Fuel shelf life

[davekmoore]

Apart from the obvious safety issues, is there a time after which either 98 or E85 stored in cans would "go off"?

[SuperMazdaKart]

I don't know off the top of my head, but there are products to extend the storage life of fuel if it's a concern. Sta-bil Fuel Stabiliser is one. Useful I guess for jerry cans for the lawn mower or for garage cars that aren't going to be used much.

[Magpie]

E85 is more prone to attracting water however provided the vehicle or stored fuel does not sit for too long thee should be no issue. Plus there is an argument that E85 is not well suited to stop/start driving however there are cars on the road that use E85 and have had no issues.

Are you running a fuel flex sensor or straight E85? Are you using pump or drum E85?

My plan is to run 98 unless on the track and then having sufficient E85 to do the track work then switch back. The car should hit the track on E85 so it is just a case of planning when to fuel on 98. Storage wise a small amount of E85 will be kept at home, however I will just order it in as needed possibly 20ltr drums or if I would use it quickly a 205ltr and then decant into drums/jerry cans. There are also council issues with storing large amounts of fuel at your home.

[Dan]

How long are you thinking? Cans aren't designed to hold fuel long term.

Personally I store E85 in plastic cans, make a point to store it in a cool place and use it within a month, two at the very most (I write the date I filled it on a piece of masking tape and attach it).

[davekmoore]

E85 is more prone to attracting water however provided the vehicle or stored fuel does not sit for too long thee should be no issue. Plus there is an argument that E85 is not well suited to stop/start driving however there are cars on the road that use E85 and have had no issues.

Are you running a fuel flex sensor or straight E85? Are you using pump or drum E85?

My plan is to run 98 unless on the track and then having sufficient E85 to do the track work then switch back. The car should hit the track on E85 so it is just a case of planning when to fuel on 98. Storage wise a small amount of E85 will be kept at home, however I will just order it in as needed possibly 20ltr drums or if I would use it quickly a 205ltr and then decant into drums/jerry cans. There are also council issues with storing large amounts of fuel at your home.

My plan is to do the same, with Flex fuel sensor with Haltech PS1000 and ID 1000 injectors, pump 85 (107 octane) or pump 98. The tuner who recommended the combination of sensor, ECU and injectors hasn't yet found a way to make it idle properly on both fuels, or one fuel, or to find a compromise. The car goes to a different tuner next month.

Fuel will be stored on average 4 weeks, max 6 weeks.

[Magpie]

4/6 weeks should be no issue. Make sure the drums are full, well sealed and stored in a cool dark place. The less space for air the less risk of contamination, however less room for expansion, hence cool dark place. This is the reason why when bulk fuels are delivered the temperature is recorded, but I digress.

I'll be getting some information tags from work to put on my plastic jerry cans that will have E85 in. There is no reason why 98 and E85 can share the same jerry can, when one is empty either refill or swap. The reason for the information tags is that there is no 'standard' jerry can colour for E85.

[bruce]

I concur with the shelf life. Despite this I will run my lawn mower on year old fuel (it's only a lawn mower). FYI, I actually change the mower oil (who does that?)
When cold, my car needs to be warmed up on E85 (stall-y). Irritating as it is a pure street car (no flex sensor/ability to swap). It made less power on 98 but did not have cold start issues. Tuner blames the set-up...(I hears ya dave!).

[hks_kansei]

If left for ages fuel can start to evaporate and leave behind varnish deposits, the stabiliser treatments help prevent this.

BUT, in saying that, that's normally for fuel in a car/bike, so it's open to air.
A sealed container will be a lot slower.


It really depends on how an engine is tuned as to how old the fuel needs to be before it starts to have issues. Just think of it as fuel losing octane over time.

Hell, I ran my old lawnmower on fuel that was at least 13 years old (it was an old can of super I found, and since super was phased out in 2002 it would have been at least that old)

Then again, the old Victa 2 stroke isn;t as fussy as a car about fuel......




to answer the question asked, I would happily use fuel up to about 2 months old in a car.
for something tuned fairly close to pinging etc (ie: turbo and all that jazz) i'd halve that.

Assuming it's stored properly, ie sealed petrol container.

[Mr Morlock]

one of the biggest problems with garden equipment - brush cutters, mowers etc is stale fuel- well known problem. It will not kill the car in a month or two but it does deteriorate. I recently just poured out some 2 stroke fuel because I thought it was pretty old. Now adding a stabiliser and only by max 5 litres as it may sit around for too long. Incidentally modern garden equipment is very fussy about good fuel and not too much oil for 2 strokes.

[taminga16]

Dave, How much fuel do you intend to store and do you have a current HAZCHEM permit?
Greg.

[davekmoore]

Due to oil leak issues didn't use the 50L I took to Sandown yesterday, so that much.

[project.r.racing]

Apart from the obvious safety issues, is there a time after which either 98 or E85 stored in cans would "go off"?

Untreated pump fuel starts going bad in 14 days, by 28 days it will not give you the power or economy it would when just poured from the pump.

E85 is another can of worms.

Fuel stabilizers work wonderful, but they only double or triple the fuels life depending on exturnal evironmental conditions like heat and humidity.

[davekmoore]

Thanks everyone for the info. All the presently stored fuel will go in the car over the next week and I'll top up the cans with fresh fuel before the next meeting.