It's been about three-and-a-half weeks now since I filled up a couple 5-gallon containers in anticipation of power outages during a winter storm. Since I'm a dumb dumb, I did not add stabilizer at the time, but I do have some Seafoam stabilizer on hand.

I understand fuel degrades over time and running degraded fuel can damage engine parts. Should I pour the fuel into my vehicle or will that gum up my car's engine? Is it still worth adding stabilizer today so that I can continue to store it in my garage for a rainy day? The only other responsible alternative I can think of is taking it to a hazardous disposal site in my county. It's octane rating 87, I believe it also has ethanol, in case that makes any difference.

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[โ€“] 18 points 8 months ago* (2 children)

If you are concerned about it, you can mix 5 gallons at a time in your car with the remainder being fresh gas. I.e. if you have a 15 gallon tank, use 10 gallons of new gas with 5 of old.

3 weeks isn't all that long though, its probably fine as long as you didn't leave the cap off.

What kind of car is it potentially going in?

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  • [โ€“] [S] 6 points 8 months ago (1 child)

    Thanks for weighing in. It would be going into a Mazda 3 or a Honda CRV.

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  • If they are non turbo, it should be fine. If they are turbo cars, run premium for the new fuel and use a minimum 3 to 1 ratio of new to old fuel just to be safe.

    Really, 3 weeks is fine but I don't want to lead you astray and cause problems here lol. I'd run it though.

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