Try to siphon 1.5 or add 9 gallons "new" gas to car sitting for 8 mos.?

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

1995 Honda Del Sol VTEC: She hasn’t been started for 8 months.
She only has ⅛ of an 11 gallon gas tank and I’m concerned about the gas in the tank being gross, and gross gasoline is just that - gross.
Should I:
A) siphon as much as possible and then add fresh gasoline?
B) add fresh gasoline and push the car back and forth to mix it with the old?
C) something else
Thank you, HB
(Please don’t scold me about leaving her sitting there for so long without first filling the tank and adding a fuel additive. I am berating myself enough for everyone.)

2

Remove the gas cap and take whiff at the fill tube.

If it still smells like gas just add more.

If it smells like varnish, the fuel tank and fuel system needs to cleaned.

Tester

2 Likes
3

Difficult to say on the gas condition. At 8 months it should be ok but I have seen some that was garbage in 4 or 5 months.

I would suggest just adding at least 5 gallons of fresh gas along with a container of SeaFoam or Berryman B-12 and have at it.

Don’t worry about pushing the car back and forth. The act of pouring fresh gas into the tank will mix it just fine and don’t beat yourself up over this.
Everyone, and that includes even the most experienced pro mechanics, has made mistakes/oversights from minor to major league WTH were they thinking screwups. Myself included.

6 Likes
4

8 months is really not that long. Although I would run it monthly, my one car sat for a year or more without refreshing the gas. I liked to keep the tank full though to minimize the air in the tank. So yeah, sniff it, add some fresh and start er up.

1 Like
5

SeaFoam doesn’t restore bad gas.

It prevents gas from going bad.

Tester

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6

I think you’ll be ok with just adding new gas to dilute the old gas with one that has been sitting only 8 months.

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7

Thank you for the input!
The “whoosh” of air when I removed the gas cap smelled like gasoline.
I’m going to add a lot of gas.
The car has 100,000 miles and I love her.
I don’t want to start an in-depth discussion about fuel additives, but if you think using Berryman B-12 Chemtool Carburetor, Fuel System And Injector Cleaner (following the directions) will HURT her please reply.
(I’m not concerned about whether it helps or is useless.)
Thank you again.

8

I always add SeaFoam as a fuel additive when needed.

Tester

1 Like