8 year old gas - still OK. Kind of amazing !

I finally did something today I've been dreading for a long time.

A little over 8 years ago I put my 79 Datsun 280ZX away in an old barn I have a few miles from home.
I didn't realize at that time that it would not come back out for a very long time. We had a new kid born and figured a sports car would be no use to us for quite awhile.

As years went by I got more nervous about the gas in the car. It has a weird German Bosch Jetronic fuel injection system. One injector for each cylinder and it fires 1/2 fuel charge every stroke.

I tried many times to siphon the gas out of it but I never was successful. I also tried to make the on-board electric pump do the work, but never took time to figure out how to make it work without the engine running.

I'm sure everyone has heard how gas goes bad in 1 year, right? So, how about eight-plus years?

Finally today, my now over 8 year old "baby" boy and me went over to try to get it running.

Tires were dry-rotted and flat and the car was laying on a wood barn floor. So I jacked it up to keep the exhaust some distance from the wood. Put a battery in it and - it fired right up and ran perfect! Hard to figure.

I then got enthused and finally took the whole gas filler neck apart. Finally got a siphon in there and drained out 16 gallons of gas that kind of looks like red wine. I put some fresh gas in with Stabil and hopefully it's good again.

It sits in this 1830 barn along with many other small tractors, a 1950 Ford truck, and a 1972 MGB.

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Look at the raccoon tracks all over the windshield.

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More coon tracks on the back window . .

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One of the rotted flat tires that did NOT last 8 years . .

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The 2.8 liter straight-six . .

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Assorted old other junk nearby . . . including a 1930 Viking Twin, B16 original "Rototiller", 1972 MGB, 1950 flathead Ford truck, etc.

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same color inspection sticker as this years! bill m.

that looks like the american pickers would love to see that barn and contents!

You son probably looked in there and wondered "what"s all this junk Dad?". In about 8 years he will be like a kid in a candy store. I know I would be!

You son probably looked in there and wondered "what"s all this junk Dad?". In about 8 years he will be like a kid in a candy store. I know I would be!

Didnt the old gas have that classic stale gas smell YUKK Im sure you know the "smell" I'm talkin about???????? In my old tractors that set, sure I worry about the gas BUT its the fact it leaves a varnish build up that makes the needle valves stick is my major concern. I use Sta Bil plus a bit of low ash Two Cycle Oil in the tractors and let them run long enough so that witches brew fills the carb, then I turn the gas off so they die and put them to bed, its been workin for me.

Good pics

John T

Jde. I just gotta have an INVITE,lol so I can come and see your treasures(Family First, then the stored treasures, coon prints and all).Louis Looks like he is growing taller, so before long, he will be driving the MG. Great pictures !!!! Warmest regards . LOU & Victor.

Just went through this with a '94 ford ranger, it's been sitting a long time, going to say '05, fuel pump strainer and soft rubber collar was mush, hard to say if the fuel would ignite, took the tank off, flush/clean and new fuel pump, runs nice now.

My '96 F150 has been in my yard since '03, fuel pump makes no noise when powered up, probably the same darned thing. Not the end of the world, had a full tank and just had an oil change, it did run fine for most of those years, probably the same thing, boy that old gas does reek though, can still smell where I spilled some of it.

JD - GOOD to see you back!

Nope the gas didn't smell at all. Awful dark looking though. I've had to fix many machines with bad gas that smelled like varnish from Hell. I've had people tell me it's happened to them in one year.

So who the hecks knows? And now, the new gas I put in is 10% "ethanol", so it's probably not near as good.

I DO know it was a really dumb thing to do - leaving that gas for so long. Especially since this car has a somewhat rare electronic fuel injection system and not just a carb to clean out.

Someone told me that gas can last a very long time when in a air-tight container. This car has a non-vented "air-tight" tank so maybe that's the reason? Unlike farm tractors and small power equipment that are usually well vented.

I do know that I've got Coleman lantern fuel in cans that's over 10 years old and is still fine. That's "white gas" but still similar to gasoline - I believe.

Well... I got that beat, I put a 72 for f-100 pu in My basement in 1992... and in the Spring this Yr.. It literall Cranked up with that CRAP still in the tank... But Be warned... It sat for another two Wks... and when i tried to start it it bent SIX Push rods... I didnt get all of it out!!BUT alls well now purring like a Kitten,, Larry KF4LKU

Is that a Honda SL350?

Nope. It's a 1973 XL-175 twin, On-off road bike. Still runs perfect. I bought it for $50 back around 1975.
Probably the best bike I've ever owned in my life.

Also got a Honda XL-100 single-cylinder, a Royal Enfield Meteor-Minor twin 500, and a BSA Rocket 750 triple sitting next to it.

The sealed tank seems to be a big part of it.

We have a gasoline powered post hole digger that has fuel in it many years old, still fresh and runs good. I suspect the reason is the fuel tank cap with the screw shut vent, so you can lay the auger on it's side without the tank leaking any fuel.
When in storage the tank vent is closed, so the system is sealed, no air / moisture in and no gas fumes out.

I hear a lot of folks complaining about the "new gas" with alchohol. I use it for every gas powered engine on the ranch and I treat it with Stabil per the label and I can honestly say I never had a problem attributable to the modern fuel. I have heard other say they don"t even treat their fuel and they don"t have problems. Of course I go through several hundred gallons a year and my gas doesn"t get older than maybe 4 months .

Having said that, I am surpised that an 8 year old load fuel in a fuel imjected vehicle didn"t cause a problem. Another data point!
Glad you didn"t have fuel system problems and you let us know that, under your storage conditions, your fuel was still good.

I think you nailed it. The fact that the tank was "sealed " probably prevented any oxidation of the fuel that could lead to problems. It also miimized normal condensation which would also contaminate the fuel.

For what it's worth, it seems to me if the temp. stays reasonably stable (and cooler) the gas lasts a lot longer. My 55 Ford sat for several years inside a building that stays reasonably cool. Started it right up and backed it out of the building. Gas didn't even have that smell. Put a new tank on an old tractor and used it once about the same time I put the Ford in storage. The tractor set about a year and a half outside. Carb. was gummed up and tank had to be cleaned. Had that "vintage" smell also.

If your missing something in there let me know I might have one. lol Amazing what a sealed tank helps do.

John, you could sell tours of your building. That three cylinder compressor looks interesting, and the red slatted steel wheel on what is surely a two wheeled garden tractor is like I've never seen before. Your son is a lucky young man.

Some Pickers will have that barn cleaned out for You By the weekend and you won't have to worry about gas getting old anymore. At least they would around here.
Ron

(quoted from post at 17:08:23 11/29/11) Didnt the old gas have that classic stale gas smell YUKK Im sure you know the "smell" I'm talkin about???????? In my old tractors that set, sure I worry about the gas BUT its the fact it leaves a varnish build up that makes the needle valves stick is my major concern. I use Sta Bil plus a bit of low ash Two Cycle Oil in the tractors and let them run long enough so that witches brew fills the carb, then I turn the gas off so they die and put them to bed, its been workin for me.

Good pics

John T

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About the same thing I do John excepy I use kerosene instead of Sta-Bil. Run the engine until I can smell it in the exhaust, shut down and oil the cylinder.

Seems to me the ethanol would pevent corrosion from water. Don't know about rubber seals, etc. I started my 65 Ford pickup this fall on gas that's at least 4 or 5 years old. No fuel treatment. No problems

(quoted from post at 13:30:53 11/30/11) Seems to me the ethanol would pevent corrosion from water. Don't know about rubber seals, etc. I started my 65 Ford pickup this fall on gas that's at least 4 or 5 years old. No fuel treatment. No problems

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thanol has affinity for water....it will pull the water out of the air. That is why all the discussion about sealed air tight tanks. But his 280ZX has an evaporative emissions cannister on it, so I think that means that it isn't air tight, as the cannister is sucked out when running by engine vacuum.
As far as running old gasoline, I may hold a near-record. During the 1970's 'gas crisis", my brother filled a 55 gallon drum with 100 octane leaded fuel. Over the years he used about half of it &amp; time rolled on &amp; 25 to 30 years later, I found it in the old home place storage shed. Smelled ok, but he didn't want it. I used it in my tractors, without a hitch! Leaded, NO ethanol!
Made the exhaust pipe that old-time familiar gray color while it lasted, too.

Did you leave anything there for the mice?