Est. 1998 — 28 years of woodworking knowledge
OT gasoline
TomD
We are in social distance mode, as recommended by government. This has the car sitting around with a bit of gas in the tank. Our gas has 10% ethanol in it. At what point does one start to get concerned about the fuel separating, or whatever it does. I have some sea foam, but probably not enough for two sets of cars. Just wondering when I need to have it used up and refill with Super.
Re: OT gasoline
David Yoho
Modern cars and trucks have fuel injection instead of carburetors, so there's no carb bowl for gas and water to sit in. However, there already will be some amount of water in your tank at the bottom because gasoline is heavier than water. There are things like Sea Foam and Stabil that help keep fuel fresh but you can bet your tank already has some amount of water in it. Best bet is to keep it as full as possible and forget the worry.
Re: OT gasoline
John McGaw
I used to garage my '91 Mazda Miata for at least five months at a time in Alaska and never once did I have a fuel problem. Just backed it into the garage, attached the battery maintainer and threw a dust sheet over it and it was always good to go when the snow melted. I wouldn't sweat the fuel now but I'd be somewhat concerned about rodents chewing the wires if the vehicles involved are of newer vintage and are parked outdoors.
No problem..
David Weaver
..i ride public trans to work. Sometimes our second car goes for months on a tank and it's 12 years old now. Never had any issues with it in general, and none with gasoline.
I'd imagine it'll run rough before you have any problem, but I don't think you'll get to that. If you're concerned, you could use a fuel stabilizer product, but with a decent gas cap, I can't imagine enough moisture getting in the tank to cause a problem.
Re: OT gasoline
Lee Schierer in McKean, PA
I believe you will find water is heavier than gasoline and the water will sink to the bottom of the tank. The density of water is 1.00 g/mL and that of gasoline is appoximately 0.68 g/mL
I store my 1995 Miata for the entire 4 months of winter with unleaded (10%) gas with no problems for 24 years so far.
Lee
I goofed
David Yoho
Certainly the water will be at the bottom but not because the gas is heavier as I wrote. Senior moment!!
Re: I goofed
John K Jordan
Construction and farm equipment that can sit unused for a long time all come with an easy way to drain water from the tank and a filter/trap to catch any water (and dirt) that gets picked up from the tank.
Maybe this is also easy on your car. With any doubt on old gasoline I drain the tank
Re: OT gasoline - curious
Jim DeLaney, Austintown, Ohio
Since alcohol absorbs water, and is also soluble in gasoline, will the alcohol in the gas also absorb the water, leaving no water residue in the tank?
When I thought about it, it occurred to me that I haven't seen a can of "dry gas" (water absorbent) for sale in years. Maybe 'gasohol' is the reason.
Re: OT gasoline - curious
Bill Howatt
I'm not certain of the entire process of what happens to it exactly but the alcohol will absorb the water. We don't see much gas-line anti-freeze being marketed anymore since alcohol was added.
I don't know the situation in the US but up here in Canada buying premium gas is absolutely no guarantee of getting alcohol-free gas. There are some refiners who sell alcohol-free premium, Shell, Ultramar to name a couple.
If I buy premium for my small engine gizmos, I check that it is indeed alcohol free which is easy to do:
Fill a test-tube shaped glass container about half full of water and make a mark on the outside of the level.
Add roughly the same amount of gas, seal and shake.
When it settles out the water should still be at the mark if there is no alcohol present. If there is alcohol present it will come out of the gas and join the water and the water level will be above the mark.
Nothing magic about the test-tube shaped container it just uses less gas than something like a larger jar.
Bill
