Recommendations on removing old gas from stored vehicles.

[Robert G. Smits]

I have a few vehicles that were sidelined during Covid that I need to remove the old gas and get them running.  Recommendations appreciated without removing the tank.  Siphon always leaves a fair amount of residual in my experience.  Thanks

[Bhigdog]

IMO there always will be some residual unless you remove and invert. Just add enough ethanol free to run it and drive it........bob

[kramaton]

Some GM models from the 1940s and 50s had a drain plug. Makes it easy. 

[Matt Harwood]

Electric fuel pump and a battery.

 

[TTR]

Just like Bhigdog suggested, remove as much as you're able to by whatever methods available (drain plug ? siphon ? etc), refill with fresh fuel and drive (long and hard). 

 

 

[Harold]

Harbor Freight sells a battery-powered pump that is suitable for gasoline transfers.  It runs on 2 'D' cells and costs around $10.00.  I've had one for a few years and it performs well.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

How do you dispose of the bad gas?

[Frank DuVal]

Rather than suck through the filler neck, pull through the hose going to the fuel pump until no more fuel comes out. Then drop the tank and remove the rust.😉

[Angelfish]

49 minutes ago, Dave Mellor NJ said:

How do you dispose of the bad gas?

Still liquid?  My poor old GMC Yukon has burned more rotten gas then it ever deserved.   I dump in maybe a quart of rotten gas per 20 gallons of new gas.   I got rid of a gallon of old model airplane fuel that way, among other things.  Not saying I recommend it but it has 230,000 miles and going strong. 
 

 

[hidden_hunter]

11 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

Electric fuel pump and a battery.

 

I got a little wand one that runs on 3 AA's for like 10 bucks from the auto part store and fits perfectly down the neck of the 20's cad (I don't want to attempt to remove any of the fittings on the tank) 

[joe_padavano]

6 hours ago, Frank DuVal said:

Rather than suck through the filler neck, pull through the hose going to the fuel pump until no more fuel comes out. Then drop the tank and remove the rust.😉

This is what I do. Disconnect the hose running to the pump, run it into a can, and use compressed air at the filler neck to blow it out. Frankly, I frequently don't even bother depending on how much is in the tank. A fill up with fresh and a few miles usually takes care of it. The problem is the residue left in the carb.

[R W Burgess]

Amazing, I am dealing with this very thing right now. I will pull the gas line off the Carb and drain it, as the 1929 Essex has an electric fuel pump. Some may remember my old alcohol still in the back seat??? A story for another time!

 

Wayne

[JACK M]

12 hours ago, Angelfish said:

Still liquid?  My poor old GMC Yukon has burned more rotten gas then it ever deserved.   I dump in maybe a quart of rotten gas per 20 gallons of new gas.   I got rid of a gallon of old model airplane fuel that way, among other things.  Not saying I recommend it but it has 230,000 miles and going strong. 
 

 

I resemble this.

Although I won't do it if there is a cat involved.

 

Sounds wrong, but you know what I mean.

[kings32]

Hey Wayne so that is still running good . That is a great car . Howard

[John348]

I disconnect a low fuel line and extend it with a temporary rubber line into the waste container. I use my compressor with a blow gun attachment, I place my hand over the filler neck and between my fingers I shoot air down the filler neck causing the air pressure to force the fuel out the hose and into the container, repeat as needed, should only take as long as the fuel to flow through the hose. It's pretty fast.

[old car fan]

Lighter and a rag,works every time. Kidding. Amazing, a simple  task  can't be  achieved. 

[Jim Bollman]

Living in the country, years ago, I got rid of several gallons of very old gas by putting it in an open top 5 gal metal container, placed it in an open area of the gravel parking area and through a burning stick in.  It burned for about an hour and made a nice 3 or 4 foot torch for a few minutes before it settle down to a foot or so.  Pretty much destroyed the metal container.  Not sure I would recommend it for a larger amount and I would do it next time after dark and enjoy the show.  Smaller amounts of not so old gas and old chain saw gas I run through my 8N tractor with a generous amount of good gas.  

[R W Burgess]

4 hours ago, kings32 said:

Hey Wayne so that is still running good . That is a great car . Howard

Not yet Howard, except on ether. 😁 The electric pump would not pump any of the 6 new gallons I put in the tank. I am going to blow air backwards through the line tomorrow, hopefully it won't hurt the pump.

 

After that I jumped in the blue 1926 Chrysler trying to start her. After a couple tries I found the fuel line valve was shut off. Big dummy. She started right up. She does have a small fuel tank leak. I need to address that next.

[Robert G. Smits]

Thank you to all who replied Great ideas. Heading to Harbor Freight in the morning. Here in College Station the city has a Toxic Waste drop off location twice a year and they accept old fuel and dump it in a large tank. I have no clue what the city does with it. 

[Dave Mellor NJ]

I have a friend with a Model A parked for a couple years. He doesn't know how to get rid of a full tank, 10 gallons. There's nowhere around here to dispose fuel

[Angelfish]

5 hours ago, Dave Mellor NJ said:

I have a friend with a Model A parked for a couple years. He doesn't know how to get rid of a full tank, 10 gallons. There's nowhere around here to dispose fuel

Besides burning it off a little at a time in another vehicle(s), some other not recommended ideas would be to use it for weed killer, or soak it up with sawdust and burn it in the fire pit.  Burns for a loooong time, start with a little bit until you have an idea how it goes. 

 

Or pour it into pans of some kind and let it evaporate.   
 

Edited Tuesday at 09:20 AM by Angelfish (see edit history)

[Harold]

Call your local Public Works department to see what their rules are for disposing of gasoline.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

I think you guys are overthinking this!   Start the darned car . If it, and it will, idles ok for a while, go for a drive. Burn of half, refill and drive some more.

 

  Ben

[PWN]

On 6/23/2024 at 11:52 PM, Dave Mellor NJ said:

How do you dispose of the bad gas?

I mix with biodiesel to make fuel for drip torches for prescribed fire. May be an option to donate depending on where you are in the US.

Edited Tuesday at 02:14 PM by PWN (see edit history)

[JACK M]

When I was in the boat business, I came up with lots of old gas.

A friend wanted some and he took about 20 gallons.

He thought that he would burn some blackberries.

He dumped the whole 20 gallons around the said briar patch.

It turns out that there was a culvert under there and a bunch of that gas ended up in that culvert.

When he touched it off not only did it make a mushroom cloud thing, but the culvert acted like a cannon and a bunch of baby possums came shooting out across the road.

The fire department showed up within minutes because they thought that the abandoned Arco next door had blown up.

Fire chief commented to my friend that "you can't fix stupid".

But I would have loved to have seen that cannon thing.

[rocketraider]

I bet those possums thought that was rude...

 

Not quite as good as the raccoon story but I'd like to have seen it too!

 

I'm gonna have to dispose of some old gas too and been wondering best way to do it.

[Frank DuVal]

4 hours ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

I think you guys are overthinking this!   Start the darned car . If it, and it will, idles ok for a while, go for a drive.

Well, Ben, I see you don't fool with cars with OLD gas!

 

I once drained a car that was towed into my shop and thought I would just put it in the shop van and dispose of the old fuel that way. Well, you know shop vans get used and no one puts fuel back in....

 

I started it and drove it halfway around the block to the shop's back door, noticing the gauge was on about a 1/4.  I had put in 3-4 gallons of stale fuel. Oops, that means no so much good fuel was in the tank. When I restarted the van it made a lot of clatter and idled poorly. I shut it off quick. Did I mention the shop van was a Corvair FC? I pulled the left valve cover and all three intake rockers were hanging loose! And the valves were stuck in. Hmm, not enough good fuel in tank to dilute the OLD fuel!

 

Gummy stuff old fuel can be!!

 

Off come the carburetors to drain them, send employee to store with 5 gal can for fresh fuel, spray intake valve stems with penetrant and tap on them with a hammer until they finally seat. Blow air into tank with hose on fuel pump output to flush lines and pump with "marginal diluted" fuel. Reinstall rockers and valve cover, start engine, whew it did!.

 

And you want to just START THE CAR? Riiiiight........🤣

[The 55er]

Even today there are still these trendy stories circulating in the Cars For Sale ads where the seller says he pulled his 1950 Whizbang sedan out of the dusty barn where it had been sitting for 20 years, installed a fresh battery, poured a little gas down the carb and it fired right up and runs like a brand new car! Certainly a testament as to how well these bulletproof Whizbangs were built back in the day and it's a great reason why you should buy my overpriced car! Over here in the real world where I live, my mechanic says today's gas has a shelf life of about 45 days so I don't believe any of it. Don't even think about trying it, you will be doing a lot more harm than good and you could be paying dearly for it down the road. Have some patience, start fresh and sort everything out first, your older model vehicle will thank you for it. 

[John348]

5 hours ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

I think you guys are overthinking this!   Start the darned car . If it, and it will, idles ok for a while, go for a drive. Burn of half, refill and drive some more.

 

  Ben

I don't know if I am on board with that plan of attack either

[Jim Bollman]

3 hours ago, JACK M said:

When I was in the boat business, I came up with lots of old gas.

A friend wanted some and he took about 20 gallons.

He thought that he would burn some blackberries.

He dumped the whole 20 gallons around the said briar patch.

It turns out that there was a culvert under there and a bunch of that gas ended up in that culvert.

When he touched it off not only did it make a mushroom cloud thing, but the culvert acted like a cannon and a bunch of baby possums came shooting out across the road.

The fire department showed up within minutes because they thought that the abandoned Arco next door had blown up.

Fire chief commented to my friend that "you can't fix stupid".

But I would have loved to have seen that cannon thing.

Your story remind me of a visit to my parents about 40 years ago (maybe more) and was out in the yard enjoying the evening talking with my Dad, we heard an almost explosion type of sound and the sky lite up.  We drove over in the general direction of the almost explosion and saw what happened about a mile away.  A farm decided the easy way to get rid of about 8 acres of woods and undergrowth that he wanted to turn in to tillable ground was to burn it.  He spread an unknown amount of gas through the woods and touched it off. It got rid of the woods and put on a big show for the whole area. The fire looked like the inferno they show on TV of the bad forest fires out West luckily there was plowed ground all around. I never heard the details if he was injured or how much damaged he did to things close to the woods.  The sound it made was memorable,  As your Fire Chief said "you can't fix stupid".

[JACK M]

I saw a T-shirt the other day that said, "THAT IS A TERRIBLE IDEA,     WHAT TIME?"

[kramaton]

7 hours ago, Frank DuVal said:

Well, Ben, I see you don't fool with cars with OLD gas!

 

I once drained a car that was towed into my shop and thought I would just put it in the shop van and dispose of the old fuel that way. Well, you know shop vans get used and no one puts fuel back in....

 

I started it and drove it halfway around the block to the shop's back door, noticing the gauge was on about a 1/4.  I had put in 3-4 gallons of stale fuel. Oops, that means no so much good fuel was in the tank. When I restarted the van it made a lot of clatter and idled poorly. I shut it off quick. Did I mention the shop van was a Corvair FC? I pulled the left valve cover and all three intake rockers were hanging loose! And the valves were stuck in. Hmm, not enough good fuel in tank to dilute the OLD fuel!

 

Gummy stuff old fuel can be!!

 

Off come the carburetors to drain them, send employee to store with 5 gal can for fresh fuel, spray intake valve stems with penetrant and tap on them with a hammer until they finally seat. Blow air into tank with hose on fuel pump output to flush lines and pump with "marginal diluted" fuel. Reinstall rockers and valve cover, start engine, whew it did!.

 

And you want to just START THE CAR? Riiiiight........🤣

You are absolutely right. Starting a car with old gas is just asking for trouble. If it does start the valve stems will get glued stuck.