How long can you store Diesel...

unclebill98

Hi all,

Just wondering,

How long should you keep diesel in one of those purpose made cans before replacing/using it?

I do a lot of driving and always wanted to hold a spare 5lt just incase.

thanks in advance for any answers.

Wishbone Ash

unclebill98 wrote: »

I do a lot of driving and always wanted to hold a spare 5lt just incase

Do you intend to carry the extra fuel in the vehicle? You would need to clarify this with you insurance company. Most do not take kindly to fuel being carried outside the vehicle's proper fuel tank.

Sorry I can't answer you actual question but you could replace the fuel every 6 months or so.

green123

how long can you store petrol ?

unclebill98

Ok more info. Some of my drives can be in the middle of no where at 3-4am in the morning. So garages are not easy to come by. It would be incase I was running low etc.

Yes Green123, I know diesel is store for long times, but I was thinking a gerry can is not exactly the same as the way its bulked store by garages etc.

Just wanted to see if theres no need to worry about it.

Rovi

For what it's worth, I've started and run old tractors and Land-Rovers on the diesel that's been standing in their fuel tanks for decades, and old 'red' agricultural diesel that's been stored in old five gallon plastic oil drums seems to work fine to this day.
We're talking about quantities ranging from a couple of gallons up to eight or ten gallons in the tank here, so I don't know how that would translate to a smaller quantity; however, diesel isn't anything like as volatile as petrol, so I'd expect uncontaminated diesel in a sealed container to last a very long time indeed.

Captain Slow IRL

Petrol loses 3 octane points every week (easier to ignite and burn as a result), not sure if this applies to the cetane rating in diesel.

RobbieMc

Rovi wrote: »

For what it's worth, I've started and run old tractors and Land-Rovers on the diesel that's been standing in their fuel tanks for decades, and old 'red' agricultural diesel that's been stored in old five gallon plastic oil drums seems to work fine to this day.
We're talking about quantities ranging from a couple of gallons up to eight or ten gallons in the tank here, so I don't know how that would translate to a smaller quantity; however, diesel isn't anything like as volatile as petrol, so I'd expect uncontaminated diesel in a sealed container to last a very long time indeed.

I pulled an old land rover from a field few months ago. It'd been standing there some 10 or more years.
Diesel engined with some water in the tank. Stuck a new fuel filter on it, bleed the sytem and stuck in a battery. The old girl fired up, bit of smoke but ran fine.
Petrol on the other hand, last year an old Petrol engined EX-MOD LWB land rover was recovered from a hedge in Wicklow, Petrol in the tank was rank, had to drain the tank and the fuel system, clean out the carb before we could even try to start it. This beast was laid up a lot of years also.

My cents worth, diesel will last much longer and stored properly, will last for years.

Rob

ART6

RobbieMc wrote: »

My cents worth, diesel will last much longer and stored properly, will last for years.
Rob

Sure will. I have had a similar experience. If you keep the water out of it and don't let it go way below freezing it will certainly outlast your car:)

HungryJoey

land9 wrote: »

Petrol loses 3 octane points every week (easier to ignite and burn as a result), not sure if this applies to the cetane rating in diesel.

Does that mean that 3 points loss on petrol with an octane rating of 95 brings it down to 92 points? That's quite alot considering that there is quite a big difference between 95 and 100.

Captain Slow IRL

HungryJoey wrote: »

Does that mean that 3 points loss on petrol with an octane rating of 95 brings it down to 92 points? That's quite alot considering that there is quite a big difference between 95 and 100.

Yes

unkel

land9 wrote: »

Petrol loses 3 octane points every week

:eek: that's much quicker than I realised

At what octane rating does anyone reckon a modern car can't be driven anymore?

Any links would be great too...

HungryJoey

unkel wrote: »

:eek: that's much quicker than I realised

At what octane rating does anyone reckon a modern car can't be driven anymore?

Any links would be great too...

Yeah that's what I was thinking. I would of imagined 2 weeks on, that it's not going to run on the remaining petrol ( 95 > 89 ? )

nmacc

It's common for US website posters who know their stuff to recommend that petrol be changed if it's been in the tank for a year. Normally I'd ignore this and I've managed to fire up cars that have been sitting for years.

Oddly enough when I dug the lawnmower out of the shed back at the end of March this year she wouldn't start. First time I've had a problem with this mower and after the best part of two hours of stripping, cleaning and testing it became clear that the problem was the fuel. Fresh petrol and off she went. Interesting.

maidhc

nmacc wrote: »

Oddly enough when I dug the lawnmower out of the shed back at the end of March this year she wouldn't start. First time I've had a problem with this mower and after the best part of two hours of stripping, cleaning and testing it became clear that the problem was the fuel. Fresh petrol and off she went. Interesting.

Same experience. It seems to be even worse if you mix petrol with oil (e.g. for a 2 stroke engine.)

As other posters have mentioned, diesel seems to last forever.