Uses for old gasoline?

I have old gasoline that I can't use anymore. What could I do with it?

Do you pick a spot to "sacrifice" and dump it there? How do you pick a good spot where it will cause the least trouble?

I was wondering about dumping it on the driveway to kill the driveway weeds.

Is there some way I can restore it? My understanding is that it just gets too moist or something after sitting out all winter and that's why it won't run my weed whacker anymore, is there some way to dry it out?

Wondering what other people have come up with. Thanks.

I don't have any suggestions for the gasoline other than potentially add a bit to a car's gas tank if you're feeling brave, but in the future you might be able to avoid this problem by buying ethanol-free gas (https://www.pure-gas.org/ costs about $1 per gallon more) and storing your gas in one of those new EPA approved non-venting containers (they suck for pouring, but are good for keeping gas fresh).

If you burn brush use it to help get the piles started. Sometimes I use a bucket of old gas to clean carburetors and other parts in, kinda like parts cleaner it will help to break down grease and dirt.

How old is it and why can't you use it any more?

Any time I'm buying gas for something that isn't a street legal vehicle, I get ethanol free gas and put Stabil in it.  When I think it might be getting old (6 months?), it goes in the truck's gas tank.

if you don't have anything to do with it, really, and are thinking of dumping it, you can bring it to someone who cleans tools/parts/greasy things and they'd probably appreciate it. At the shop we use gas to clean parts all the time.

I am having trouble realising you were thinking of dumping it!!
Modern petrol does 'go off', Stihl and other make an additive to prevent that.
Sometimes it may have absorbed water and the addition of some methylated spirits may help.
The metho absorbs the water and it is removed from the container as you use it.
I think in your case its just old I think, it does not take long for that to happen with the new blends.

The comedian Dave Barry used to work for the Miami Herald and had a recurring column.  He mentioned a 'gathering' in a local big box retail parking lot where guys would assemble to pay tribute to their run-down, wheezing canister vacuum cleaners.  After plugging them into a remote generator via extension cord, the terminal Hoover was given a send-off by sucking up some gasoline.  The sparks in the motor would ignite the contents resulting in a small mushroom cloud over the parking lot.  Yeah.....guys and their visions. :-) .... but old gas would probably work as good as new..? LOL

Don't dump it.  A single cup of gas can render something like 50,000 to 100,000 gallons of water unfit to drink.  Do you really want to be responsible for that level of environmental damage?  dispose of it as hazardous waste is probably best.  Second best would be to burn it.  Be careful as gas fires are flat out dangerous.  The various components in gas can cause blindness, liver and kidney damage, cancer and more at levels that won't kill you.

But why can't you use it?

one link for gas contamination

I have had some success with PRI-G.

If you just want rid of it, mix it with your motor oil from and oil change and take it to the auto parts store for recycling.

Eric Hammond wrote:If you just want rid of it, mix it with your motor oil from and oil change and take it to the auto parts store for recycling.

I hope nobody will do this. That's a highly flammable mix, and handing it off as used motor oil could put people in danger.  My 2c.

Old gasoline will burn in some multi-fuel liquid camp stoves, like MSRs. Personally I would put a tight lid on whatever I cooked on it, given the fumes.

It's problematic in Coleman white gas stoves, because the preheat tube contains a mesh that will gum up with the additives (people report that carb cleaner will clear it, but that's nasty stuff.)

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:

Eric Hammond wrote:If you just want rid of it, mix it with your motor oil from and oil change and take it to the auto parts store for recycling.

I hope nobody will do this. That's a highly flammable mix, and handing it off as used motor oil could put people in danger.  My 2c.

This is how it gets handled all the time in the automotive world.

I've heard you can use it for varnish once it sits for a while and thickens up. I bet you could mix some powdered charcoal into it and paint the side of a shed or something.

Mix it with some oil to make it thicker and run it in a diesel engine.

craig howard wrote:Mix it with some oil to make it thicker and run it in a diesel engine.

Don’t do this.

How much do you have?  I end up with small amounts, maybe a pint or so out of equipment that sits.  I put it in a old coffee can and burn it off.  The can keeps it from flashing off and results in a more controlled burn.  It is a bit smoky though…

I use it to "dissolve" polystyrene ("stryorfoam") to compact it. I'm gonna try the mix for treating wooden posts and painting on as a waterproofing compound.

The ethanol water issue is a myth - according to Mercury Marine, among many others.

Brazil in the sugar cane season runs its vehicles in up to 100% ethanol.

Alcohol is what is in "dry gas", used to overcome water in gasoline.

In humid air any fuel will collect water. Alcohol will combine with it so that it can be burned.

Race cars and boats run on ethanol or methanol

Easiest way is simply to add to your auto gas tank, a quart at a time.

Robert Fairchild wrote:I use it to "dissolve" polystyrene ("stryorfoam") to compact it. I'm gonna try the mix for treating wooden posts and painting on as a waterproofing compound.

Sounds as though it could work but styrene vapour and petrolium vapours are both known to have harmful effects on the body.  I would be cautious. Polystyrene is recyclable here down under.  The polystyrene in the environment does not break down and from my reading, huge amounts end up as ocean pollutants.

I agree with John C. Daley, mix your fuel with ethanol,  (denatured spirit, metho, metholated spirits) which increases the octane value and use as normal.  

Robert Fairchild wrote:I use it to "dissolve" polystyrene ("stryorfoam") to compact it. I'm gonna try the mix for treating wooden posts and painting on as a waterproofing compound.

Sounds like you are making napalm. Just make sure you know what you are doing and its consequences.

Gray Henon wrote:

craig howard wrote:Mix it with some oil to make it thicker and run it in a diesel engine.

Don’t do this.

How much do you have?  I end up with small amounts, maybe a pint or so out of equipment that sits.  I put it in a old coffee can and burn it off.  The can keeps it from flashing off and results in a more controlled burn.  It is a bit smoky though…

Don't listen to him.
He doesn't even give a reason why not to.
It can't be because he's concerned about how clean it would burn because he admits his solution is smokey,..
and doesn't do any work, moves you nowhere, just burns it into the air.

 Not sure how much old fuel you have but mixing it 50/50 with used oil to thicken it and mixing 10% of that in your diesel tank
and you won't even notice a difference with how it drives or smells.
You might have better luck mixing old gas with 2-stroke oil and mixing it with diesel because 2-stroke is meant to burn,..
it won't leave a small amount of ash in your engine like burning motor oil.