Cr has been sitting a while. Need advice

[SteelGreyM]

Hey everyone. Last year in may I had my engine rebuilt. This was my first time doing something like this and I had assumed that it would be a 1-2 month process and my car would be back on the road. Well problems arose (of course they did) and here we are almost a year later. I received my engine recently and am putting it back together.

I have a few concerns.

I got a fresh tank of gas in may the day before my engine blew. I didn't think this process would take long so i didn't bother putting fuel stabilizer in until 6 months later when I finally remembered. I think the best solution here is to drain and refill the gas tank correct? Remember I have a fresh engine...

If so, what is the best way to do this? Remove the fuel pump and just suck it all out?

Also, the car was sitting on PS4S tires for the last 7 months or so (just the front). It got down to about -5 this winter for about two weeks here in chicago. Anyway to check my tires for their condition other than simply driving?

This whole situation is pretty annoying. If I knew it was going to take this long I obviously would have done things differently but life got in the way and the m3 got put to the back of the list. I'd appreciate some feedback on my concerns. thank you guys

[TexaZ3]

A year old fuel even with stabilizer in all honesty probably is bad, but it is not that hard to drain. Just syphon via filler. Tires, I wouldn't worry about it, just check pressure and drive. They might be flat-spotted for a few miles, but once heated up should be fine.

[SteelGreyM]

A year old fuel even with stabilizer in all honesty probably is bad, but it is not that hard to drain. Just syphon via filler. Tires, I wouldn't worry about it, just check pressure and drive. They might be flat-spotted for a few miles, but once heated up should be fine.

Thanks for reply. I'll drain the old fuel out and replace it with fresh fuel. I think I have an extra fuel filter lying around too so i'll change that while im at it.

Theres no engine in the car either so there wasn't weight on the front car.

Thanks again!

[timmo]

It's possible you might be okay with the gas. I stored my car for a year and a half with stabilizer from day 1 and it was fine... but given the fact that you put stabilizer after 6 months, and didn't run the engine (so the pump couldn't circulate fuel through the system to mix the stabilizer evenly) you may as well replace it for peace of mind. Use it in your snowblowers/other small tools if you have them

Yeah tires are fine, mine were flat-spotted even while stored at 50+ psi but it went away with heat

[sapote]

I have cars with 1 yr old fuel and they drive fine without any noticeable issue.
Tires: just roll the car a foot from the spot for 24 hours before driving.

[TexaZ3]

Gas usually goes bad while in the car in 3 to 6 months. Shelf life in a gas can is usually longer, but I still wouldn't risk it - why?

[sapote]

Gas usually goes bad while in the car in 3 to 6 months. Shelf life in a gas can is usually longer, but I still wouldn't risk it - why?

It looks clean and same viscosity and still making good fire, so why not? And how do you deal with 15 gal of old fuel? Put it back into the earth?

[repoman89]

I have cars with 1 yr old fuel and they drive fine without any noticeable issue.
Tires: just roll the car a foot from the spot for 24 hours before driving.

Same, modern gas lasts longer than people expect. I pretty much didn’t drive my M3 from ... November 2019 through November 2020 and it ran perfectly when I finally fired it up and took a trip (I store it at my dad’s for winter and had no reason to drive anywhere all year due to the pandemic). I filled it for peace of mind but I expect it to be fine with a mix of some 1.5 year old gas and some six month old when I finally start driving it in a couple weeks, with no stabilizer. I’ll update here and eat my words if it isn’t okay so everyone can laugh at how many lines and parts I have to replace.

[Tbonem3]

CA E10, I probably wouldn't.

[jbfrancis3]

The PS4S tire will be fine, either driving or following sapote's tip. The issue you question occurs when you deform (drive) the tire at low temps (<20F)

[BTB]

For what it's worth, my M3 and bike (Triumph STR 675) were left to sit from late April 2020 to October 2020 (almost 8 months) while I sheltered on the East coast. Wasn't counting on being gone for so long when I left ... didn't do anything regarding fuel or battery tending. When I got back they were covered in dust. Both started up like normal, just that initial turnover was slightly sluggish on account of the flattening batteries. Have since put several miles on both including a 1850 mile cross country trip in M.

Tires are fine, inflate to spec and drive. My understanding is that really cold temps only really bother hard summer tires when you try to drive on them ie flex them. I have PS4S and on my long trip ambient temps were 20 F or higher. No issues

[SteelGreyM]

Thanks for all the feedback people. Glad to know the tires are okay cause they were not cheap.

If the car was just sitting for a year I would not hesitate to just burn the gas that’s in there. But I don’t want to risk something like that in a brand new fresh engine. I’d rather just give it the best start possible. I’ll take the gas and stick it in my daily 😂

[TexaZ3]

It looks clean and same viscosity and still making good fire, so why not? And how do you deal with 15 gal of old fuel? Put it back into the earth?

You recycle it, just like you recycle old used oil and other fluids. But ultimately, what you do with your car and what you run in it is your business and I honestly don't really care.

[SteelGreyM]

After doing some more reading it seems like it’s not possible to siphon the gas from the filler area. Or at least very hard

So my 3 other options

1) shoot some bullets into the tank

2) pull the fuel pump and pump it out through there. (Would like to avoid this as its possible to spill gas on interior)

3) pull fuel filter and let the fuel pump do the work for me.

There’s only a quarter tank of fuel in the car. Much less than I remembered.

So option 3?

[Arith2]

My car sat on jack stands for a year waiting for an engine. I started it right up and drove it. Gas was the last thing on my mind. It ran. Drive to gas station and fill up.