How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

I have been helping get two old cars running that have sat for a long time. The gasoline in one was very black and stinky. I have 10 gallons of it. I now have the problem of trying to get rid of the gasoline. One option is to add it to the regular gasoline in my Model A, at about 10%, and burn it up. I don't want to just dump it on the ground or do any other stupid thing.

Any suggestions?

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

I wouldnt use it, if in fact it is really old.

What about an old oil drop off?

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Most NC counties do semi-annual hazardous waste collection events. That’s how I get rid of that stuff. Wilkes County may not, but almost certainly an adjacent county does.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Do not run it in another vehicle.

My county recycles used motor oil. I think I would put it in there.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

See if a local garage will take it.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Oil and fuel mix pretty well and both are components of basic crude oil so mixing it in will make it usable after further distillation. Most shops put all mineral and synthetic waste oil in the same sump for reclamation. It's common now days.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Mix the bad gasoline with some new gasoline and use the mixture in your lawn mower.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Yes, Kill that lawnmower, it just gives you grief!

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Gas is $5 a gallon - put it on Craig's List as ethanol free vintage gasoline for $2 a gallon and someone will come buy it.....

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

I put it, at about half and half, in my tractor. I also put in MMO, always. It'll take forever to burn 10n gl. in a lawn mower.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

I have a waste oil furnace that I bought new in 1986,I will blend old gas in,on a regular basis,but I will NOT dump 10 gallons into my 230 gallon tank.It can get pretty interesting when that furnace picks up a pocket of old gas that didn't blend,makes lots of noise and the whole building shakes.The town here takes old oil,but it has to be handed to the attendant to be poured in and inspected.If they smell gas,or any solvents you take it back.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

29-youve got the right idea!

never put a good capitalistic thought to waste!

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Black and stinky ? Will it even burn ? Contact you local municipality and ask them !

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Black and stinky? Are you sure it's not leaded gas? I've taken old gas out of a lot of old cars but never had anything darker than burnt orange for unleaded. And if it is leaded, especially if it's bad leaded gas, I wouldn't burn it in any modern engine.

I've only seen one car in my life that had a good tank and leaded gas. Surprisingly the car had no issue running on the 40 year old stuff...

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

I was using old gas in the lawnmower but whenever it got to the tall thick grass it had spark knock—- I put it in the A and went to the steepest hill around here and tried full throttle and advance from 5 mph in 3rd,crested at 45 and no knocking,continued to drive until it was gone ( had a gallon of fresh gas with me)
The really bad stuff got mixed with used transmission oil and burned in the mercedes diesel,I was using old antifreeze jugs to collect it,once the next day I realized that a whole gallon of antifreeze got dumped into the tank and I panicked, opened the drains on the tank and filter —- it was all gone, burned just fine,I could put 25% gasoline and 2 quarts oil in that car,it was one of the best cars I have owned,sold it for a 1000$ more than I paid for it after driving it 100,000 miles

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

I would be tempted to dump a couple of gallons in my car and see what it would do. Mixed in with new gas is still probably better than what was used 90 years ago.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

I used to get free gas from a big marina here. The insurance company required them to drain the tank before going into the shop. So, once a summer I would get a 55 gallon drum. A mix, some old, some 2stroke, some water to separate, etc. I would put about 2 gallons at a time in with a tank of new gas. Ran fine, no trouble in A's, T's, old tractors etc. I would not run it in modern cars but the old motors did not mind a bit

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Cut with diesel/used oil and use to get your burn pile going.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

It makes good fire ant killer.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

I am not a fan of dumping it in the local auto parts store's recycle tank. The local NAPA stores used to take old oil back, and now they do not. The story I got was someone dumped either brake fluid, or gasoline in the tank. When the truck unloaded at the refinery plant the concentrations were evidently high enough that it kinda blew their equipment. ($10,000)

The fact that it is already black tells me it is pretty far gone (over 10 years old) Find out who their pickup company is and call them, or better yet stop over there. Talking to a person at the auto parts store any more is like talking to a brick wall, that just wants to make problems of their day go away. Even the managers are not real managers, and hardly even know about parts.

You need to find out the real way to deal with this, or you will ruin the program for everyone. Everyone includes you.

When I managed datacenters, we had our fuel oil dealer come pump out are old diesel fuel, and take it back. Then we bought fresh stuff. Consider stopping by and asking one of them. BTW, we paid for that service. Paying to get rid of it is way cheaper than an EPA fine, or a visit to the burn ward. Also, they sometimes use this chemical in gasoline called (EBT) tersherary buetal ethenol. About 1 pint of that will pollute an entire communities water supply for like 50 years.

Do the right thing, because if you don't you could be broke for life.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

I've always been taught: One gallon of bad, old gas added to nine gallons of new, good gas equals ten gallons of bad gas. Simple chemistry. LRF

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Roasted fire ants could be a bit tangy.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Maybe the black gas is from a gas tank sealer that someone used in the tank?

Sealer like maybe Black RTV?

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

This time of year I’d pour it into an oil drain pan or aluminum turkey roasting pan from the grocery store and let it evaporate. Any semi-liquid sludge left over can be absorbed into floor dry and disposed of as solid.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

I agree with Jay Jay, the amount of material evaporated is minuscule compared to what is pumped into our atmosphere by industry every day.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

I agree with you Ray.
My son is a merchant marine and the ships on the seas produce more crap then anyone.
He tells me 100 miles out, they burn any old crap all the way across the ocean, to run the diesels. No worries as to pollution.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Lots of potential answers here. The first place I would go is your local municipality and ask them what to do with it. Best to have it disposed of properly than improperly. As Ray says, it's a drop in the bucket, but every little bit disposed of properly helps.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Adding a bit to my earlier suggestion of evaporation, if you don’t want liquid hanging around while it evaporates, add a bunch of floor dry and then spread out the saturated floor dry on a drip pan and let it evaporate outside that way. Turn it regularly (say once a day). I’ve done this with gasoline, mineral spirits and with diesel. At the end you’ll have floor dry you can reuse. ♻️

I’ve had very poor luck actually running old gasoline in an engine. Totally fouled the carburetor in my generator by letting the fuel go stale. It’s the ethanol that does it. I did dilute a gallon of that fuel in the 20+ gallon tank of my pickup and it seemed ok, but in hindsight I won’t do that again.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

OK, I will be as polite as possible...

"The first place I would go is your local municipality and ask them what to do with it" No, I have had bad experience with engaging parties like the fire department, or the EPA for advice.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Agreed - In my experience government is very good at telling you what you cannot do but very poor in solving problems by telling you what you can do.

NK, did you think you would open up a can of worms this big? :(

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Pour it around the foundation of your outbuildings.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Spray it on your weeds

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

call your local refuse recycle place they will help. I see recycled oil waste and bags of dead batteries that people leave out on garbage pickup day, although you have 10 gallons to dispose of ..... do one quart at a time.... ?

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

FWIW, California Household Hazardous Waste program limits to 5 gal at a a time. So 10 gal is two days worth.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

The person behind the counter at my local Auto Zone which accepts used oil told me I could dump my old gasoline in the same tank.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

As for used oil, including a case of used oil being stolen - A Volvo specialist in Boston told me one of his eccentric clients (lots of them in Boston) insisted having his Mobil 1 synthetic oil changed 4x a year, even though the mileage was minuscule. When no amount of explanation changed the client’s mind, the shop owner just collected the barely- used oil and ran it in his own cars.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Hi Neal...Over here in Wake county we have three hazardous waste collection sites...I have 8 gallons of old gas from my car that I just emptied out of the tank into two containers...plan to take them over to my waste site on Saturday along with some old cans of paint and a few boxes of other old waste liquids...

Check your county's web site...surely you have something similar...if not always available maybe as Colin said there is a periodic collection...decades ago when I lived in Franklin County they had monthly collection points.

Re: How to get rid of old gasoline?
 

Cliff, Thanks for the advice. Wilkes county has no hazardous waste collection facility or periodic collection. There is a collection facility in West Jefferson in Ashe County and I will try there.

My friend Peter who lives in California in a touristy place has the same problem. He is going to try and park his 1985 Ford truck with the bad gasoline out by the highway in the hopes that the tourists will siphon the gasoline out to steal it.

Update: The facility in Ashe County does not accept hazardous waste from outside the county. I will try the one in Charlotte.