I am just wrapping up a '87 Turbo project I have had for about 10 years. The gas in the tank is several years old so I opened up the fuel tank to replace the pump and expected to see everything all covered in black gooey varnish... but everything in the tank was spotless. The fuel pump looks brand new. The tank is well over half full.
Can this gas still be used? Is there any way to test the gas to see if it is still good, like how you can test coolant for specific gravity?

 

dump that stuff amd be glad you don't.have any varnish. I had a simmilar situation and had extreme difficulty starting and running. I siphoned out the gas and put in fresh, probmems solved.

 

there is actually a drain plug in the bottom of the tank, drain it and use it a your lawn mower or as some weedkiller.

even if it looks good there is a good chance it has seperated, which is very common today when gas sits.

Older gas did sit better, but its still not worth it.

 

Drain it. My car would try to start on 2 year old gas, but would never run on it.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I pumped it all out, all 10+ gallons of it. At first the gas looked pretty good in color, but as it got down to the bottom the gas looked pretty dark, must have separated. Still no varnish and the inside of the tank looks brand new. I guess I got lucky on this one. It's been 9 years, it will be nice to get it back on the road.