Fuel – Contamination
Words & Pictures – Kevin Fagan / Christian Brooks, Business Manager at The Figaro Shop
Last month we received an email from a member who asked if she could still use her car after it had been sat in her garage undriven for 18 months. Logic told me that the answer was probably not but we needed to investigate further and indeed publish some information on the subject. In the UK, to save money, if they do not use their car every day, many members turn to SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification) for their cars. This means that they can stand unused for 6 months if not longer. We turned to Christian Brooks, Business Manager at The Figaro Shop for more information on the subject and how to drain and refill the car too.
We have found over the last 3 months lots of problems with cars that have been stood or stored and then have running problems. The issue with E10 fuel is that it takes on moisture so always has a water content to it. If this is left for periods of time you have a layer of water that is sat in the tank causing a corrosive nature to the fuel pump and parts inside the tank. The water sits at the bottom of the fuel tank where the fuel pump picks up first, so soon as you try to start the car this pulls in water first which then causes problems for the car to start etc. we have found rust inside the tanks, and also a creamy white paste that layers the tank and working parts. This can clog up the pump and make it burn out or completely fail with the water content.
As a rule of thumb fuel has a shelf life of 6 months if stored in a sealed container. If it’s open to the atmosphere this can be dramatically reduced. I couldn’t advise of an exact time as it would vary depending on when they filled up etc. if the tank has less than half a tank the fuel tends to go off quicker.
How to drain and fill the Figaro
There is a bung located on the fuel tank at the bottom to drain out the fuel. The issue you will have is that if the fuel has gone off the tank will need to be cleaned of any of the corrosion and white paste-like material in there too. In terms of refiling and starting, I would advise the fuel filter to be changed before fresh fuel is installed. The starting process would be to disconnect the coil so that you have no spark and crank over the car to allow fuel to come back to the engine. Reconnect the coil plug and you should be ok. I would advise changing the spark plugs if they have had a problem with it not starting as this could have fouled the plugs with water.
There is an excellent article here on the subject – Read more
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