Repair 7

Blockage Caused By Old Gas in a Tank

Blockages in your fuel system can be exacerbated by old gasoline, but are rarely caused by old fuel alone. If your vehicle has a blockage in its fuel system, you may have to replace or repair several different components, including the fuel pump, fuel lines or the fuel tank to completely remedy the problem. In newer vehicles, your fuel injectors may also be damaged by a combination of bad gas and blockages.

Old Gasoline

Gasoline separates over time, especially gasoline that contains ethanol. The more ethanol the fuel contains, the more likely it is to separate. While separated gas can cause its own unique blend of problems, mostly due to water and ethanol going through the fuel system without the gasoline component of the mixture due to fuel separation, old gasoline in and of itself does not have anything in it that can create a blockage in your fuel system. Old gasoline can, however, contribute to blockages in your fuel system.

Fuel System Blockage

Blockages in your fuel system are caused by particles of dirt, dust and miscellaneous debris mixing with your gasoline and traveling through your fuel system. These particles will eventually come to an area of your fuel system where they can no longer flow through and will either create a blockage on their own or they can build up and collect over time to create a blockage.

Bad Fuel and Blockages

When fuel sits in your gas tank for long periods of time, dirt and debris that are in the fuel itself will mix with existing dirt, rust and debris in the gas tank. The older your vehicle is, the more likely it is to have contaminants built up in the fuel tank. When gas sits in the tank for several weeks or months, these substances will sink to the bottom of the tank. When you attempt to drive the vehicle, this layer of trash will get sucked up into your fuel pump and create blockages in your fuel system. The longer gasoline sits, the more likely your vehicle is to experience a blockage when you attempt to start it.

Preventing Blockages

If you know your vehicle is going to be sitting for any length of time, try to drive it so that there is very, very little gas left in the tank before you park it for the long term. When you go to drive a vehicle that has had gas sitting in the tank, put a bottle of fuel stabilizer in and add as much new gas as possible to minimize the amount of bad, separated gasoline that reaches your engine. If your vehicle has been sitting for several months or longer with a lot of bad gas in the tank, you may want to have your mechanic remove the bad gas from the tank manually by either dropping the tank or siphoning the fuel out.