Old gas(oline)

[mhdishere]

Well, it's that time of year, time to get out the lawnmower.  For a variety of reasons (mostly weather) I didn't manage to burn off the gas in the mower at the end of last year, and there's still some in the gas can too.  If I mix fresh gas with this old stuff will it work OK, or do I have to drain it out first?  If I do drain it, what can I do with it?  I don't know when we're doing the next haz-mat day (where I've gotten rid of gasoline before), and I assume dumping it down the drain is a big no-no.

[cfabe]

Yes, don't dump it down the drain. I usually dump it in one of my older cars, they never seem to have a problem with it. A bigger problem would be if there were water in the bottom of the tank, I wouldn't want to try to burn that. If you don't have much you can also just pour it out onto the driveway and if it's warm out it'll evaporate in short order. I've also seen old gas poured into a coffee can with some sand or dirt in it and burnt (it'll burn in a controlled manner, but stand back and toss a match in cause it'll probably whoosh when it lights)

[onions!]

Last sunday I started my mower for the first time since last october.It had been sitting out w/a half tank of gas.I had to prime it a little more than normal but it fired right up & ran fine.Between my lawnmower,weedwacker,motorcycle,& snow thrower I've never had a problem w/gas going bad after only 6-8 month of sitting.

If concerned I'd either drain it (& save it)& run fresh for the first tankful then just top off the storage can w/the old gas.Or drain it into the car/trucks tank.What ever you do dumping it isn't a good idea.It does make a first rate weed killer for those pesky sidewalk weeds though.

[cfabe]

Oh also, try starting it first of course, the old gas might be good enough to run it, if it is just fill it up the rest of the way with new stuff and run it.

[charby]

Ounce of prevention...  with all your small engines or vehicles you don't run very often, put some sort of preservative in it. I do this with every tank and never had a problem with bad gas. I learn my lesson a long time ago when I forgot to dump the gas out of a 2 cycle snowblower and the gas varnished and ate nice hole in the nylon carb.

[Larry Ashcraft]

Gas seems to be better than it has been the last few years.  My mower, weed eater and tiller all started right up this year, after adding fresh gas to the old.

What I would do to get rid of old gas is get a cardboard flat with several layers of newspaper.  Pour the gas in, take it to the field and throw a match on it.  Of course you may not be able to do that where you live.

[Guest]

As long as you go 50/50 or better, yes, you can "freshen" the gas and use it, although it will not run very well at first.

Imma gearhead, and I get tons of these "flush, clean, refill" jobs every summer, mind you.
if it's really bad you have to pull the carb and flush it, clean out the varnish and blast all the lil holes in it clear with compressed air.

Save yourself the trouble, folks, the NEXT time you put something gasoline powered away for long term storage, fill the tank (empty tanks can and do rust, which clogs up the carb, as the flakes get sucked into it..) and then go to your local hardware store and buy some stuff called STABIL.

Read the directions, put the correct amount in, shake it a bit - and put it away.

Next summer she'll fire right up.

-K

[Standing Wolf]

If you've got to get rid of old gasoline, pour it into ants' nests in the cracks of your sidewalks.

[Gun Runner]

1 gallon of gasoline contains enough benzyne to pollute 1,000,000 gallons of ground water.  Do you really want to dump that in the ground where it's sure to run into your well water?  No.