Gas turned to Jelly?

TerryMason · #1 (**permalink**) 11-09-2007, 09:00 AM

So I was rebuilding one of my carbs on my other car, and I noticed the jelly in the photo below. I last drove this car 3 weeks ago - the gas may be 1 1/2 months old.

So where does this stuff come from?

Utah_jeepster · #2 (**permalink**) 11-09-2007, 10:52 AM

I have to winterize my bike and quads, then drop the bowls in the spring to clean them out and some times we don't get all of the gas out of the bottom bowls in the carbs and it jell's but it never has looked like that.
It almost looks like a thick coating of slightly yellowish brown oil. With the consistency of jello....green jello hehehe!
And it aways is where the gas had pooled...your looks like the right color but off at an angle like that ?!?!

TerryMason · #3 (**permalink**) 11-09-2007, 11:16 AM

Do you run Stabil in your gas before you winterize? I drive this car so infrequently, that I may just start using it all the time. I use it in my old boat, and it seems to work fine.

It just seems funny that gas would solidify. I have gas cans that I've stored for years with no visible change (although I'm sure the gas is no good, but it *looks* fine).

Utah_jeepster · #4 (**permalink**) 11-09-2007, 02:59 PM

No on the stabilizer but the quads are two strokers and I always dump a few cups from them into the Harley before I stop riding her for the winter. It might be since I drain them and only leave a minuscule amount of gas in the system that it hardens like that. I also get the same 'coating' on the throttle body, but just a spray or two of carb cleaner and a rag cleans them up in the spring.
Any other two stroke mix I end up at the end of the season I dump into the jeep, I have dumped two to three month old stuff into her before with no problems...
I will look at the bottle of MC1 two stroke oil mix when I get home and see if it has a stabilizer in it.

I would suggest that you try the stabilizer on your ride and keep an eye on that port. If all it is is jellied gas (napalm) then a fresh pass through with fresh gas should break it up?

90Xjay · #5 (**permalink**) 11-09-2007, 05:28 PM

there is nothing in gasoline that can gel like that unless something else is added.

Diesel.. yes, due to paraffins

Could it be some sealant used on the intake that broke free?

dandoc · #6 (**permalink**) 11-09-2007, 10:30 PM

I'm inclined to agree with 90 about the possibility of it being a sealant or an additive to the gasoline.

IF gasoline does gel, it should only start to gel at VERY cold temperatures. Diesel? Oh yeah... that'll gel.

TerryMason · #7 (**permalink**) 11-10-2007, 09:53 AM

It's a 34 year old car, so there could be junk in there. I think I'll have to pull the gas tank and flush it out. The fuel pipes, pump, filters, intakes and carbs are all new.

Utah_jeepster · #8 (**permalink**) 11-10-2007, 01:37 PM

from the tank ? shouldnt the filter have caught any thing from the tank?

firemanharry · #9 (**permalink**) 03-27-2008, 05:44 PM

I know these are old posts I'm digging through here but this may (or may not) be informative to some.

I bought a boat last summer and have been working on it and found a few things out about the Ethanol blend we're burning now-a-days. I had to replace ALL of my fuel lines (with alcohol resistant hoses) and rebuild my carbs. I've read and that the gasoline begins to chemically break down in about 6 weeks and has an affinity for water. Boaters around here have found that they have to use a stabilizer in their tanks ALL the time to keep from having problems.

The gasoline/ethanol blend apparently eats regular rubber and plastic parts. My carbs looked like somebody melted all the plastic stuff in them. I would imagine you'd have the same problems with ANYTHING that sits a while with fuel in the system.

TerryMason · #10 (**permalink**) 03-27-2008, 05:58 PM

That's interesting. I keep having to flush the carbs in my 914 every 2 months or so. I had assumed that the gas tank had crud in it, but I'm not so sure now.