Old(ish) petrol - use or not - also how does fuel ages?

[Mark-1]

Needles to say, I don't believe in this stale fuel theory / myth.

Me neither. (I've left fuel in two motorcycle tanks for over 6 years and both started instantly as though theyd been left overnight and were ridden to the MOT station where they both passed whatever emissions tests were carried out. My outboards, chainsaw and mower all run exclusively on last year's petrol at the begining of their respective seasons without issues.

However there must be a kernel of truth to it because Bruce Pender, who repairs garden tools on YouTube constantly sees stale fuel as a problem and he would never lie. I conclude that "stale fuel" has become confused with (or a shorthand term for) water and debris contamination, rather than referring specifically to the age of the fuel.

 

[TernVI]

Some people may think stale fuel is a myth.
Hopefully they won't waste too much time and money trying other things if they ever meet stale fuel.

 

[peter gibbs]

Hi,
I have petrol on my boat I bought before longer trip and never used - its from beginning of September. I have only outboard, so having good stable petrol is important - I don't want to clean carb in the middle of marina channel . Now I am thinking what does 'old' petrol means - I know today there are some additives in petrol nowadays and I wonder if there is some way to make petrol clean again -filtering or so- or simply donate it to someone who doesn't care about it but is using for things like garden tools etc?

Personally, I routinely slosh last season's petrol into my car tank and put fresh in the OB. Happiness!

PWG