old gas

[island guy]

I'm sure this has been dealt with before but........I have mixed gas left over from last winter for my auger. Any problem with using it? Should I also drain the tank on the auger? Start fresh?

[DinkADunk]

drain it and start fresh

[Ufatz]

Start fresh. Save yourself a lot of grief. It took me a while to learn this: don't use ANY gas that is more than 3-months old and DON'T use anything but higher octance premium gas in any small engine.Period.

We also add SeaFoam to ALL gas for small engines. I guess some people disagree with this last part.

Have fun. Srart fresh-start every time!!

[New Yankee]

I'm not wanting to start a arguement, but what benefit does using premium have over regular when the small engines I have don't require it? Seems the higher octane would result in incomplete combustion and potentially increase carbon deposits.

I agree with the rest of your thought!

[upnorth]

Any gas I mix for the auger I start out with stabil. You never know how long you are gonna have the stuff. I know a guy who is using 3 year gas he put stabil in right off the bat and he has absolutely no problems with it. I don't know if I would go that far, but a full season, heck yeah.

[DinkADunk]

It's not the higher octane that we want, it's the lack of ethanol. Fresh non-ethanol gas mixed with Stabil (I add it to the gas can before I fill up) will last at least a year and maybe useful for longer periods. I'm changing over to the Sabre Professional oil so that I can run my auguer, chain saw, and 2-stroke yard tools off of the same gas/oil mixture. I won't have any problems with old gas.

[BIG DS]

Yes start fresh. Find a gas station that handles non-oxygenated fuel and use that. Otherwise stay with the lowest octane rating possible. Stabil will not stop gas from going bad, it only slows it down. Keep in mind, anything you add to your fuel, other than the oil, will add to a lean burn condition in your 2 stroke and could cause damage. Most 2 cycle oils already contain some type of fuel stabilizer so why add more?

[Ufatz]

Yeah....no argument with any of the comments. I only stated what works for us. I simply don't fool around with old gas of ANY kind any more. And especially the "new" miracle stuff. Like others, I start with Sea Foam in the tank before I add the gas (and oil if needed) I may use Stabil for overwintering an engine. I'm no mechanice, fuel expert or engine rebuilder. But I do know that dealing with small engines today is NOT as easy as it used to be. We ALL just have to pay more attention. And you fellas with the three year old gas.....the great spirit beams down on you. Ha!