Gas or gas/oil in red jar??

dereksbicycles

dereksbicycles

Active Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2011
Messages
6,497
Reaction score
26
You know those red jars that you use to put gas in your lawn mower or snowblower. I have few of them. I cannot remember if I put gas or gas/oil mix in them. I would like to fill them up so that I can put gas in snowblowers. Depending on models, snowblowers would be gas or gas/oil mix. My concern is what if the jar had gas/oil mix in it and I put gas in it. Would I have to use it only with snowblowers that has gas/oil mix or would I use it in ones that has gas?
 
dereksbicycles said:
You know those red jars that you use to put gas in your lawn mower or snowblower. I have few of them. I cannot remember if I put gas or gas/oil mix in them. I would like to fill them up so that I can put gas in snowblowers. Depending on models, snowblowers would be gas or gas/oil mix. My concern is what if the jar had gas/oil mix in it and I put gas in it. Would I have to use it only with snowblowers that has gas/oil mix or would I use it in ones that has gas?
Click to expand...

That happened to me once and I simply got rid of it all mostly because I knew the stuff was kinda old, too. Now, for the gas/oil blend, I write on the can with a black marker as to what it is.

If you don't want to do that, I think you can pour a little on a paper towel and should be able to see which is gas and which is the oil/gas blend by it's color and being oily.....
 
Tousi is right, shake the jar and put some on a paper towel is one way. Also, most 2-cycle oils sold these days are either red or blue, so if you pour them in a clear glass, you should be able to tell which has oil.

You should also be able to tell by the smell, as the oil/gas mix definitely smells different from plain gas.

It will not hurt your engine as long as you don't have a catalytic converter. Depending on how old the gas is, you can mix them with fresh gasoline for your lawn mower, snowblower, etc. If you put the mix in straight, be prepared for smoke clouds....

If you do put it in your modern car, it will take awhile for the oil to dissipate from the catalytic convertor.
 
dereksbicycles said:
You know those red jars that you use to put gas in your lawn mower or snowblower. I have few of them. I cannot remember if I put gas or gas/oil mix in them. I would like to fill them up so that I can put gas in snowblowers. Depending on models, snowblowers would be gas or gas/oil mix. My concern is what if the jar had gas/oil mix in it and I put gas in it. Would I have to use it only with snowblowers that has gas/oil mix or would I use it in ones that has gas?
Click to expand...

Is there any reason to think you cannot clean out the container well enough?
 
dereksbicycles said:
I'm sure I can clean it easily. I was just wondering about effect. I may just add gas to it. Doesn't seem to be a problem based on what others typed.
Click to expand...

Most engines have oil on piston's due to bad rings. If you get blow by, it can get on the spark plugs and cause misfire. Having said that, I'm not sure about the affect on the tank and fuel system. I would think the oil is heavier than gas and probably would be soaked by the fuel filter if there is one(but this is just a guess). If this is special mixture fuel gas/oil then you will get miss fire or worse no fire. It is also possible to clog your muffler or converter with oil as well.

For the money and head ache involved, best not to chance it.

In addition, you might want to Google for gas/oil mix harmful to engines.
 
I might be wrong, but won't oil/gas in a car engine cause fouling of the spark plugs?
 
green427 said:
Tousi is right, shake the jar and put some on a paper towel is one way. Also, most 2-cycle oils sold these days are either red or blue, so if you pour them in a clear glass, you should be able to tell which has oil.

You should also be able to tell by the smell, as the oil/gas mix definitely smells different from plain gas.

It will not hurt your engine as long as you don't have a catalytic converter. Depending on how old the gas is, you can mix them with fresh gasoline for your lawn mower, snowblower, etc. If you put the mix in straight, be prepared for smoke clouds....

If you do put it in your modern car, it will take awhile for the oil to dissipate from the catalytic convertor.
Click to expand...

That's good advice.

After you do that, you should label the containers so that it doesn't happen again. :thumb:

My dad has two of those containers. One (regular gas) is for the lawn mower and one (oil mix) is for the weed wacker. Since the gas for the lawn mower is used most, he puts it in a larger container while the gas for the weed wacker is put in a smaller container. It's always been that way for as long as we can remember.
 
If it is small engine or old motorcycle something like that, oil/gas mix won't do much damage, probably nothing. But for newer cars, they are running on fuel injectors and got bunch of EPA related parts, including catalytic converter which can be damaged from oil.

It won't do much to spark plugs, I have done that in the past and never had issues.

DeafBadger said:
I might be wrong, but won't oil/gas in a car engine cause fouling of the spark plugs?
Click to expand...
 
I have 3 gasoline containers, one is large size 5 gal container which is straight gas and two other smaller containers which are mixed oil/gas since one smaller one I have to use 93% octane and other is regular octane. And of course that two smaller containers are marked. So it would make sense that smaller containers for chain saw, weed wacker, and other garden tools doesn't have very large gas tank whereas other, like lawn mower, water pressure, generator and such have lager tanks.
 
green427 said:
Tousi is right, shake the jar and put some on a paper towel is one way. Also, most 2-cycle oils sold these days are either red or blue, so if you pour them in a clear glass, you should be able to tell which has oil.

You should also be able to tell by the smell, as the oil/gas mix definitely smells different from plain gas.

It will not hurt your engine as long as you don't have a catalytic converter. Depending on how old the gas is, you can mix them with fresh gasoline for your lawn mower, snowblower, etc. If you put the mix in straight, be prepared for smoke clouds....

If you do put it in your modern car, it will take awhile for the oil to dissipate from the catalytic convertor.
Click to expand...

I see 3 different colors for similar jars -

1. red is for gas (obviously lol)
2. dark blue is for diesel
3. light blue is for water
 
btw - don't ya'all hate the dang CARB compliant? it's comical and nonsensical :mad2:
 
#2 is wrong, it is for potable water (Not drinkable water, good for washing stuff)

Diesel jug is Yellow. I know cause I have few of em.

80054%205%20Gal%20Enviro-FloDies.jpg


Jiro said:
I see 3 different colors for similar jars -

1. red is for gas (obviously lol)
2. dark blue is for diesel
3. light blue is for water
Click to expand...
 
diehardbiker said:
#2 is wrong, it is for potable water (Not drinkable water, good for washing stuff)

Diesel jug is Yellow. I know cause I have few of em.

80054%205%20Gal%20Enviro-FloDies.jpg
Click to expand...

you're correct. correction:

1. red is for gas (obviously lol)
2. dark blue is for kerosene
3. light blue is for water
4. yellow is for diesel

btw - I have heard in here during Hurricane Sandy that if you're found with gas tank with non-compliant gas sprout waiting in the line at gas station, you'll get ticketed by cop.
 
All of you keep using the word "jar" instead of "jug"....

When I think of the word "jar", this is what I think:


mason-jar.jpg



Jug is the word we want to use here.
 
Jiro said:
I see 3 different colors for similar jars -

1. red is for gas (obviously lol)
2. dark blue is for diesel
3. light blue is for water
Click to expand...

diehardbiker said:
#2 is wrong, it is for potable water (Not drinkable water, good for washing stuff)

Diesel jug is Yellow. I know cause I have few of em.
Click to expand...


Thank you ! was about to correct jiro .... grrrr! however the water jugs have been used for drinking and stuff since boy scout uses them.

As for the blue jug for kerosene - well , I have blue one that I use for diesel since it was "free" from a freind, but I use it for my diesel tractor. But
I do mix a little kerosene in my diesel for leftover summer mix to make it winter compatible.
Jiro said:
btw - don't ya'all hate the dang CARB compliant? it's comical and nonsensical :mad2:
Click to expand...

Yeah I hate hate hate hate them. SHHH - I still have a few of those older style jugs and will continue to use since its better. I have one of those newer ones and I drilled a hole in one and installed a tire stem and removed the valve core so I can make it drain faster with less mess.

As for OP derek - I have one jug for gas/oil mix I use only and its labeled on handle and other places on jug with a sharpie saying OIL/GAS MIX! I did that since I am afraid my kids/wife would do something stupid with my cars if I was not around.
 
Back
Top