Gasoline disposal

The gasoline storage thread got me to thinking about this. I am about to pick up my freshly serviced Yamaha 15hp 2 stroke that was suffering from ethanol sickness. During my time of trying to heal that sickness, I had filled up the tank with fresh gas.....6 months ago!!!! So that gas ain't all that fresh anymore and I am certainly not going to try and run it through my freshly serviced engine. Where in the heck can you dispose of gasoline???? It seems as if gasoline(with oil mixed into it) is about as difficult to get rid of as old expired flares???...ie nobody has an answer. And I don't consider dumping it into my diesel tank an option.

On another note, my certified Yamaha engine repairman advised me to use aviation fuel from now on. He says it has no ethanol in it and it has a much longer shelf life. He said the only reason Yamaha cannot endorse this is due to the recent pollution legislation....FYI and FWIW!

Put it in a vehicle. That's what we do with all the left-over fuel in our Arima. I've siphoned out twenty gallons of fuel that was over a year old and put it in our vehicles that use regular and had no problems. It usually goes into a vehicle with a tank partially filled with fresh gas but I don't know if that makes any difference.

It's also possible to buy ethanol-free fuel. A grange store near us sells this from a normal drive-up pump and we've seen some Arco stations advertising ethanol-free fuel. We use it in our generator at home and will start using it in the Arima and for the GB's dinghy motor this year. It's a hell of a lot cheaper than avgas which around here tends to hover around $6 a gallon.

For future fuel you should know how much lead there is in 100 octane LL. We could'nt use it in ultralights as it was much too dirty.

Find a Union 76 station. I think they sell non-ethanol gasoline.

Old gas? I have always put all my old or questionable gas in my 85 Suburban.
Have a friend w an old car w no catalytic converter? The vehicle must be w/o catalytic converter.

manyboats said:

The vehicle must be w/o catalytic converter.

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I don't believe that's correct and Ive never heard any cautions to that effect. The gas might be old but it's not leaded. Every one of our vehicles, even the oldest ones from the 80s, have catalytic converters. Putting year-old unleaded fuel in them does not seem to have any effect on the converters in terms of the results of their emissions tests, which are required in King County until a vehicle is more than 25 years old.

Marin said:

Put it in a vehicle. That's what we do with all the left-over fuel in our Arima. I've siphoned out twenty gallons of fuel that was over a year old and put it in our vehicles that use regular and had no problems. It usually goes into a vehicle with a tank partially filled with fresh gas but I don't know if that makes any difference.

It's also possible to buy ethanol-free fuel. A grange store near us sells this from a normal drive-up pump and we've seen some Arco stations advertising ethanol-free fuel. We use it in our generator at home and will start using it in the Arima and for the GB's dinghy motor this year. It's a hell of a lot cheaper than avgas which around here tends to hover around $6 a gallon.

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I've done that dozens of times with no problems. But...

A buddy of mine just dumped 5 gals of year old dinghy gas (straight not oil-mix) in his girl friends BRAND new VW turbo when she came home on empty. All the warning lights came on and it shut itself down on the way to the station to fill it up. Finally got it started after topping off with fresh fuel and a trip to dealer got the Check Engine out.

Just saying.

Yes, I don't think I'll do this with the new pickup we just ordered although it most likely would be able to deal with it given the engine we're getting. But a vehicle with a very sophisticated engine and engine control system should probably not be fed old crappy fuel.

Our 2011 Subaru Forester has no problems with it but we always add the old fuel to new fuel. And we get rid of stored, treated gas within a year. Any older than that and I use it as a weed killer.

1) This has 2 stroke oil mixed in it!...I am NOT putting this gas mixture in my car...I'd put it in my boat before that but don't really want to do that.
2) Nobody has answered the question!...where to dispose.

I put it in the Jeep Grand Cherokee but always diluted with fresh fuel already in the tank. Did the same with 2T mixture - no problem. Bigger problem was when the gas tank leaked 10 gallons on an old center console 20ft. Figured safest option was to leave it to evaporate. Took about a week in the sun!!

That's it John ... old car.
Years ago I put lots of 24-1 mix gas in my 53 Chevy and never a problem.

Marin, all,
Re the no cat warning I assumed oil mix fuel.

Baker said:

1) This has 2 stroke oil mixed in it!...I am NOT putting this gas mixture in my car...I'd put it in my boat before that but don't really want to do that.
2) Nobody has answered the question!...where to dispose.

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All our outboards are four stroke or oil injected so we only buy regular gas. Didn't think about two-stroke premix. In our area there are hazardous waste disposal programs where you can get rid of old paint, fuel, oil, etc. They tend to have a cap on how much you can bring in at any given time, however. Some are sponsored by cities, some by the county.

Our marina has a pair of locked, fenced-in recycle stations for used oil, coolant, filters, and (I think) fuel. We dump our engine oil there but have never tried to take fuel there. Perhaps your marina or one in your area has a similar setup.

I had a friend who had a burn barrel on his property. He would sometimes put relatively small mounts of old chainsaw fuel in it along with yard waste.

Or... use it as a weed killer.

John, take the old fuel to your local waste-oil disposal company. They will charge you a couple dollars per gallon. Or you can spray your fence line for weeds, however, that's illegal and would keep it quite .

Marin said:

Our marina has a pair of locked, fenced-in recycle stations for used oil, coolant, filters, and (I think) fuel. We dump our engine oil there but have never tried to take fuel there. Perhaps your marina or one in your area has a similar setup.

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Most marinas in the area(not mine) have this type of setup but they prohibit the dumping of gasoline/fuel. Can you imagine a fire started/aided by gasoline and then get hot enough for all that oil to burn??? Quite a fire hazard!!

Regarding 2T mixture in autos, my old Jaguar XJ6 and my new Audi A6 both burned a significant amount of oil. The Audi burned about a qt every 2K miles even when new and it only got worse!! So, in my opinion, putting a gallon or two of 2T into several gallons of fresh gas should not make any difference to your car.

I dump all my gas, 2 cycle mix and straight into my 2005 Dodge truck. Never had an issue and don't expect to.

I had some old outboard fuel I didn't want to put in my serviced Merc 9.9. I put it in a new plastic gas can and accidentally left it on the grass out front where zillions of gardeners are doing neighborhood yards with 2 cycle trimmers, blowers and hedge cutters. I don't think it was even there for an hour.

John,

You might try: [FONT=verdana,modern]

Holcomb Oil Recycling
6228 Osprey Drive
Houston, TX 77048
[/FONT][FONT=verdana,modern]713-991-4005

They are near Hobby airport and I know they dispose of diesel. They might handle gasoline as well.

Good luck


[/FONT]

I think almost any lawn care company would be glad to take it off your hands.

healhustler said:

I had some old outboard fuel I didn't want to put in my serviced Merc 9.9. I put it in a new plastic gas can and accidentally left it on the grass out front where zillions of gardeners are doing neighborhood yards with 2 cycle trimmers, blowers and hedge cutters. I don't think it was even there for an hour.

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Hahaha!!! I like this!!!

And thanks for all the tips. I might accidentally leave it by the curb or maybe even put it in my truck.....8)

My friends and I take our old gas, and two or three trailer loads of christmas trees out to a local off road park every year for a New Years Eve bonfire. The sheriff on duty always enjoys the fire with us.

I suppose we qualify as rednecks

We recycle from 700 to 1,000 gallons of bad fuel each month. By recycle, we have a company come in and pick it up then they process it.
If you were in Florida we could help. Maybe call the local fire department.

Baker said:

The gasoline storage thread got me to thinking about this. I am about to pick up my freshly serviced Yamaha 15hp 2 stroke that was suffering from ethanol sickness. During my time of trying to heal that sickness, I had filled up the tank with fresh gas.....6 months ago!!!! So that gas ain't all that fresh anymore and I am certainly not going to try and run it through my freshly serviced engine. Where in the heck can you dispose of gasoline???? It seems as if gasoline(with oil mixed into it) is about as difficult to get rid of as old expired flares???...ie nobody has an answer. And I don't consider dumping it into my diesel tank an option.

On another note, my certified Yamaha engine repairman advised me to use aviation fuel from now on. He says it has no ethanol in it and it has a much longer shelf life. He said the only reason Yamaha cannot endorse this is due to the recent pollution legislation....FYI and FWIW!

Click to expand...

manyboats has a special epa approved disposal plant for old gasoline.

aviation fuel is expensive

Chrisjs said:

Regarding 2T mixture in autos, my old Jaguar XJ6 and my new Audi A6 both burned a significant amount of oil. The Audi burned about a qt every 2K miles even when new and it only got worse!! So, in my opinion, putting a gallon or two of 2T into several gallons of fresh gas should not make any difference to your car.

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Your Jag oil use would be on top of the leaks.
I disposed of some old mixed 2 stoke recently, next time it can go in a car. 2 litres of 1:50 mix into 60 litres can`t be a problem. Good idea.

Old gasoline does not get 'dirty' from age. what happens is the more aromatic components evaporate leaving a lower octane gasoline. So what to do with the stuff? I have been riding snowmobiles for the past 40 years. These have all been 2 cycles. High performance 2 cycles do not tolerate low octane gas. If you run last years gas that has dropped several points in octane rating since bought, you risk a pre-igintion (spark knock) condition that can melt down an engine in short order. So what to do? We have been using Ethanal here in the Midwest for many many years. The alcohol that raises the Octane rating has a few unladylike properties. It absorbs water and it evaporates faster than the gas it is desolved into. What have I learned to do with it? use it in a vehicle, here I mix it into a quantity of fresh gas. I have been known to buy a quantity of premium gas to average the octane rating in the good range. This goes into the sled and I don't push the limits of performance for the first tank of fuel. An interesting reality in the snow belts of the midwest, You could buy Premium grade to mix with the the low octane old fuel. This is a perfect theory except for the fact that the people who live in the snow belts are not inherently wealthy, and don't buy premium gasoline. As a result, if you buy, you risk getting water. The water is far worse that low octane. So buy your premium gas at home where the volume is higher and avoid it in the bush. So what do you do with the stuff? burn it in vehicle, premix oil and all. burn it in the lawn tractor, mower, snowblower, or older car or truck. Mix it with fresh high octane stuff and continue to do what you have always done. In my experience the resistance to ethanol far exceeds the risk. Disclaimer: I am a retired John Deere guy, I have benifitted by the effects of ethanol production for several years. I will have 39 years with JD this spring. 36 at retirement and 3 since working as a consultant. Ethanol has a bad rap that doesn't have a basis in fact from where I sit. It is very hard on old formulation rubber and plastic. But that has been remediated in past years.
4 strokes and watercooled 2 strokes aren't all that close to melt down that old gas matters. If I could I would take all the 'old gas' that was offered and use it. Modern computer controlled 4 strokes (and 2 strokes)have systems in place to deal with low octane fuel

You can dispose of diesel in with used oil. You're not supposed to put gasoline in there though.

LarryM said:

John,

You might try:

[FONT=verdana,modern]Holcomb Oil Recycling[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,modern]6228 Osprey Drive[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,modern]Houston, TX 77048[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,modern]713-991-4005[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana,modern]They are near Hobby airport and I know they dispose of diesel. They might handle gasoline as well.[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana,modern]Good luck[/FONT]

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CPseudonym said:

My friends and I take our old gas, and two or three trailer loads of christmas trees out to a local off road park every year for a New Years Eve bonfire. The sheriff on duty always enjoys the fire with us.

I suppose we qualify as rednecks

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You suppose?

Chrisjs said:

Regarding 2T mixture in autos, my old Jaguar XJ6 and my new Audi A6 both burned a significant amount of oil. The Audi burned about a qt every 2K miles even when new and it only got worse!! So, in my opinion, putting a gallon or two of 2T into several gallons of fresh gas should not make any difference to your car.

Click to expand...

Absolutely right. I have always done this with old fuel mixed or oil free. Diluted with at least a quarter tank of good gas, it will not harm anything. You don't even see smoke. So really no major issue at all.

Baker said:

. Nobody has answered the question!...where to dispose.

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Most parts of the country have hazardous waste disposal depots. An Internet search should help you locate one in your area.

Just about every large town in my area (Ct) has a place to dispose of old fuel. So do many businesses who use waste oil for heat. My son is one of those and would accept a small amount of old gas mixed in with his waste oil, brake fluid, etc.

Baker, I put my left over lawn mower gas and my gas/oil mix for the outboard in my Ford F 250 2009 gas truck. Every season, been doing this for years. I do make sure that I have about a one half tank of gas in the truck.
My experience, YMMV
CCC

Posted by Chrisjs;

"Quote:
Originally Posted by Chrisjs
Regarding 2T mixture in autos, my old Jaguar XJ6 and my new Audi A6 both burned a significant amount of oil. The Audi burned about a qt every 2K miles even when new and it only got worse!! So, in my opinion, putting a gallon or two of 2T into several gallons of fresh gas should not make any difference to your car."

Jaguar, Audi and others have rings that leave considerably more oil on the cylinder than domestic cars to reduce wear. Most Americans think burning oil is a sin so domestic cars hardly use any. In this regard it's clear to me that the buying public is designing the car .. not the engineers. In this way I'd much rather burn oil.