this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2026
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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.

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[โ€“] hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works 2 points 18 hours ago

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.