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how long can gas sit for in your tank?
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Posted by: cyba888

any idea how long it can sit in your tank for? Mine has been sitting for 4 months with gas still inside

Posted by: Jumbo747

4 months is way too long...i change mine if its been longer then a month

Posted by: fast4Exr

my uncle rufus has a (1972) 55- gallon drum of 84 octane in his garage.it's the best gas i've ever used in my quad, i just ad a little water.........

Posted by: cals400ex

quote:
Originally posted by fast4Exr
my uncle rufus has a (1972) 55- gallon drum of 84 octane in his garage.it's the best gas i've ever used in my quad, i just ad a little water.........

Posted by: roostin_dale

I let gas sit for about 6 months and it was ok, but I had stabilizer in it...

Posted by: dsheola

it should be fine... if not there's additive you can add

Posted by: JDiablo

quote:
Originally posted by fast4Exr
my uncle rufus has a (1972) 55- gallon drum of 84 octane in his garage.it's the best gas i've ever used in my quad, i just ad a little water.........

wtf water>and yea i heard is stays longer in a metal can then plastic,but i always add this crap called stabil to all my gasoline add a lil bit to your gas tank on your quad and it will be good,not to much tho,a oz is for 5 gallons,so i just put in a couple drops

Posted by: Jumbo747

add some jet fuel dude...just a couple drops

Posted by: RoadkillerRyan

hey why dont we just cake it off with a cherry or somthin
why yaall added water and jet fuel i doubt its going make its any better but i dont know alot

Posted by: JDiablo

doesn't take that much of a genious to know that you don't add water to gas

Posted by: XANDADA

I always hear a lot of guys say that gas looses its octane or whatever after a week or two but I kinda think thats BS. I know a bunch of guys who race cars and buy a couple of 55 gallon drums of race gas at the begining of the season and use it over a six month period with no problems. These are guys with highly modified $60,000+ full race cars. Also, next time you go to buy some race gas, ask the guy when the last time the tank in the ground was refilled. The couple times I asked the guy he said at least 6 months ago. My opinion is if its stored properly in an airtight can it will be fine for a long time. I just wouldn't leave it sitting in your quads gas tank and carb for more than a month though...JMO

Posted by: balls2da-wall

Ive never heard of gas loosing octane...but i have heard of it loosing volticity(or some word like that), which means the ability to ignite!

Posted by: Meeso

I am looking into long-term storage for my bikes due to a possible over-seas military move, and here is some of the info I have gotten on the subject since I have been looking into it.
For plastic tanks, you should not have problems storing fuel for a long time, but use the Stabilizer (before) you let it sit. The stabilizer help the fuel from breaking down--it doesn't miraculously bring "bad gas" back from the dead.
For Metal tanks (or the 55 gal. drum folks) the amount in the tank matters since only the top layer is probably exposed to the atmosphere, if a gallon or so goes bad it is a relatively small percent of the total......especially in terms of the Gas Station's underground tank.
If you plan to let it sit for a long time in a metal tank it is better to fill the tank as full as possible after adding the stabilizer so that condesation does not form too much on the inside of the tank when the air inside the tank cools. Otherwise you might have a problem with water in your fuel system before the gas goes bad on you.
either way, if you are only talking about a gallon or two, you might just want to bite the bullet, and drain the tank and start fresh for a better piece of mind.
Hope this helps!

Posted by: JOEX

quote:
Originally posted by Meeso
.....either way, if you are only talking about a gallon or two, you might just want to bite the bullet, and drain the tank and start fresh for a better piece of mind.
Hope this helps!

I think that's the best way to go, drain the carb too. Put the gas in your car and you lose nothing

Posted by: TRX450R2

Good advice Meeso

Posted by: Scott-300ex

i don't know if this has anything to do with anything but 2-stroke racing fuel is the best smelling stuff in the world. when we go to the park we ride at if i smell it, i follow the fool who runs it.

also, i rebuilt my grandpa's moped, gas sat in it for 7 years. i had gas that got hard, the carberator was caked with it the gas tank was hell, i pulled out solid gas, i also got a 3 inch by 1/2 inch "straw" looking thing out of the gas tank to petcock, and it was gas, and ahh man that gas smelt sooooooooooooooooo bad

Posted by: TheFontMaster

I'm kinda qurious about the jet fuel thing.

Posted by: thame2010

how do I EXACTLY drain my carb

Posted by: JOEX

quote:
Originally posted by thame2010
how do I EXACTLY drain my carb

There is a bolt on the bottom of the bowl, I think it's a 17mm.

Posted by: plkmonster2

There is also a flat head screw on the left side. Put a container under the hose, and unscrew it about 2 turns. Let all the gas come out. The I would take off the 17mm cap to get the last little bit out. If you just take off the cap before drainign most of it out, it creates a mess, and gets all over your arm.

Also, make sure you turn off your gas before you start to drain. Yes, I have done it! (Geeze, how much gas does this carb hold? D'oH!)

Oh yeah, anyone heard of putting a moth ball in your tank? It was on myth busters not to long ago. They said the car was much quicker...

Posted by: TheFontMaster

Actualy it wasn't proven faster cause the engine wasn't in the car. But they said that the engine sounded like it was making more power with the mothballs, almost like it raised the octaine of the gas. I wouldn't try it in your quad unles it's and old one or if your going to rebuild it soon, just in case.

Posted by: plkmonster2

Yeah, I had no intentions of trying it. Just wanted to see if anyone has, lol. I might try it in an old quadsport.... hehe.

Posted by: TheFontMaster

It would be interesting to give it a try though.

Posted by: plkmonster2

Yeah, yeah, it would be very interesting.

Muhaha..... I should try it sometime though... Gotta go to wal-mart! Need mothballs! lol

Posted by: JOEX

quote:
Originally posted by plkmonster2
Yeah, yeah, it would be very interesting. Muhaha..... I should try it sometime though... Gotta go to wal-mart! Need mothballs! lol

Why go to Wal-Mart? Just turn on the porch light

Posted by: JR3

people say that dry gas raises ur octane amd i heard that mothbal thing to ill try it in my moped

Posted by: JR3

quote:
Originally posted by Scott-300ex
i don't know if this has anything to do with anything but 2-stroke racing fuel is the best smelling stuff in the world. when we go to the park we ride at if i smell it, i follow the fool who runs it.

also, i rebuilt my grandpa's moped, gas sat in it for 7 years. i had gas that got hard, the carberator was caked with it the gas tank was hell, i pulled out solid gas, i also got a 3 inch by 1/2 inch "straw" looking thing out of the gas tank to petcock, and it was gas, and ahh man that gas smelt sooooooooooooooooo bad

2 strokes do smell good a guy on our team has a cr250 completely done by rrp bored suspension the whole 9 yards and he has to run like 113 and he mixes this oil with it man that smells good im also in a sprint car pit crew we run airplane fule in the sprint car that doesnty smell half bad either

Posted by: sharkinthepool

It’s not the tank you need be worried about!!! You need to worry about the carb.

If it shellacs in there it can cause some major headaches!

Posted by: LTZ400rider

the best 2 stroke oil smell is klotz benol. u can smell that **** from a mile away. it has like bean oil in it

Posted by: Fortman_400

ok, first things first,
gasoline breaks down its chemical form after time, due mainly to oxygen in the atmosphere.

the best way to prevent the breakdown is a stabilizer like "stabil", works great.

also a way to tell if ur gas is bad yet or not is that if it has turned bad, it should smell more like paint thinner than normal gas. Once it has done this the best thing to do is drain out all of the gas and remove it, or add it to alot of good gas yet, to thin it out.

and old gas esp. in the carb would definately tarnish some of the metal in the carb.

and about that mothball thing,, we've proved it in our lab out at school last year that yea ur engine will run great,,, for a couple of minutes,, until u blow a hole directly through ur piston!!!! its just as bad as running alot of starting fluid mixed with ur gasoline.

Posted by: Scott-300ex

quote:
Originally posted by JOEX
Why go to Wal-Mart? Just turn on the porch light

wow, i laughed hard, that was funny, and to JR3, i didn't know sprint cars ran airplane fuel, thats cool. those guys are crazy, they are on the gas the whole time and its like they get on it harder going INTO the turns when your supposed to let off, its like,..................w....o......hhhhhhhhhhh, awsome, they must have balls as big as basketballs, they're crazy

Posted by: LTandRaptorider

quote:
Originally posted by JOEX
Why go to Wal-Mart? Just turn on the porch light

and for people that say they don't like the way moth balls smell... I always wondered how they got their little legs apart!

btw joe... I took your advice, drained the gas out of my LT and put in my truck. But now it smokes like a mofo...

Posted by: JOEX

quote:
Originally posted by LTandRaptorider
and for people that say they don't like the way moth balls smell... I always wondered how they got their little legs apart!

btw joe... I took your advice, drained the gas out of my LT and put in my truck. But now it smokes like a mofo...

DOH!

Posted by: chucked

quote:
Originally posted by TheFontMaster
Actualy it wasn't proven faster cause the engine wasn't in the car. But they said that the engine sounded like it was making more power with the mothballs, almost like it raised the octaine of the gas. I wouldn't try it in your quad unles it's and old one or if your going to rebuild it soon, just in case.

time to give mythbusters a call...

Posted by: plkmonster2

Lol, not to break your bubble, but that is what we were talkign about, lol.

Posted by: S2P

I don't know if it hurts anything, but i always just turn off the gas and run it till it stops. Why mess with all those screws and get gas all over the place. Works on the quad,mower and weedwacker at the end of the summer. I just put in fresh gas in the spring.