Old E85 In Tank.. Bad?

Speedfreak · 03-22-2012

What are peoples thoughts on shelf life of E85? Meaning how long before it's bad(in tank or out), or not something to worry about? Believe it absorbs water correct?

My gut says the stuff in the dsm is junk, but curious what others have read, or had experience with.

FYI, I just realized I didn't drive the dsm last summer.. which means it's been sitting since Nov 2010 with the same E85. Basically last April I started the car up for the season and went down the block, car ran like shit, I parked it, and never got back to it(a that point, the fuel would have been 5 months old). Wondering if its likely the fuel? Being lazy because I think it's almost a full tank of bad E85 I'd have to drain if so.

dsmghost · 03-22-2012

I would definitly drain it out.

Fran05 · 03-22-2012

E85 biodegrades just like food. The car will probably run, but like poop. I would def. drain it.

**CornFed2.4** · 03-22-2012

Also say drain it. Mine did the same thing and that was also like 5 months. I only had a few gallons in mine though so I grabbed a gas can got some new stuff. I babies the car till the next complete fill up I could do.

turbotalon1g · 03-23-2012

Drain it, before the start of each season I drain it, and you can see the extra water content in the fuel.

I usually put stabil in each winter, and just dump it all out and throw it in my beater.

**Kracka** · 03-23-2012

In a sealed container E85 is good for quite a while (railcar, storage tank, etc.), but sitting in a fuel tank I wouldn't trust it much past 6 months to a year, max.

**Goat Blower** · 03-23-2012

You could always put the old stuff in a container, then mix in a gallon of the old piss with some good new stuff. That's what I was doing with that 55-gallon drum of E98 I had.

I should check with Ron, I gave that barrel to him last year, it was about 2 years old.

Speedfreak · 03-23-2012

Drain it it is. I'm also leaning toward it being the fuel being the issue of it running rough, and then not starting at all. I'll drain, refill, and see how it goes. I'll have to do the same in the other car as well I just realized.. Gonna have a lot of crap E85 to dispose of somehow.

**Shane@DBPerformance** · 03-23-2012

I let E98 sit in my 1G for almost a year. It took some work to get it to start again, but it did eventually.

**Halon** · 03-23-2012

Save that old e85, i'll dump it into the Envoy !!

Speedfreak · 03-23-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halon

Save that old e85, i'll dump it into the Envoy !!

Done.

**Goat Blower** · 03-24-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Speedfreak

Done.

Damn, my Tahoe drinks that piss as well.

**Halon** · 03-25-2012

Lol, or I bet your montero would drink it up!

FattyBoomBatty · 03-25-2012

My car has had e85 sitting in it for probably around 5 months and I just started it today. It idled fine, but I didn't drive it.

awdxtc · 04-01-2012

Ethanol is very hygroscopic in nature...draw your own conclusions. I would drain it, or maybe add dry gas.

2Point3TSi · 04-01-2012

This question actually comes up a lot since it isn't readily available down here and people like to bulk up on it. We found in a sealed 55 gallon drum you can expect 60-90 days just like gasoline. Same for in the tank. Once moisture starts to build up you run into problems.