I have a vehicle that has not been used for 15 yrs. I can crank it over. My concern is with the fuel that is in the gas tank; approximately 10 gallons. No fuel stabilizer was added to fuel prior to storage. Should this fuel be discarded? If so how do I dispose of it? Should I clean the fuel lines & tank? If cleaning is required how should this be done? Is their an additive that I can use that I could use to treat the fuel? Help!!!

 

If it's only 10gal, I'd siphon 5-7 gal out and store it. Then mix some fresh fuel into the tank, and add some carb cleaner. Run that thru, and mix the rest of the old gas into the next few tanks the same way. By that time, you should have most of the crud worked out of the fuel system and you can change the fuel filter & clean out the carb and start running all good gas again.

 

Thank You. I'll do it the way you suggested.

 

Check your rubber fuel lines, sometimes the old varnished gas will eat away at the rubber. It will make them soft and will blow out from the inside. Check all of the rubber fuel lines, if any of them feel mushy, replace them before you have a big fire hazard!!
Jimmy

 

I have started a few vehicles stored for 6 to 8 years . I strongly reccommend disposal of all the old fuel. After 15 years there is likely water and rust in bottom of fuel tank due to condensation. You may want to take a look. The rust will make its way to the fuel system. New fuel filter . Will also reccommend before running a dose of light oil in each cylinder through the sparkplug holes. Let the oil set a while then crank with the plugs out, this may soften rust in the cylinders. Fresh oil and filter before it runs and a change soon after. Check brakes and probably shoould consider replacing fluid and rubber lines before you drive. Disk brakes tend to develope sticky calipers.

 

Thank you,
I am going to drain the fuel tank but need to know how & where to dispose of the stale (old) fuel. I can dispose of it at a one of the Household Toxics Roundup scheduled in my area. To do this the fuel must be in a sealed container. The container is the problem. This could become very expensive if an approved fuel container is required. Are additives available for treating the fuel so that it can be diluted safely with new fuel and burned in an engine; (I also have about 30 gallons of fuel to dispose of that I drained from a motorhome).
As far as moisture in the brake fluid, when I overhauled the brakes prior to storage I used silicone brake fluid which does not absorb water like the alcohol base fluids.

 

Just buy a few plastic 5gal gas cans at Wal-Mart - they're DOT approved and only ~$7ea.

But I'd just burn it in the old truck - only ~1/3 tank of old gas at a time always with some carb/FI cleaner added.

 

I have helped start some M35A2 trucks that were won on auction from the US Government. Some of these are found with rebuild dates right after the Vietnam War right up to the early 90s. Most were rebuilt and never used. They are usually found with 1/2-full tanks of diesel fuel (these are multifuel engines). The standard procedure we used was:

1. Remove all fuel from tank and lines.
2. Replace fuel and oil filters
3. Add new fuel fuel.
4. Drain oil and add new diesel oil
5. Top up brake fluid and insure brakes are actually functioning
6. Install new battery
7. Dump and replace radiator fluids
8. Cross fingers and fire the truck up

A few times the throttle has been stuck open so when the truck fired up, the engine would go full blast. Usually they start right up and can be driven home at this point...assuming the rubber is good on the tires. The reason I add this information is to say that well stored trucks can be started many years after storage but you would be smart to drop the fuel, etc and start over. One other thing. We noticed a few times that we had purchased trucks that seemed to be great with only a 100 or so hours on the engine only to find them blowing oil smoke on the way home. Seems that moisture can work its way into the piston bores and form rust. One little piece of rust flaking off inside the bores can do amazing damage on the M35A2s. I am new to working on any trucks and was brought along on these pick up missons for the fun so take my advice with a grain of salt...but I feel it might apply to starting up any vehicle that has sat for a long time.