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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.
What everybody has said here. I've got cans that have gas from years ago between the boat, weedeater, lawn mower motor cycle etc. I keep a little shy of 20 gallons on hand and cycle through it first in first out. That run just fine in anything I put it in. The 2 cycle mixed gas is the worst offender as I use so little of it it might take me years to make it through a gallon.
That said three weeks is nothing. The gas I put in the chainsaw two weeks ago had been in the can since the last administration, and it cranked up and ran without fail for hours, the only time it quit was when it ran out.
Yep same here.
Biggest thing to worry about is leaving gas that has ethanol in it, in the tank/carburetor of your small engine machines. It gunks up the carb and wreaks all kinds of havoc.
So I run rec gas only, in those machines, personally. There might be other solutions, but this has been simple and foolproof for me. Hasn't failed me yet.
If I knew the ethanol gas would be replaced with rec gas in the next few months, I'd run it. But thus far I've not taken the risk.