Disposing of old two stroke petrol mixture ?

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Bergamot

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Last year I bought a new 4 stroke outboard to replace my 40 year old 2 stroke. I now have 2 gallons of 50:1 two strke fuel which will have gone off by now. Anybody know where to dispose of it ? Will the local recycling centre take it or perhaps a petrol station?
 
Use it in your present outboard. Just add it to the new fuel in (probably) about 20/25% ratio. It shouldn't smoke much and should be fine.

If it has been stored in a dark place or in metal tins, it should be fine. It's light which effects the fuel.

I've never had a problem with fuel "going-off" (I kept two outboards in the garage for about 6 years and only started them once a year. Using the same fuel)
 
sailorman said:
use it in your car ( assuming petrol ) or lawnmower
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Do not put it in your car and definately dont put it in your mower as the o/p says its gone off. Your car will run rough (if at all) and possibly damage the cat. I get rid of mine at the local refuse tip in the old oil tank. Makes great degreaser actually
 
steve66 said:
Do not put it in your car and definately dont put it in your mower as the o/p says its gone off. Your car will run rough (if at all) and possibly damage the cat. I get rid of mine at the local refuse tip in the old oil tank. Makes great degreaser actually
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My mower is quite happy on 2t, in fact i have just put the o/b back o/b with last yrs fuel in it
 
Hi Sailorman, A 4 stroke will run perfectly well on a 2t mix, in fact i often run my honda on 2t mix when i have no straight unleaded without any performance drop. The o/p stated the fuel will have probably gone off which is no good for any engine.
 
We keep getting threads about old 2-stroke fuel. Maybe, back in the mists of time, this used to be a problem. I don't know. I've had 2-stroke strimmers, mowers, hedgecutters and chainsaws for longer than I dare admit, and I've never ever had a problem with fuel "going off" over the winter. I truly don't believe it does. So I'd just pour the stuff into something else which uses 2-stroke or, failing that, into a petrol car.
 
pvb said:
We keep getting threads about old 2-stroke fuel. Maybe, back in the mists of time, this used to be a problem. I don't know. I've had 2-stroke strimmers, mowers, hedgecutters and chainsaws for longer than I dare admit, and I've never ever had a problem with fuel "going off" over the winter. I truly don't believe it does. So I'd just pour the stuff into something else which uses 2-stroke or, failing that, into a petrol car.
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It will although perhaps not normally in one winter,

Badly stored it will lose the more higher volatile components and suffer oxidation of some components, a change in smell is a good indication that things are not as they should be.


My old Flymo wont run on stale fuel .... it really did not want to go this year until given some fresh stuff. Even the Seagull runs noticeably better on fresh fuel.

With increasing ethanol content we can expect things to get worse.

I put any thats older than 1 year in the car as a matter of course ... thats my Volvo as that does not have a "cat" to worry about.
 
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It's already at 50-1 mix, pour half a gallon in every time you put 10 gallons in your car you will then have a 1000-1 mix. Your car or cat wont notice. It's what I do every year with what I have left over at the end of the season then use new stuff in the outboard next year. It's easier than trying to get rid of it.
 
RichardS said:
I also don't believe this "fuel gone off" stuff. There are plenty of reasons why a motor is difficult to start at the beginning of the season but "gone off fuel" is almost certainly not one of them. IMHO.

Richard
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Petrol is known as gas in the states for a reason. The injectors or carb turn the liquid in to gas to enable it to combust. Petrol is made up of various fractions, some lighter than others, the lighter ones combust easier in cold temps. In the olden days we had things called chokes, they made the carb produce a richer mixture. The richer mixture had more light ends in it that made starting easier in cold temps. The light ends evaporate easier over time and so petrol that is old may have lost some of the light ends, this makes it harder for engines to start from cold!
S
 
I disagree. Every year my 2 stroke BSA would never start in the spring so I used to take it to the motorbike garage. When it returned, it ran OK. It was only after a few years that I discovered that all he did was put fresh fuel in it.
RichardS said:
I also don't believe this "fuel gone off" stuff. There are plenty of reasons why a motor is difficult to start at the beginning of the season but "gone off fuel" is almost certainly not one of them. IMHO.

Richard
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ghostlymoron said:
I disagree. Every year my 2 stroke BSA would never start in the spring so I used to take it to the motorbike garage. When it returned, it ran OK. It was only after a few years that I discovered that all he did was put fresh fuel in it.
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Well, for the last 30 or 40 years, I've just put my gardening equipment away in the autumn, and next spring it all works. No messing about draining fuel.
 
Hi Richard,
I have vast experience with stale fuel issues in small 4 strokes. I cannot comment on larger outboards as i have limited experience. 75% of the problems with engine i have in are due to stale fuel.
Here are a couple of examples. I ran a rebuilt motor with a brand new fitted carburettor in a test tank with no issues whatsoever. I put the engine in the rack . Three weeks later i tried to start the motor and it wouldnt even fire. I took the bowl off the new carb and the fuel was yellow/green in colour. Flushed the carb drained the tank and refilled with new fuel and fired first pull.
I sold a chap an engine again with a brand new carb (i fit all my hondas with new carbs) test ran it and he took it away pleased as punch. A few weeks later i had an angry e mail saying this and that and the motor wont run etc. I asked if he had put in fresh petrol . He said yes. So he bought it back and it was stale fuel again. Refilled it with fresh and literally first pull ran sweetly. It turns out the fuel was about 6 months old in a sealed can. So i can categorically tell you from a lot of experience modern engines do not like stale fuel.
 
steve66 said:
I ran a rebuilt motor with a brand new fitted carburettor in a test tank with no issues whatsoever. I put the engine in the rack . Three weeks later i tried to start the motor and it wouldnt even fire. I took the bowl off the new carb and the fuel was yellow/green in colour. Flushed the carb drained the tank and refilled with new fuel and fired first pull.
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If fuel supposedly degrades so much in 3 weeks, there's little hope for most outboard owners!
 
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