Cars that sit can have a lot go wrong with them in a seemingly short period of time. That’s never a good thing, especially for European cars. Motor City European Repair wants you to be aware of what can happen if you let fuel sit for too long in your European car.
Fuel Does Age as it Sits
Diesel fuel can last roughly a year before it starts to go bad. Gasoline, on the other hand, has a much shorter lifespan of anywhere from three months to around six months. Once you put fuel in the tank of your European car, it all mixes together, right? So, how can you tell that fuel is bad or not? It’s not as complicated as it might sound.
What Happens When Fuel Goes Bad?
By the time fuel ends up in your tank, it’s probably a month or so old as it is. As the fuel continues to age, it breaks down a bit and the chemicals change a bit. Fuel that has gotten past its useful stage is going to cause problems when the engine is running. That might mean that the engine stalls a lot or you can’t get the car started. You might also experience loss of power in the engine.
Preventing Bad Fuel
The best way to prevent fuel from going bad in your car is to make sure that you’re driving the car regularly. Just as with other aspects of keeping your car in good working order, it was designed to run. Letting the car sit just encourages decay and you don’t want that. As you top up your car’s tank with fresh fuel, that refreshes the fuel that’s left in the tank, helping to prevent the fuel from going bad.
Resolving Bad Fuel
What do you do about bad fuel? The first thing you need to do is to remove the bad fuel. Siphoning the old fuel out of the tank is going to help you to avoid possible engine damage and issues that you definitely want to avoid, like blocking your fuel lines or the fuel injectors with crud from the fuel. Then you’ll want to replace the bad fuel with fresh fuel.
Not sure if your European car is having fuel issues or not? Let Motor City European Repair in Farmington, MI help you to narrow down what’s happening. Contact us today to set up an appointment and we’ll take a closer look for you.
