I'm still on the same tank of petrol that I filled in Feb. 2020! but the battery seems to be holding up.
McBryce.
I wouldn't be too proud of that. Gasoline after several months starts to break down. It will form varnish and deposits in the fuel pump, fuel filter, and those expensive fuel injectors. Gas powered lawn equipment that's going to sit idle for 6 months over Winter has the remaining fuel in the tank treated with a product called "Stabil" or an alternative is run it until it's out of fuel. I'm sure there's a similar product across the pond. I suggest treating the remaining gas in your tank as soon as you can. And then fill up with fresh gas and treat that too.
That's why I "take it for a walk", to make sure the entire system is getting mixed and flushed often enough. As for hygroscopic, there shouldn't be any water other than the air moisture in the tank and the petrol I use has only 5% bio-ethanol in it. A lawnmower is a different story, metal tank with no proper sealing and open filter. I've been driving vintage cars for many many years, so I know what's required. I'd be more worried about the engine oil going bad and causing problems than the petrol.
McBryce.
As far as engine oil change my schedule is every 6000 miles or one year...whichever occurs first. Last year the Civic was driven only 2000 miles so after a year was up the oil was changed. And....synthetic oil only.
*raises a paw*A fellow Stabil/Store it-Start it true believer right here. I have one of those little Horror Fraught 1.2 KW generators bought for a pittance on Sidewalk Sale over a decade ago; I keep it in the original carton/packing on/under the shelves in the garage. My post-run checklist involves making sure the fuel in the tank has an appropriate treatment of stabilizer and then running the carb dry; something I try to do every 6 months or so.
When I moved to Houston, I knew I'd just done this... so quite confidently just packed the box away with my other stuff in the new garage... but I buried it so deep it was more than a year before I actually unearthed it again. When I did, I dreaded what I would find;
to my horror, the date scribbled on the tank in Sharpie was 23 months prior. Turns out "had just done it" was more like "did it 8-9 months before we moved".
Opened the fuel tank and looked inside with a flashlight; no evidence of water condensed at the bottom, and it didn't smell like old gasoline... just the same dull gasoline smell treated gas always has.
So I took a chance and opened the petcock, primed it and pulled...
it snorted on the first pull and started on the second, ran like the ~100 hour machine it was; evidently completely unaware of its 2 years' slumber. Once it cooled off, I filled the tank to the top and added a full-tank dose of Stabil, then turned the petcock off and ran it dry again. If I'm really lucky, I'll get to see it out of the trailer before we hit the 2 year mark AGAIN.
I know of similar amazeballs from dozens of people with their boat motors, and of course from grand-dad who was a true believer with seasonally-used machines like the big diesel tractor (Miss Allis) and the combine.
Also a true believer in full-synthetic oil...tho my personal preference, after seeing how dirty it gets doing a zillion oil changes in the dealership, is every 5K rather than the 6K or even 10K now recommended by the manufacturers. If it is dark but you can still see light through it while it is draining... That is when I feel it is a good time-frame. Also, every 1K for the first 3 changes to get rid of all the break-in detritus before it can do damage. This is part of my formula for a quarter million miles plus on every car I've owned for the last 3 decades.mnem
"corn-TACT!!!" ~grand-dad sed it long before uncle Bumblefuck...
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