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showcrop

showcrop

Well-known Member
I had some gas from church that I brought home a couple weeks ago. I believe that I left it in the shed there when I changed the gas in the generator a year ago. That would make the gas two years old. I was going to use it in my ZT mower but it didn't like it so I have fresh gas in one tank and some of this old gas in the other. It is kind of cloudy looking when I siphon some out. But if I let it sit for a couple hours it clears up, but that is only because it separates. There is about an inch of a clear liquid, sitting on top of five inches of yellow. On top of the clear is about two drops of something else that does not mix in. I assume that the yellow is plain gasoline and that the clear is ethanol. Why are they separated? Why do they look cloudy when they are mixed? Will the plain gas burn OK?
 
For all of the trouble bad gas can cause, build a fire and buy new gas. FYI, I only buy premium grade for small engines. More octane and they seem to run better.
 
Are you sure the clear is not on the bottom? That is where the water usually goes, even if it has ethanol in it.
 
showcrop- around here we call that 'sour' gas. What you describe is the ethanol in the gas has
absorbed all the condensation it can hold and becomes "saturated". At that point you can find
'phase separation" of the distillate fuels. Kinda sounds like what you described. Sometimes, the
water 'phase' has bacterial growth which can lead to a fouls 'sour' smelling odor being emitted.
Thus, 'sour gas'.

You may have not had this smell but, it surely sounds like you have 'phase separation' of the
gasoline. At this point, my suggestion is... use it to start bonfires (like others have said).
 
That is interesting, sour gas in the natural gas industry refers to gas out of the wells with a lot of hydrogen sulfide on it.
 
I dumped a few gallons of old gas in my tractor. I will never do that again. The valves got so gummed up, and stuck open. I had to remove the valve cover, and try to free the valves in the guides. It took a long time to get it straightened out. Get rid of that stuff. Stan
 
David G- Yup, around here, locals call H2S in natural gas 'rotten gas' (like rotten eggs). The smell from old gasoline is different and seems to have a soured smell. No H2S.
 
From these comments is why I drive 40 miles round trip to buy totally ethanol free g.as in 50 gallon barrel for
tractor use. Try to buy winter gas.
 
>Try to buy winter gas.

Why would you want winter grade gas? In most parts of the country, winter gas has a higher vapor pressure than summer, which means it has a shorter shelf life.
 
It sounds like your ethanol added gas has soaked up enough water to have phase separation. Do not run it in an engine. I save bad gas for prewashing really dirty stuff before it goes into my parts washer
 
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