How can you tell if a gas is pre-mixed?

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ROne21

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It's been a while since I last played with my FG Baja and since it's summer here, I've been getting the itch. I've got a full one gallon container but I can't remember if I've pre-mixed it before taking a long break. I'll say the break may be two years long......at least.

Just this past weekend, I put the old gas in the tank just to see if it will start.....it did, to my surprise. The gas looked clear and smelled like a normal gas....... I run the engine for a little bit, blueish smoke coming out of the exhaust.....revved it a little bit but not too much.

I've since thrown out the old gas and later on today, I will refill the buggy with fresh, pre-mixed gas. The question still stands and also, if the gas was not pre-mixed, how much damage, if any, did I do on the engine for starting it?
 
if you was lucky and it wasnt used for long and hammered to much you should be ok but i would mix up a fresh batch of oil @25/1 and take it easy for the first run as if it was unmixed petrol you used it would have washed out all traces of oil from inside the engine hence the blue smoke i don't think it would have run for very long without any oil and ended up seized up you may even of caused damage all ready
 
hard to say what sort of damage it may have caused. either pull it apart and inspect the bearings and sleeve, or put fresh mixed fuel in and run the hell out of it.
 
oskygt said:
How long should one be able to store fuel before having to toss it out and get fresh batch? :eek:
Click to expand...

This is one of those "how long is a bit of string" questions. You will get hundreds of different answers most of which have nothing to back it up. A lot of people say 6 months, I tend to agree with this when it comes to plant machinary like weed wackers and chain saws but not when it comes to my tuned race engines. Most race meetings I'll use the best part of 5ltr anyway so it's not much of an issue but If I was in ROne21's shoes I would use the best method possible - If in doubt, don't use it.

Lets face it, a bottle of decent 2 stoke oil is about £15 and 5Ltr of Shell V power is about £7, I'd rather throw that away then have to rebuild an expensive race tuned engine - even with a standard CY I'd have my doubts.
 
I don't know if this is true or if it will help, but, My dad told me once to pour some of the gas through a paper towel or soft rag and look for a brownish discoloration. This is supposed to indicate the presence of oil in the fuel mix. The idea is that the gasoline or petrol will pass straight through and leave no residue. The oil is heavier and more dense and would become trapped on the filtering item and leave a residue behind. I have never tried it, but he always swore to it when working on the boat tanks. If you try it, LMK if it works.
 
i've had my rigs sit with gas in em for a year and they fire right up...gas sealed in a container will store for a year or two and burn just fine...however gas open to the air will oxidize.... it turns piss coloured and doesn't smell right, this is not good and will gum up carbs etc and barely burn
 
ROne21 whats your location? Not sure about UK/EU gas mixtures, but the US is starting to add up to 10% ethanol to the gas.
The ethanol added to fuel raises the octane level, when that ethanol evaporates out the octane is lowered, having said that, based on evaporation rates the fuel shouldn't sit too long before it is used unless you use a conditioner or an additive to keep the fuel from souring or from keeping the petroleum from separating from the ethanol.
Also ethanol absorbs water, http://www.fuel-testers.com/expiration_of_ethanol_gas.html causing your gas to be no good.

Just don't use old or unknown fuel in the RC. I know this is not ideal either but, I just put unknown or older gas from the RC jug into my real work truck; at least the gas tank on it is 1000 times the size of the RC tank and that extra 25:1 oil won't hurt the fuel in a 50 gallon tank. But straight petrol -no oil, will kill you RC.
 
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