I bought some E85 October 2014 and stored it in a glass smuckers jar.

Photo of test from October 2014


I tested this same batch of left-over fuel (from the jar) this summer sometime (I can't remember, June maybe?) and it came up the same, about E83.

I did the same tonight (It's been about a year) and poor results. The fuel looks the same to the naked eye, but the tester shows somethings way off. Jar has been sealed tight...

 

I don't know how those testers work, so......
What are we looking at?
It's now, like, e95?

 

I can't even get a reading really.

It's supposed to form a detailed line like you see up top. It's just a cloudy mess.

This summer when I tested it- it did read like last fall. about 83%. I was super surprised.

When the test-tube sat over the recent months the portion on the top vanished and only the fluid under the 83 mark was left. I poured that out and retested - the cloudy mess was what I got.

I waited an hour and it's still a cloudy mess.

From what I understand (and I may be wrong) the water you add mixes with the alcohol, but the gasoline floats to the top. Thats why they separate and you can see the distinct line in the first photo of my original post.

 

Oooh. So now it's not separating? That would be odd. I hear e85 doesn't last long in storage. I have yet to see proof, though.

Toss a match in. See what happens. 😛

 

Maybe tomorrow, someplace safe

 

Yup the water mixed with the ethanol.

 

You need to shake it better.

 

nah, I shook it quite a bit, let it sit overnight, shook it again.... just looks like a cloudy mess.

 

Probably the gasoline is going bad. It has a much shorter shelf-life than ethanol.

 

This summer (June or so) when I did the 2nd test (sorry no pictures) you could see a clear separation at 83%, however the gasoline vanished by the time I opened the bottle the other night.

 

Exactly why I like to do a tank a month on my car. Any longer and it freaks me out after reading about how it sucks up moisture.

 

the factory evap system effectively seals the fuel tank from the outside world, so if you still have that, you'll be fine for much more than a month.