Old Fuel

[Mortblanc]

I am aware that the trendy advice for many years has been the fuel purchased for your vehicle is likely to go bad within 48 hours of placing it in ones tank and "long term" storage beyond a few weeks is likely to prove disastrous.

However, due to situations beyond my control or foresight I have recently had the experience of testing these predictions and the "knowledge" of those that spill their wisdom like a teenager who has consumed too much green beer.

18 months ago I was forced to mothball a vehicle. I took it off the road and parked it in the drive. I had just placed a full tank of fuel in the rig and had no effective means of draining the contents. I added no stabilizers or fuel preservatives to the tank.

There were often gaps of a couple of months between startups of the vehicle and I was constantly awaiting the day when I cranked the engine and the fuel in the tank would have turned into a mass of sticky goo, or the parts of the fuel line had decomposed like dust on a Time Team Special as the prognosticators on all the websites and forums, who obviously are survival geniuses, had predicted.

Two weeks ago I put the vehicle back into daily use. I paid the fees, bolted on the plates fired up the motor and drove out the lane. A week latter I had used up what remained of the fuel in that tank with no ill effects, no startup problems, no misses or jolts, and even got acceptable fuel mileage.

Mind you that this particular vehicle is a race tuned engine and has the reputation of requiring high quality fuel for proper operation.

As I thought about this situation I went to the Jeep and checked the log book for that vehicle. It has had some issues of its own that have interrupted its use and I could not remember how old the fuel in that tank was. The Jeep has an exceptionally large tank and since it is not used much a tank full might last for some time.

To my surprise I discovered that I had filled the tank of the Jeep in April, 2016!

There have been no stabilizers or additives added to that tank either. It works as well today as it did when placed in the tank, after almost 2 1/2 years.

Both vehicles are/were running as if the fuel placed in them was newly purchased.

There is a huge amount of "crap information" that has been floating around for years, and a great deal of worry over many needless things.

SHTF you can use whatever fuel you find for at least the first 2 1/2 years, so far! If someone else says it is rubbish ask them if they have a tank of fuel sitting in their driveway that is 2 1/2 years old and still works? I do and I know the fuel is still usable, since I am using it.

The chances are that the skeptics are repeating what they heard somewhere else or the recommendations of people that sell fuel.

I may just stretch the fuel in the Jeep a few more months just to see if it will still be good at the 3 year mark. I still have just less than a half tank.

Why would this be important?

For one thing in a SHTF situation one would not be using their vehicle daily as we do now. It would remain parked for long periods and only used to fetch materials or make short high speed trips when absolutely necessary. It might be screened or hidden for months without moving. Contrary to popular belief one will not be traipsing about the countryside using up fuel that might never be replaced. Your use might drop from 10K-20K miles a year down to a hundred miles per year, or less.

The gas in your tank might remain in your tank for months, or years, before it is used up. Even then one might be salvaging the fuel from abandoned vehicles with a pint or quart left in the tank after the fuel pump claimed the vehicle was dry. I have pulled fuel tanks in the past, there is always a splash of fuel left to drain when the tank is removed from the vehicle after draining.

One more thing to add to the list of things we have been told to worry about that are not really worth worrying over.