Stale petrol

Discussion in 'Mk2' started by Joehough, Jul 16, 2019.

  1. Joehough

    Joehough Paid Member Paid Member

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    Hoping for some advice, my car was stood in dry storage for a couple of years then I believe taken back out to sell and given a dodgy mot.(little things like washers not working properly)That's ok because it is all sorted now and passed with no advisories. But I think the petrol probably went stale and wondering if it will have affected the fuel pump performance. I have only thought of this as I bought a job lot of parts including a very new looking pump, but when I took it out of the swirl chamber it stunk of turps and residue is like runny varnish.
     
  2. costel1969

    costel1969 Paid Member Paid Member

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    Hi Joe,
    What I have found (can't speak for anyone else) is if you drain out the old fuel (drop the tank if needs be) and get everything out of it and install a new fuel filter it will get most of it and the pump is not normally adversely affected - I think it would be more of a concern if that gunk manages to get to the injectors and then you're talking ultrasonic cleaning or heaven forbid new injectors.
     
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  3. Joehough

    Joehough Paid Member Paid Member

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    Hi Costel
    Sorry I didn't explain very well. I have been driving it regularly since Nov 2017, prior to that it was stored. It drove up from London to Northampton on the day I bought it without any probs and has run fine since. I did replace the injectors, because they were the wrong ones for air shroud system, I am just wondering if it sat for 2 years if the pump has been adversely affected and maybe the filter also.
     
  4. Joehough

    Joehough Paid Member Paid Member

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    Perhaps I should invest in a fuel pressure tester
     
  5. pigbladder Forum Addict

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    doubt theres any problems if its running okay sinse it stood...after all its circulating a strong solvent all the time its running
     
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  6. costel1969

    costel1969 Paid Member Paid Member

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    PB is right - if the pump was unhappy you'd definitely know it by now.
     
  7. Joehough

    Joehough Paid Member Paid Member

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    Ok chaps, thanks, probably best not to fix it if it ain't broke.
     

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