other Doesn't Gasoline Evaporate?

[svgarage]

So I'm doing a little preliminary dabbling on the 02, while I'm still getting my other affairs in order. Today after work I was going to try and pound the dent out of my gas tank. I unscrewed the trunk board and loosened the sender. When I lifted it out, gasoline started pouring out! The tank is still half full! Now this car has been sitting in my friend's garage non-op for 30 years! How is this possible?? That just blew my mind!

[arminyack]

Sealed gas tank; it just held up very well.

[TobyB]

Now that you've added air, it's going to start stinking pretty darned soon.  Get that stuff out of the 2002 and into a Chebby and burn it up, stat!

 

t

 

[Son of Marty]

Old gas is why I always buy a lawn mower with a Briggs and Straton engine they will run on anything that resembles gas even if it's 30 years old

[dang]

I got rid of three 55/gal drums of old gas one time when we had a bonfire.  I dipped 5/gal buckets in the drums and threw it on the fire... took several hours to burn.  The fuel on the top of the drums burned really hot and the fuel at the bottom barely burned.  Those were the days!

[TobyB]

I did that a few years back with 2 55's- but instead, I ran 'em through the '69, which had an 8:1 engine in it.

 

Drove for free all winter on a friend's old, nasty boat fuel.  Which worked fine- I just changed the fuel filter a

couple of times, and used an EFI filter for good measure.

 

t

 

[jireland2002]

Put gas in a drinking glass.  Pour it out.  Wash the glass and dry it.  Throw a match into the glass.

[Guest_anonymous]

Maybe it's all water, and that's why the car was sidelined.....like Jeff said throw match into the gas tank after you put a drinking glass in it

[svgarage]

1 minute ago, daron said:

Maybe it's all water, and that's why the car was sidelined.....like Jeff said throw match into the gas tank after you put a drinking glass in it

At this point, I'm recognizing that anything is possible! But it sure smells like gasoline! I'm stopping by my FLAPS on the way home to grab a siphon. There's only one way to find out! 

[Guest_anonymous]

5 minutes ago, svgarage said:

At this point, I'm recognizing that anything is possible! But it sure smells like gasoline! I'm stopping by my FLAPS on the way home to grab a siphon. There's only one way to find out! 

Gas tastes better than glycol.

[TobyB]

...but not much.

 

t

 

[vacca rabite]

I'm sure its gas.  In a closed tank there is nowhere for the gas to go.  What can happen is that it starts turning to varnish.  If left in the tank long enough the volatiles will sublimate out of the fuel, and the gas will turn into varnish and actually start to sludge up.  

Zach

[TobyB]

If the tank is truly sealed, the 'volatiles' have nowhere to go...

...usually it's not sealed, so yeah, usually you get that nasty, sticky, impossible- to- get- out- from- behind- the- baffles goo.

 

t

 

[dang]

In one of the coupes I had in the past I would get a random hesitation that was obviously fuel starvation.  I replaced the fuel filter, checked fuel pressure... blah blah, nothing changed.  I decided to take the sender out and check out the tank and found the remains of a siphon hose that had fallen into the tank from a previous owner.  When I pulled the unit out it made the hose wiggle and it scared the hell out of me.  Looked just like an eel!  I didn't have time to reason so I jumped.  Once it sat out in the air it grew to twice the size and changed color.  Weird.