more.

I have found a statement from BP in response to an enquiry autumn 2015...

Bioethanol is increasingly present in the UK’s super-unleaded (premium/higher octane) petrol too; this is because, in compliance with the UK government’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, fuel suppliers have been required to increase the quantity of bio fuels in their transport fuels since 2008. As a consequence, the inclusion of bioethanol in our BP Ultimate Unleaded supply chain is an evolving situation and we are therefore unable to give you categorical assurances as to its absence or presence. However we can assure you that – as required by the The Motor Fuel (Composition and Content) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 – the content of bioethanol in our BP Ultimate Unleaded gasoline will never be more than 5% by volume until 1st January 2017 at the earliest.

[jeffstevens763@g]

have a look at this david cheers

[jeffstevens763@g]

basically fill up with a third of new fuel or add stabilizer and use BP ultimate or similar simple's.

[diver 1]

Send me a minimum of a 20 litre sample and I can offer a free testing service for you ;-)