Yea or Nay on Replacing the Gas

[langski93]

45 gallons of 2 year old gasoline in my 85 gallon capacity Adventure 208 tank. Do I top off and run it out or syphon and start fresh?
I appreciate any and all feedback. langski93

 

[Daman858]

Had the same issue back in 2006 when I bought my boat that had sat for two years. I filled the tank and put in some Ring Free and some StarTron and it was good to go. What engine do you have?

 

[seasick]

I would feel more comfortable if the gas had a stabilized added prior to storage. I would not add new gas right now. If you wnat to try the existing and it turns out it is bad, you will be wasting the new gas. Assuming there is no water intrusion and some stabilizer was added, I would give it a try. If it runs well, then add fresh gas. Check/replace filters after the trial just incase some gunk got picked up.
The gas filler vent arrangement on those boats does a pretty good job of 'sealing the tank' Yes, it does vent but there is very little air flow when sitting and if the O-ring is good, no rain water will enter the vent.

 

[max366]

I just went through this on a boat I bought that sat unused for about 18 months. The issue wasn't the gas in the fuel tank, which was stabilized and went through new 10 micron Racors, it was the old gas sitting in the VST tank for the period. The old gas made sediment which plugged the little VST filter. The engines would not run above about 1200 RPM. Cleaned the VST tank and replaced all the internal filters- probelm solved. My engines are F225, 2004 vintage, so this may not be an issue for you, but be aware of the old gas in the engine!

 

[bayrat]

I would feel better if you said that the tank was FULL for the 2 years that it sat. Half full leaves a lot of room for condensation IMO. I think it boils down to doing what seasick recommended or draining the tank as I wouldn't just add gas and go for it. If its a fairly new engine w/ injectors etc the result of a lot of crud getting in there outweighs the pain of siphoning 45 gals. Also, the VST tank issue that was mentioned is a concern. You don't mention whether or not it was stabilized. If it wasn't or you're not sure, you KNOW what you have to do.
good luck

 

[Tucker]

What color's the gas? If it's orange it's shot. If it's yellow your good?

 

[langski93]

Thanks for replies. The motor is a Yam 200 hp 1999 OX66. The gas was stabilized. Does it make a difference on gas that old?

Langski93

 

[bayrat]

Q: How long will STA-BIL Fuel Stabilizer keep fuel fresh?
A:
STA-BIL® Fuel Stabilizer will keep fuel fresh for up to 12 months, guaranteed. Depending on the quality, type and
source of the gasoline, as well as storage conditions, doubling the dosage rate of STA-BIL could prolong this storage
time to up to 2 years. However, any gasoline stored for more than 12 months will tend to lose volatility (ignitability),
which could lead to hard starting or no start conditions after this long storage period. NO additive, STA-BIL included,
will prevent volatility loss in fuel. To reduce fuel volatility loss during storage, we recommend filling your tank at least
95% fulll with fresh fuel and STA-BIL, and store in cool conditions away from direct sunlight if possible.
If you forget to stabilize your fuel prior to storage and do experience problems starting your equipment after storage,
we recommend trying our StartYourEngines! Fuel System Revitalizer product.

 

[gradydriver]

Bayrat...you're dreamin' wake up....If you have ethanol gas and didn't use the ethanol Sta-Bil that gas is shot...even Sta-Bil knows the red formula does not do good with ethanol that's why they came out with the green Sta-bil...drain the tank or you'll be sorry....you're already going to be sorry because the whole fuel system will have to be gone through....2 year old gas isn't gas anymore.

 

[bayrat]

Bayrat...you're dreamin' wake up....If you have ethanol gas and didn't use the ethanol Sta-Bil that gas is shot...even Sta-Bil knows the red formula does not do good with ethanol that's why they came out with the green Sta-bil...drain the tank or you'll be sorry....you're already going to be sorry because the whole fuel system will have to be gone through....2 year old gas isn't gas anymore.

First of all, Im NOT the original poster with the problem.
Second, the original poster asked how long stabilized gas is good for. I simply responded by giving him Stabils claims..not mine.
Seems that you might be a little sleepy yourself

 

[aa331]

Assuming the boat has not been run for 2 years, I would not only get rid of the gas, but have the tank cleaned, check the hoses, replace all filters, impeller, etc. etc. Will probably save you months of headaches.

 

[langski93]

More On Yea or Nay on Replacing the Gas

Keep working with me here guys. This is all good. Aa331, all has been done except the tank cleaning. If I do drain the tank how do I "clean" it? Has anyone had experience removing the sending unit. Grady dealer service desk told me it was easy. Said I should replace gasket as long as sending unit was off and then sold me a gasket. Is this thing made like a Swiss watch once I remove 5 screws? Do parts go in every direction and I need special tools and 3 hands? Just asking as I am reasonably handy but hate to take in my repairs to be repaired.

 

[Tucker]

No big deal removing sending unit. Unplug connector and loosen ground. Should be about 6-screws and the sending unit comes right out. Be carefull removing and you won't have to replace the gasket. Also, the hole pattern is not semetric, mark When installing don't tighten the screws too tight or you'll distort the rubber gasket. I raised the boat high in the front with the trailer jack and used 3/8" X about 12' long clear tubing from Home Depot. I bent a coat hanger to hold the end of the hose and directed the hose end towards the rear of the tanks. I got just about everything out, didn't bother cleaning the tanks. Replace the filter with a 2-micron Racor. Disconnect the fuel line at the motor fuel filter and hand pump with the bulb about 1/2 gal into a a clear container to be sure you got all the bad gas out and you should be good to go. I'd replace the filter after the first tank full.
You might want to pull the VST and take a peek at the screen on the bottom of the HP fuel pump.

 

[grady23]

If you have an Aux tank, make sure which end of the tank the pick-up is in. For some stupid reason, mine has the pick-up in the front, not the rear as in the main tank. Grady tried to tell me it was to prevent picking up trash in the tank. If that's the case then the main tank pick up is installed wrong. I found it necessary to lower the bow as far as possible to get all the old fuel out. I used an electric fuel pump to speed up the process.
Don't kid yourself --- 2 yr old gas is TRASH -- PERIOD! I had the same situation where my boat had sit for 23 months with the gas in it. I tried to short-cut everything and it was a waste of time and money. Instead of only having to remove and clean the the carbs once -- I had to do it 4 times. Do yourself a favor both time and money wise and drain and clean out the fuel lines before you waste money adding new fuel to old fuel, get rid of the old stuff --- You'll be glad you did.
One of the other major issues with old fuel is the loss of octane and resulting engine damage.

 

[Tucker]

Yep, trying to save old gas is pissin' in the wind. It'll never work. Does everyone flush old gas out of their tank cross-over line? This is the emergency line that lets you use gas from either tank. Yep, I cleaned the tanks and cleaned the carbs had the motors were purring real nice and wondered: I should get the old gas out of the cross over lines? With the motors running I threw the switch on the port motor to pull fuel from the sbd tank and shortly after that the motor stopped. Freakin' gas looked like ice tea.

 

[82seafarer]

I had a similar issue with my GRADY so what I did was drain as much as I could get into all of my 5 gal gas cans (and ones I borrowed). Then I started to dump a can at a time into the tank of my pickup truck and my wife's car once I was down to between 1/2 and 3/4 of a tank. Since it was then highly diluted it did NOT seem to be a problem even though it was two-stroke (I removed the oil-injection unit on my engine).
Then I took the boat and backed it down a ramp (like it was going in the water) and drained even more fuel from it. That fuel I just added to my waste oil (a little at a time). Then started with fresh fuel !...Ed.

 

[82seafarer]

One thing to remember is that the newer fuel we have had the last few years has alcohol in it. The one GOOD thing about it - is it REALLY cleans everything up. Including the gas tank, filters and lines. So as long as you make sure you replace your filters and screens everything SHOULD be varnish free so there may be no need to clean the tank of varnish (old gas slime). And as long as your carbs and lines are ok for alcohol you should be good to go. The problems that most people I know had were when we switched over to the new fuel and it cleaned up the old built-up varnish so much at first that it clogged all their filters and screens up. Or they had incompatable fuel lines or carb gaskets/o-rings.
I rebuilt my carbs with the alcohol resistant kits and replaced my filters a few times right away and I had no problems (YET).

 

[grady23]

Freakin' gas looked like ice tea"
Man that had to SUCK!. As I said -- I tried to short-cut things and kept kicking my own A$$. Finally got smart and drained EVERYTHING. Tanks fuel lines Carbs, Filters replaceed and Small filter on the engine cleaned. In the case of the HPDI or 4-strokes, be sure to clean the VST filter also.