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mab01
MCR Member
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Posted: Sunday April 13th, 2008 09:35 am |
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I no longer leave much unleaded petrol in my Mini during winter hibernation as it seems to go off very quickly (not even my lawn mower will run on it) and if it does start gives poor running of the engine, sometimes cutting out and refusing to restart. Fresh super unleaded fuel (97 octane) and sometimes a carb clean normally cures the problem. Modern fuel it appears goes stale much quicker than the old leaded petrol used to and also gums up SU Carbs, as this quote from the MG Owners Club seems to confirm:-
"One of the newer difficulties is the type of residues that are left when modern fuel is allowed to evaporate in the float chambers between periods of use. This is especially evident over winter periods when the MG is in hibernation. These ‘gummy’ deposits are so tacky they could be sold as an adhesive so they do no favours to the operation of the float valve and can also block the main jet flow path too."
http://www.mgcars.org.uk/cgi-bin/gen5?runprog=mgoc&a=&p=emg/petrolclassicmg.html
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taffy1967
Member
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Posted: Sunday April 13th, 2008 04:24 pm |
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I guess I must have been lucky then because my Mini started up and ran no problem after almost 3 years of no use.
I've since flushed the fuel tank out and it was pretty mint anyway.
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hawaiianblue
Member
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Posted: Sunday April 13th, 2008 04:33 pm |
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Trouble is if you leave the tank empty it can get a coating of rust inside, which then gradually gets washed off into the fuel system.
Leaving it half empty should be fine, then just top it up with fresh when you come to restart it. Obviously it wont be as good as a tank of fresh fuel, but it will run 'ok' until the older mix has been used up. Then run better with first tank of fresh.
Also avoid super market stuff, some of that isnt particularly good quality to begin with.
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Andrew1967
MCR Member
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Posted: Sunday April 13th, 2008 05:10 pm |
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We find that all our classics (Dad's and mine, that is) run like bags of s*** when stood for more than a few weeks. Top up with fresh fuel and all returns to normal.
Never personally had any problems with gumming up of carbs (he says touching the kitchen door  ).
This unleaded fuel has a much shorter shelf life than the proper 4 star of yesteryear 
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taffy1967
Member
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Posted: Monday April 14th, 2008 09:41 pm |
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Yes the tank was half full of fuel when I laid it up and I had no problems starting it up again after it's long rest.
It was a few months later that I drained the tank and there was no sign of rust or bits at the bottom.
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