Gas disposal?

[bigdog]

I need to drain all the gas in my boat tank. The tank is below the deck, and hold about 35 gallons. Half the tank's gas is about 18 mo old. I performed a test on the gas and there's definitely a large ethanol phase separation.

That said, my plan is to pump out all the gas, and start with fresh.
Now the question is 'what do I do with 35 gal of gas' ?

I have discussed with various marinas around the lake, and they've said they
would pump out the tank at their standard hourly rate, plus the cost of gas disposal. They're quoting me disposal cost per gallon, anywhere
between $8-9 per gallon ! This is ridiculous!

If I do the math that would cost me $280-325+/- just for the gas disposal, plus the cost to pump-out.

Does anyone on the Forum know where I could dispose of this amount of gas at a reasonable cost?

Thanks,
Bigdog

[Kamper]

Put an ad in Craigslist. People will take it for their lawn-mowers and such. If you want to be nice you can drain out the first few gallons because that will have the most crap in it. I don't know what you are going to do with that. Maybe use it to start your bonfires - a little at a time!

Good luck!

[fatlazyless]

Find someone with a flex fuel vehicle like a Ford Escape and offer to give it to them for free, and toss in a 20-dollar tip just to be a good guy.

Maybe you want to google "flexible fuel vehicles in the United States-Wikipedia".

[chipj29]

If the fuel has indeed separated, I would not use it in any vehicle, period. That is just asking for trouble.

With that said, I would ask your local auto mechanic if they have a way to dispose of the bad fuel.

[no-engine]

I think State or DOT or environmental protection agency would be a place to inquire.
Various town recycling stations have hazardous waste days. However, they are designed for general household waste of paints electrical appliances, etc.

Make some calls.

[fatlazyless]

...how's this sound.....add a 13-dollar gallon of brite red www.marvelmysteryoil.com from walmart to your thirty five gallon, old-bad-gas mix just to strengthen the brew .... and then give it all away to boaters with two-stroke outboards .... I betcha a two-stroke outboard could run good on this stuff .... putt-putt-putt! ... and run a classified ad for free gas suitable* for two-strokes?

You know the Marine Patrol in Gilford runs a lot of 150-hp two-stroke Mercury outboards and they have a full time boat mechanic....so maybe he would take it all for MP use if it is free? Anyway, you could ask him what he thinks about running this stuff through a two-stroke.

[dippasan]

Check with the transfer station in your town if you have one.
I know that the transfer station in my town takes old fuel and stores it in 55 gal drums. It eventually gets picked up for disposal/recycling. I brought in about 15 gallons one time that I had pumped out of my boat. No charge!

[chipj29]

...how's this sound.....add a 13-dollar gallon of brite red www.marvelmysteryoil.com from walmart to your thirty five gallon, old-bad-gas mix just to strengthen the brew .... and then give it all away to boaters with two-stroke outboards .... I betcha a two-stroke outboard could run good on this stuff .... putt-putt-putt! ... and run a classified ad for free gas suitable* for two-strokes?

You know the Marine Patrol in Gilford runs a lot of 150-hp two-stroke Mercury outboards and they have a full time boat mechanic....so maybe he would take it all for MP use if it is free? Anyway, you could ask him what he thinks about running this stuff through a two-stroke.
This is the worst advice ever. A 2-stroke motor is more prone to cause engine damage from bad gas than a 4-stroke. I have seen it first hand.

[Cal]

I had back surgery may of 2012 that had my boat shrinkwrapped from 10/11 till 5/13 with over 100 gallons of E10 gas. I topped the tank off and it only took 24 gallons. Well, I had it out last weds and the sat. before that and it ran fine. Ran about 50 miles and alls well. So if you can't unload your gas add a can or two of dry gas and go for it! My two 540s sucked up that 87 octane gas and never even burped:)

[codeman671]

I took gas out of a wakeboard boat that got water in the tank and burned it in my vehicle. It did not like it, but with a few bottles of dry gas dumped in it was fine.

I have used it to start campfires as well, although I am sure someone will :fire: flame me for it!

[upthesaukee]

I have used it to start campfires as well, although I am sure someone will :fire: flame me for it!

:eek:I did not read that:eek:and I am sure you are careful:eek:but I did not read that:eek:and don't want to know about it:eek:so I did not read that.:eek::D

[ApS]

This is the worst advice ever. A 2-stroke motor is more prone to cause engine damage from bad gas than a 4-stroke.
I have seen it first hand.
:confused:...'might have missed the part of FLL's suggestion of adding Marvel Mystery Oil—an amazing HD additive—as U. S. Navy folks will tell you.

:cool:

[chipj29]

:confused:...'might have missed the part of FLL's suggestion of adding Marvel Mystery Oil—an amazing HD additive—as U. S. Navy folks will tell you.

:cool:

I am sure it is great stuff, but I am not sure that it can bring old separated fuel back to life. Personally I wouldn't trust it, but that's me.

[ishoot308]

I am sure it is great stuff, but I am not sure that it can bring old separated fuel back to life.

It can't...once fuel has phase separated there is no bringing it back, it's junk and should be discarded.

[fatlazyless]

....mystery oil is brite red, smells like peppermint, and looks like red wine....engines loves the stuff except it does not mix with synthetics... ?

[bigdog]

Just found out my town's DPW will be having 2 hazardous waste removal days over the summer, and will take gas, any quantity, no questions asked ! Also found a DPW employee who will take my gas, no questions, and says he will burn in his farm tractor.
Until I can discard the gas by one of the methods just described, going to continue to use my auxiliary gas tank, as it seem to work fine!

Speaking of which.........
After recently running the boat, I put back on trailer, and dragged back to storage facility. Several days later, I went back to the boat to check on some things...... I picked up the auxiliary gas tank, and it was empty ! It should has still had at least 2/3 gas left in tank! I told the storage facility manager about this, and they said it may have been stolen, as earlier in the season, another boat owner reported stolen gas, and electronics off his boat.

OK, stolen gas.... Can understand why someone doing that with the cost of gas :(....
But why didn't the thief just tank the tank and all ? A thief with principals ? :)

Anyway was talking to my local marine tech, and happened to mention about what I though a gas theft. He asked me if my OB engine was tilted in the 'up' position? I always store engine in this position, so do most other folks.
He stated that the gas could have actually drained out through the engine as a result of a possible stuck needle valve in one of the carbs? He said he's seen this happen before. Now I'm talking a VERY knowledgeable marine tech, with a well respected name
in the lakes region, who really knows his stuff !

I've never heard of gas leakage in this manner? Is this possible?
So if this is true, then placing the engine in the 'down' position would not have drained the gas? Doesn't make sense to me?

Assuming I do have a stuck needle valve in carb? How does one 'unstick'? Seafoam? FYI, I previously cleaned all 4 carbs with carb spray cleaner thoroughly, short of taking carbs out of engine.

Last.......
NTS, when one buys a used boat, do all your homework first, and get a qualified marine tech to assess, before making the purchase.

Should have held on to last boat, as I worked all the bugs out of that one before I sold it ! :(

Thanks for your feedback as always.......

Bigdog

[Kamper]

I had a lawn tractor that drained out after the floats were compromised. Rebuilding carbs is an easy job, if needed.

[Rich]

I just took out about 47 gals of gas from one of my two tanks.

My mechanic said he didn't think it was phase separation, but just water.

I removed the gas, and had almost 2.5 gals of water. Now I have removed the water and have all the gas in about 10 5 gallon gas cans. It was easy to remove the water once the gas was out of the boat's fuel tank.

So how does one test for phase separation?

If the gas I have is good, then i can use it in my car.

Of course, I still haven't figured out how I got water in just ONE tank. I know where I purchased that load of gas, but still, how did I get it in one tank and not the other? Of course it could have been a loose gas cap, or bad o-ring, but I doubt it as I double check these all the time. It could be from my cleaning that side of the boat too vigorously as that is the dock side.

So, how does one test the gas for phase separation to know if it's good or not?

[HellRaZoR004]

Rich - I'm not sure but I'm curious as to why you checked, were the engines not running right?

[Rich]

Yes, my starboard engine wasn't running right about a week after buying some fuel.

The mechanic took out the fuel filter and checked it in a clear glass container and found it about 1/2 full of water. After two or three more filters worth of water, he looked at the gas and it looked clear, but there was plenty of water.

I hand pumped out the gas through the fuel level sender port using a tube to be sure to suck the fuel from the bottom of the tank and ended up with about 47 gallons of water.

I then used some black food coloring to tint the water in the gas cans, which made it very easy to siphon it out of the gas cans. Now I have separated the gas from the water.

Next thing I'm trying to do is to find out how useful the remaining gas is. I have about 45 gallons of it sitting in 5 gal cans. Want to buy some? LOL

[Kamper]

My 2cents:

Let it settle in the cans for a few more days then siphon out any water that goes to the bottom. It will probably be okay for anything but add in some stabilser and use in your lawn equipment. If no issues there, add in a gallon or two to your other vehicles' tanks until it's all gone.

Good luck!

[Rich]

Yes, this is my plan! :D

If you ever have to do this, adding the black food coloring (about 10 drops in each 5 gallon gas can) made it VERY easy to spot the water on the bottom, so you know exactly what you need to siphon off.

The black food coloring (or any other dark color) only combined with the water on the bottom. It didn't combine with the gasoline at all. It sure made the job of separating/removing the water very easy.