DougStag Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Hi All, So i need to drain the fuel from the Stag as she's been stood for far far too long for it to be of any use. I don't have a pressure washer so i was wondering if there are any chemicals that i can use. I understand that obviously any chemicals used would have to be thoroughly washed out of the tank. Many ThanksDoug (Formerly Skooby6) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Unless you have solids, rust, internal paint etc, in the tank, then all you will have is old petrol with a lot of volatiles evaporated, and if it was old alcohol containing fuel, water. Drain it, use it on the lawn mower. Replace with fresh fuel, and off you go.How much old fuel will be left if you drain it? Less than half a litre, surely?A Stag holds ?17 gallons? 64litres? So a tankful will dilute anything that shouldn't be there nearly 400 times!It'll be in a homepathic dose after a few more tankfuls!Even better, put a few litres in and run the car about, to ensure you mix it well in and use up that splash of fuel. Repeat.This multiplies the dilution effect by the number of times you do it.EG Add 5 litres, the old fuel is diluted ten times.Repeat, 100 times.Repeat, 1000 times Repeat 10,000 times etc etc etc.John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougStag Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share Posted November 20, 2011 Thanks John, that does make sense. I think i'll follow your method and see if that works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard B Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 I agree with John, just;Make sure you have an inline fuel filter, keep checking it for rust and be ready to change it for a new one (maybe a couple of times).I'd be more concerned a the half of the tank that was empty (condensation & rust) rather than the half of the tank with stale petrol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogie Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Hi John, so what your saying is that by creating a 'homepathic' mixture you will be healing whatever is wrong with the tank - I didn't know it worked on rust!! :)Doug, be careful when/if looking in the tank, most torches are not vapour proof (perhaps thats why they call them flash lights)Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sorbington Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Oh, I thought you actually had a flushing petrol tank.Anyway, how long has the car been unused and in what conditions? On most cars I've seen which have been unused for a few years, just fill them up with petrol, maybe clean the carbs a bit if they're gummed up with residue and off you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StagNL Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 2601 wrote: so what your saying is that by creating a 'homepathic' mixture you will be healing whatever is wrong with the tank - I didn't know it worked on rust!! :)Yep, and the more you dilute the greater the healing effect..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 699 wrote:Yep, and the more you dilute the greater the healing effect.....Great tip but you end up with a lawn mower with a ruined engine :-/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 M'Lord Sorbington is his usual brilliant self!A petrol closet! That should get rid of the crap.John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodders1 Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 908 wrote:Great tip but you end up with a lawn mower with a ruined engine :-/Don't see why it would ruin the lawnmower engine. Briggs and Stratton engines are damn-near bullet proof.If it starts at all with the stale petrol, it will run smokey and under-powered with a propensity to stall instead of idle, that's about all.If you're worried about rust particles etc going through the engine - they'll get stuck in the carburetter just like they would on the car -and the jet clearances in a lawnmower carb are much smaller than in an SU HS4, so they will naturally filter out more of the crud.(I spent a large part of my formative years stripping and rebuilding lawnmowers in the workshops of our local lawnmower retailer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 bodders1 wrote:Don't see why it would ruin the lawnmower engine. Briggs and Stratton engines are damn-near bullet proof.If it starts at all with the stale petrol, it will run smokey and under-powered with a propensity to stall instead of idle, that's about all.If you're worried about rust particles etc going through the engine - they'll get stuck in the carburetter just like they would on the car -and the jet clearances in a lawnmower carb are much smaller than in an SU HS4, so they will naturally filter out more of the crud.(I spent a large part of my formative years stripping and rebuilding lawnmowers in the workshops of our local lawnmower retailer)Yes I have a couple of these engines and I would not want to put petrol full off crap in them but that's your thought,s on it and you have the right to do so if you want. Me I would not do it to my car or lawnmower. I have never worked in a lawn mower shop but if I took my new lawn mower back and they found I had used petrol with water and other crap in it I think my warranty would be up the spout. :)Cheers Hugh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogie Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Hi Hugh, if you are concerned with lumps in your fuel then simply filter it. Garden funnel and some layers of scotchbrite will filter most things.If this is still too coarse then get some filter paper.The original idea of using the lawn mower is attractiveRoger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Lawnmowers, the older ones at least, seem pretty resistant to dodgy fuel. My mid-80s Honda side-valve even did two seasons on E85 - and by the end of that the E85 was more than 2 years old and somewhat cloudy. It does start a lot better on fresh unleaded though!Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willcolumbine Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Just keep the old fuel in a can and drop a bit into fresh fuel now and then and get rid of it gradually. My old VW Golf ran quite happily on water contaminated with a bit of diesel on one occasion and with sea water on another.Not sure about using it in my mower though! That's got a 6 1/2 horsepower Briggs and Stratton, K&N filter and a sports exhaust. It's a performance machine! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 willcolumbine wrote: My old VW Golf ran quite happily on water contaminated with a bit of diesel on one occasion and with sea water on another.Blimey - you should have kept that - cheap to run! ;DNick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TedTaylor Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Provided the petrol tank has been kept in a sealed state (i.e. with the filler cap on and no holes in the tank) the saturated (petrol) vapour present in the space above the liquid should keep out any water vapour and the tank should not corrode or even get a light tarnishing of rust. Even draining the tank, provided all holes are sealed immediately, should have the same effect.The greatest problem as has already been said is because the octane rating of the petrol reduces as the 'lighter ends' of the petrol evaporate into the vapour above the liquid fuel over a very long period of time turning it into pretty cr*p fuel.I acquired a PI that had had stood for 2 years. It had about a gallon of fuel in the tank so I put in another 2 gallons and it fired up fine once I had done taken out the plugs and spun it over a bit to get the oil pressure up and move the fresher petrol mix through the system.Ted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willcolumbine Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Nick_Jones wrote:Blimey - you should have kept that - cheap to run! ;DNickAh, so you spotted my deliberate mistake! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Oh please no I have a self propelled QUALCAST 55S 16" Suffolk Punch cylinder mower with steel back drum and quick change cassette scarifier with 3.75 hp Briggs and Stratton engine. I would never put anything but the best in it no old petrol with crap in it ;D I have had 2 others and I always keep engine when the rest of the mower is dead.Now because of my injuries I am unable to do any gardening so I bought my wife a hover mower and she mows the lawns. ;DJust throw the old crap petrol away down your local dump why take the risk petrol an,it that costly you would risk doing your beloved lawn mower engine in. :)Hugh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 This is good stuff and works well http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fuel-Tank-Sealer-High-Performance-Rust-Prevention-236ml-/380359661708?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_BoatEquipment_Accessories_SM&hash=item588f33d88c#ht_754wt_901 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougStag Posted November 22, 2011 Author Share Posted November 22, 2011 This has actually turned out to be very informative. My dad has a collection of Briggs and Stratton mowers, he takes things down the tip and comes back with another mower...i shouldn't comment really i am from the same DNA so it's inevitable that i too will be doing that some day. The fuel tank has been sealed for the entire time and actually doesn't seem to be any crud in it at all which was surprising so i'm going to syphon out the fuel and top up with new fuel, i might put an octane booster in it as well oh and i'll be replacing the fuel filter as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paudman Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 908 wrote:This is good stuff and works well http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fuel-Tank-Sealer-High-Performance-Rust-Prevention-236ml-/380359661708?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_BoatEquipment_Accessories_SM&hash=item588f33d88c#ht_754wt_901Paint = £10Postage = £9.I feel a few Christmas prezzies coming on to get an order to fee postage stages... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 490 wrote:Paint = £10Postage = £9.I feel a few Christmas prezzies coming on to get an order to fee postage stages... :-/ Postage £5.95 :-/Sealer £10.72 :-/CheersHugh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 I used an Atco for years. I bought it at the closing down sale of an agricultural merchants, for a fiver. It had a little cigar shaped fuel tank, and a clutch whose friction material was corks. Not 'cork' (though it was) but corkS, that you pull out of the top of wine bottles. I know, 'coz I rebuilt it, with slices of wine bottle corks, and it worked fine!Eventually, the cylinder, the part that cuts the grass, was so worn down that it could not be sharpened any more, and I gave it to the British Lawnmower Museum, in Southport, where it is on display to this day!My wife was relieved to see it go. It was so unreliable that the neighbours would complain about my swearing at it.John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marktheherald Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Thread drift... My dad bought one of these Atco's new in 1927 and was used as his only mower until his death in 1982. I loved using it, probably one of those little things that 'tipped' me into a love of old machinery! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougStag Posted December 4, 2011 Author Share Posted December 4, 2011 Thats awesome!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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