[cloudwalker]

Some store their car for several months at a time and the batteries are often talked about. But gasoline going bad is rarely mentioned. The question "how long is gas good "? is a common discussion. I have used gas that is several years old many times with no problems, but everywhere I read that is good for as little as 1 month. It sounds like people are trying to blame something else for engine problems to me. What is everyone's experience? Would you buy a car or something else that had not been run for a year?

 

[Carbuff2]

6 months to a year won't hurt anything IMO.

Even ethanol-laced gasoline should be good for that length of time.




DEVIL'S ADVOCATE: How about those tires???

 

[spacewrangler]

I suggest adding Sta-Bil and storing with a full tank for extended storage. I had a seldom used SUV that I did this with for 11 years, no problems.

 

[HRVSummoner]

The reason I heard for the one month time period is that you may end up with sediment settling at the bottom of the tank, and it could potentially clog your fuel line. Not so much of an issue now as it was in The Good Ol' Days [TM]. More recently I have heard that gas should be good for around 6 months, but I don't have any evidence to back that up.

 

[TwoWheelsDown]

I stored my HR-V for about 5 months. Only things I did to prep it was to fill the gas tank full, and I removed the battery. I charged the battery on a wall charger then reinstalled it in the HR-V, but left it disconnected. Five months later, she fired up like the day she was parked. I drove the car until the gas light turned on, then filled the tank to full. HR-V has been my daily as of lately, but it'll be parked for storage again soon.

I think a not-insignificant part of the storage life of gasoline involves temperature fluctuation. If it goes from below freezing to blistering hot, that's a great way for condensation to form in the gas tank. I've used gasoline that was a year old (and this is California E10 gasoline) with no ill effects, but it was stored in an insulated garage with maybe a 30F degree temperature variation (lows of 60F and highs of 90F).