– The real facts

This issue, on the tail end of what has occurred on the East Coast, is one that has caused many people to throw out some very unsubstanciated information as facts, and could cause a lot of you to invest in a store of gas that WILL become virtually useless. The facts are as follows, 100% gas will store for years, however, that is NOT what you are putting in your vehicles. In 1990's about 10% of the nations gas went to an ethanol mix (in 1980 referred to as gasohol), at the end of 2008 it was up to 70%, and at the end of 2012 this figure jumps to nearly 100%. While a NON-ethanol mix gas can be found in a few states, your chances of finding it fall somewhere between zip and zero.

So lets talk about what you can get and it's storage life – about 90 days max unless it is treated by you with a gas stablizer. In simple terms, this is because the ethanol (which is about 10% of the fuel, referred to as E10) grabs water and moisture from wherever it can – this causes PHASING or a separation of the ethanol and petrolium mixture, what sits at the bottom of the container is a water ethanol mix, and on top the petrolium layer, which also is what some refer to as stale or useless as the phasing process and other gas additives also breaks it down.

Once phasing or separation of the gas has taken place, you need to dispose of it, as even trying to use the top layer (the petrolium part) could cause some very corrosive damage to engines. Please do not pour it out on the ground as this will seep down into the water table and contamate ground water that you might eventually need.

On a happer note, there are gas stabilizers on the market that you can easily get ahold of to extend the “shelf life” of your gas. A few are Sta-bil, Star Tron, PRI G, PRI D and Bell Performance – as well as some by the same companies classified as for marine use (I would think a stabilizer developed for use around water would be better). In checking I have found that many auto stores, Walmart and boating specific stores carry these items and costs vary.

While diesel fuels are different, they also have a short shelf life – they are subject to fungus, bacteria and a wide range of issues that if you wish to store it you need to know could also cause extensive engine damage. Luckily they also have stabilizers for diesel fuel and they are also fairly easy to find.

Any fuel stabilizer that you choose to use, should list on the container the length of time it extends your fuel till, keep in mind that while bad fuel might start that engine, and you might even be able to run it a tank at a time through your vehicle, that it is happily eating away at gaskets, pitting pistons and in general slowly killing your engine.

***** Dry gas is NOT a stabilizer, it is a quick fix only for moisture in your gas tank and gas lines.

***** Only store petrolium products in containers approved for that purpose.