Gas Go Bad – Is It Possible?

Sunday, August 10th, 2008 at 12:00 am

We have heard that food go bad when it is due but have you heard about gas go bad? Some people just thought that it is another myth but apparently there has been debates about how gas can go bad and I am going share it with you. The truth is, yes, gas can degrade and go bad after some time. When the gas has degraded, it can lead more problems to your car such as hard starting and rough running.

Gasoline is a refined type of oil unlike crude oil. The one characteristic that differentiate between crude oil and gasoline is the volatility. This is a term to describe how easy and the conditions for the gas to evaporate to make sure that the fuel is burning efficiently in your car engine.

When the gas is highly volatile:

the gas evaporate over time
the combustion degrades

When the gas is less volatile:

burning will be less effective
bad engine performance
the engine might or might not run at all

However, as the old gas being burned and replaced by the new gas, thus the problem is resolved and it is best to make sure that the cap is secure tightly.

How to know if the gas is degraded or not?

One way to check is through the eye and nose. Pour a little bit of the gas and see if the colour is darker than normal gas. You can also smell it as degraded gas will smell sour.

The only problem is that there is no way to tell how long it takes for gas to turn bad as there are many factors that determine when the gas will degrade. However, it is best to keep an eye on it as frequent as possible.