tea coloured petrol

[NR2k]

We suspect our turbo esprit project car has not been on the road for quite some time. On draining the small amount of remaining petrol from the tanks it was tea coloured and oily/waxy. We have not recommissioned a car before. Those of you that have is this normal for really old fuel?

[robertcosta]

Hmmmm....probably with a dash of rust.

Best to drain out the fuel system and inspect the insides of the tanks. Modern petrols have lots of waxy shellacy stuff in them and if the car has been standing for quite some time it tends to varnish everything its in contact with. Cleaning out the carby's is a given as well.

 

R.

[molemot]

That filth can give you a load of grief. Getting it out of the carb jets is the very worst....I have never found a solvent to shift the above mentioned shellacy varnish stuff, and had to resort to physically cleaning the jets with an old bit of correctly sized guitar string! Before that, there had been a giant flat spot around the normal motorway speed limit....a right pain, it was.