Petrol "Best Before Date" and advice on draining

[Split_Pin]

It now looks more than likely that I shall have the funds to put the Astra back on the road thanks to a wee bonus at work and a kind loan from FathaL.

 

So, the last time it had any fuel was August 2012.

 

It's been in a warm dry garage ever since and I have a few questions to fire at you good people. Please turn over your papers now and begin....

 

1) Will it be ok to just dilute the existing 1/4 tank with fresh OR should I drain it out. The latter would have been pimps until recently as my mate was an AA fuel tech but as he's now moved on he doesn't have the gear. So, whats the best way to do this and how? LAYMANS TERMS PLZ.

 

2) Oil and coolant were changed last January (2013). I am comfortable to keep the latter for a bit longer but what about the oil? The car's only been warmed up about 3 or 4 times on it. Ok to keep for a bit?

 

3) What the deal with taxing it? Looks like I will have to drive to the Mot station and then straight to the Post Office?

 

Any help will be much appreciated!

[lovejoy]

Well, I just drained about 3 galleons of old gasoline from the tank of a Charade that has stood since 2005,

and my 4stroke "Mastercunt" Lawnmower works perfectly well on it... !   It did look a bit like dark honey though,

but not syrupy at all.

I would just bung in a much new fuel as you can, give the car a good  cocktail shake, and off you go to the mothouse... 

(not sure what other purists on here might say about that though....)

[Bobthebeard]

Well, I just drained about 3 galleons on old gasoline from the tank of a Charade that has stood since 2005,

and my 4stroke "Mastercunt" Lawnmower works perfectly well on it... !   It did look a bit like dark honey though,

but not syrupy at all.

I would just bung in a much new fuel as you can, give the car a good  cocktail shake, and off you go to the mothouse... 

(not sure what other purists on here might say about that though....)

Have done similar in the past. Just added new fuel to the old and nothing bad happened. Exhaust fumes a bit smelly for a while but that was all really. The old fuel was around two/three years old, probably around four gallons of old stuff diluted by £25 of new.

[retrogeezer]

christ knows what's in my Fezza that's been garaged since 2002 but I just stick a fresh gallon in when it needs it each time I fire it up which is 2 or 3 times a year. Never had any probs whatsoever.

[Richard]

If it still smells like petrol it should be fine. I

[lisbon_road]

I read a story about an old coach in Malta.  It was buried in rubble for I think over 30 years.  The chassis was extracted to be restored.  They drained the oil out of the engine, had a look at it, deemed it ok and put it back.

 

I think all above will be ok. 

[richardmorris]

Older petrol lasts better than current unleaded. The ethanol in E5 unleaded is rather hygroscopic (absorbs water) and can aid bacterial growth. 1/4 tank should be ok if you dilute it though.

[brickwall]

Aye, for me it was a case of mixing with fresh stuff and away you go.

[Split_Pin]

Perfect, I'll get a jerry can or two and fill them up or might see if I can borrow FathaL's super crafty syphoning kit* and just fill up the corsa then take it from that!

 

Cheers chaps!

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

I put my car back on the road a couple of months back. There were about 10 litres of petrol in it dating from late 2012. The car started and ran fine - though the exhaust smelled a bit strange.

 

No problems driving to the petrol station round the corner from my house, though. The car just ran as normaI. I filled it up then MOT'd it without a problem. The emissions were bloody close though.

[gordonbennet]

Just as well, if you do decide to drain it Astras are awkward but not impossible, you won't get usually a pipe down the neck, you have to lift the rear seat, prise up the big plastic cover and there's the prize the sender unit looking at you, depending on model it might have 6 x 8mm bolts (easy) or a bloody great sprung ring that you have to tap round with screw driver to release, worse case the sender itself is shaped to turn, that one can be a tight bastard.

 

Once the sender is lifted slightly you can slide a pipe in past it right into the bottom of the tank, note there is a bloody great rubber O ring that sits 'tween sender and tank, the only way to get the soddin sender back in with O ring seated proper is to wet it with some spit or a wipe of something else slippery...ooer missus.

[Cavcraft]

Take it out and put it in my 306 diesel. Thank you. 

[Split_Pin]

We had to do that with my Vectra, wasn't too bad to do TBH but it sounded like an A-Level faff doing it myself without the proper gear.