Old Fuel

[ONTHECHEW]

I have had my Galey out of action for 6 months, it has not been run in this time but turned over first go. Question is I have a full tank (120 litres) of premium fuel in my tank, I have a 115hp Etec. My original plans was to do a all day in the bay run to burn the old fuel, then fill her back up with new fuel before running it off shore. The biggest issue is I have run this past a few people and I have a 50/50 use it to dump it (or use it in my 4wd). Ideally I would just like to use it in the boat but if this means I could stuff up my motor I don't want to risk it. Any opinions would be muchly appreciated.

Andrew

[dhess]

Use it. Will be completely fine especially since its premium. I have used at least 6month old regular unleaded no issues at all.

If it was an ethanol blend using it would be suicide.

[Terry H]

Hopefully third time lucky! (Accidentally killed the AFO tab, then session expired - blah!)

Andrew, have you checked out the Evinrude's published material? I assume if its a big issue, given some folk in the USA appear to be quite litigation happy, I would imagine Evinrude would have some material published advising against old fuel if it was a serious concern.

Old fuel can cause problems in two major ways:

1. Phase separation: This is caused by moisture, particularly in ethanol blended fuels, and according to some places can occur within 90 days. Essentially all the ethanol separates out from the petrol, leaving two layers: an ethanol depleted fuel layer and a ethanol enriched water.

2. Fuel evaporation: Depending on how the fuel is stored, worse case fuel will evaporate reducing the octane level of the fuel. Per Evinrude's website their motors need 87 Octane fuel, and 89 is recommended. These are from the Evinrude USA site's FAQ - so you have to factor in the differing octane levels (USA use AKI, we use RON). 87 AKI = 91 RON, and 89 AKI is around 93-94RON. Premium fuels here use 95 RON, so you're a few octanes up. Chances are your fuel is still above that 91 mark anyway, so you should be sweet there. If it is lower, you should notice it through the engine running rough/engine knocking.

[Binder]

We have done experiments on Premium fuel, after 12 hours exposure to the atmosphere, its RON is the same as normal unleaded.

[Terry H]

We have done experiments on Premium fuel, after 12 hours exposure to the atmosphere, its RON is the same as normal unleaded.

Is this in a open air container?

I found it interesting that Evinrude's website stated higher octane fuel, like the 98/100 RONs are somewhat pointless for their engines. I think the official wording was something like "no additional benefit" and could actual make it harder to start on a hot day...

[STKE]

Well here's a question, I've got a 10L Jerry that I keep up and under the front of the boat for emergencies.

Last time I filled it was Christmas. Recon it's still okay to use, or put it in the Missus car.

[ONTHECHEW]

I rang up and spoke to the service department from Evinrude they said because it was premium, and the boat has been covered the entire time that the fuel should be fine to use.

Andrew

[Runty66]

If you don;t need it, I'm going up to Hervey bay tonight.. You could fill up my jerries haha

[Samrenny]

One thing i would be wary of after your fuel sitting for that long is water contamination. My experience was in my yz250f mx bike, not an outboard but a high performance 4 stroke all the same. I had it sitting under cover for around 3 months or so from memory, and somehow, whether it was condensation or something I dont know...but water got into the fuel, causing it to backfire, cough and splutter until it wouldnt start. It didnt do any damage to my engine, I just had to drain the fuel and put new stuff in (always used 98 octane Caltex Vortex). The drained fuel ran fine in the mower, so it was only very minor contamination, but just shows that in high performance engines like outboards and race bikes a minscule amount could cause a big issue, especially if you're a few km offshore :S

[ONTHECHEW]

Guys,

Thanks for your help with my old fuel issue, took the Galey out today. We did over 100k to burn some fuel :whistle: with it only stalling once at the beginning (thinking maybe air in the line with not being used for so long. After that it never missed a beat, it may have even ran better then ever.

I was even rewarded with a midday bay snapper that went 84cm and 6.1kg. 6 months with out using the boat was far too long, now it is time to make up for it :woohoo: :woohoo:

Andrew

[Binder]

A bit of an "oh crap" moment when she stalled out?

Nice snapper. !

[ONTHECHEW]

Sure was, we were in the middle of Brisbane river with boats ever so not to big a deal.

A bit of an "oh crap" moment when she stalled out?

Nice snapper. !

[Major]

Well here's a question, I've got a 10L Jerry that I keep up and under the front of the boat for emergencies.

Last time I filled it was Christmas. Recon it's still okay to use, or put it in the Missus car.

I'd rotate the emergency fuel through the cars as a safe guard, filling up with fresh every so often.

[cameronh]

I'm in the same situation with my boat, my tank is pretty much full, I run it every few weeks, but haven't taken it for a run in more than 10 months, its been sitting on top of the pontoon and had a boat cover, but i'm not sure if I should take it for a big run in the bay to burn some fuel.

If I was to take the old fuel out, where can I take the fuel to dispose of it?

[fishingnut]

Put it in a spray bottle and kill the weeds