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Old gas 1998 7.4

S

swrenshaw

New member
I just brought home a 1998 22' Scarab with a 7.4L 454. Unfortunately it has not been used in five years and has 60 gallons of gas which is also five years old in it. I am going to drain the fuel tank and change the filters but is there a way to clean it to remove any impurities such as varnish or sludge? The guy I bought it from insisted on cranking it up even though I asked him not to. It fired and actually sounded really good but I'm concerned about the carb and the fuel tank.
 
Re: Old gas

Just keep cleaning the filters, me i would drain it and use it in my lawnmower, snowblower, where cleaning the carb is easy and i have small filters on each one i installed.
 
Re: Old gas

60 gals means probley a full tank. Gas breaks down when exposed to 02. No air means gas still in fairly good shape. No room also for condenstation to build means no water in tank and no rust.Thats why it started and ran good. I would run it out and if still worried change filter after. 60 gal is 60 gals
 
Re: Old gas

The damage from letting gas sit has already been done. If you run the boat and it misses or backfires and runs like cr@p then you know the gas and or carb is bad. If it runs fine then I wouldn't worry about it. Put a new water/fuel filter inline and change all filters. Then replace them again when that tank is empty and refilled. It's cheaper than 60 gallons of gas.

There is a chance the guy might have stored it properly, filled the tank, put fuel stabilzer in it, shut the gas valve off and ran the carbs dry. The worst case would be a carb rebuild from varnish clogging it and possibly a tank cleaning. Good luck.
 
Re: Old gas

I;m on board with the seafoam suggestion. That stuff is wonderful. If the engine ran, it means the fuel is at least servicable. Change the filters after that tankful is used up, you'll be good to go.
 
Re: Old gas

Thanks for your advise guys. I've had people tell me I would need to replace the fuel tank, fuel lines, and of course a carb cleaning. I'll put the Sea Foam in, replace the filters and see what happens. Better than dumping 60 gallons.
 
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