non compos mentis

My car has been sitting garaged since November and I ran it only once it jan. I didn't put any stabilizer in the gas. Would the gas have gone bad already?

bluethunderhorse

Gas can go bad as early as 30 days

non compos mentis

That I didn't know. Can bad gas do damage and how would I know if it has?

bluethunderhorse

Bad gas leaves a "varnish" of some kind, on any surface it stays on. There's really no easy way to tell if things are coated in it, other than disassembly and inspection. Your best bet will be to drain all the gas out of the car, and run a fuel system cleaner for a few tanks of gas. An easy way to tell if your gas is bad is to remove the fuel filler cap and smell of it. If it has a rotten smell, then it's bad,

non compos mentis

Guess I'm SOL, I drove around a bit finished up the rest of the tank and filled up

bluethunderhorse

The fresh gas and fuel cleaner will clean everything out, it may take a tank or two but it'll work

non compos mentis

Thanks, that's great. Is there any kind of fuel cleaner you recommend and I'm assuming its fine to use fuel cleaner on these new cars?

bluethunderhorse

I use Lucas, just stay away from the Dollar Store variety. Yeah the stuff is completely safe\



I use this one every 10th tank

Stage_3

You shouldn't have anything to worry about. If you drove it today and topped it off, the new gas will mix with the old, with more of the newer gas, you'll be fine.
What you don't want to get is condensation in the tank. Sometimes this happens when the tank is half full or less and the having the car just sit. Glad you go to take her out today!

Glenn

was the tank half full or was it half empty? Either way top it off with some good fuel and drive it like you stole it

Stevedotmil

These work wonders. I have used both and they make stuff happen. Cheap insurance since they are less than $5 a bottle.