Old gas in my 280e

[t walgamuth]

My 84 280e euro has been unused for a couple of years now. I put stabilizer in the fuel a couple of times but it does not last forever. Yesterday I started it up and it would not fire on all six even after running for a while. It seems to have about 2/3 a tank. If I drain out the gas and put in fresh with some fuel injector cleaning stuff will it clear the plugged injectors or is it a waste of time? Do I have to pull the injectors and clean them individually?

I am mainly a diesel head so these gassers are a little mysterious to me!

[Stretch]

I've never had this problem before but what's the harm in doing half the job? I mean drain the fuel and replace with new and see if that works. You can always pull the injectors out at a later date.

[mbzman]

I would empty the tank and refill with fresh fuel and a good quality injector cleaner. You have nothing to loose. I use a cleaner made by Red Line and it has worked well for me. If the car still runs poorly then you will have to consider other options such as injector replacement.

[pawoSD]

Won't revving the engine a few times empty the tank most of the way anyways?

I'd drain and put in mostly fresh. 2 years = heavy varnish. Hopefully it did not varnish up the injection system....

I'd never let a car sit that long without at least running it once or twice a month....Gas goes bad in 3-4 months without stabilizer. Perhaps store it with only 2-3 gallons in it? That way if you run it an hour a month it will have fresh gas so long as you add a gallon or two each time.

[t walgamuth]

Originally Posted by pawoSD

Won't revving the engine a few times empty the tank most of the way anyways?

I'd drain and put in mostly fresh. 2 years = heavy varnish. Hopefully it did not varnish up the injection system....

I'd never let a car sit that long without at least running it once or twice a month....Gas goes bad in 3-4 months without stabilizer. Perhaps store it with only 2-3 gallons in it? That way if you run it an hour a month it will have fresh gas so long as you add a gallon or two each time.

Yeah, well we all have good intentions and I never thought it would sit so long without being run, but there it is. I am gonna get it running and fix a few things and start driving it to work, I think.