Can petrol go off due to heat?

[TheOtherLeft]

I was wondering if petrol can go off due to high weather temp?

With 40+ degree days of late can petrol go off and lose it's energy content? I imagine sitting in a big container the petrol might vaporise a lot more???

[Big_DP]

I was wondering if petrol can go off due to high weather temp?

With 40+ degree days of late can petrol go off and lose it's energy content? I imagine sitting in a big container the petrol might vaporise a lot more???

Can't help technically at all but I'd be more worried about the expansion properties of the vapour

[MightyMouse]

Yes - petrol does have a "shelf life". Its very obvious with some engines - they will ping quite badly.

[poppywhite]

It may not go off but is more explosive due to higher vaperisation and the drums get a bit of beer gut fairly quick. Evaporation loss is rapid in hot weather.
Petrol has short shelf life before deteriating cause of lose of high volitile components, Petrol contailing ethanol is fast at separating and self destructs faster due to setttle out of ethanol.
shelf life of petrol is about 2- 3 months ethanol blend is about 1 month in drum

[Zuri92]

yes petrol goes off, if it is stored in a steel drum in the shade it will last a fair while, but in a plastic jerry the octane leaks out and thats bad. when i was racing bikes the general idea was that you did not keep fuel in a plastic jerry longer than 2 weeks as it lost too much octane, and yes you can easily tell the difference. really, petrol is not that expensive. if you are going to not use it then dont buy as much, if you dont use it and it is not in the vehicle, get rid of it and buy new stuff.

[KiwiBacon]

The main problem is the lighter compounds evaporate out. The more the petrol is ventilated, the worse it will be.
Just one more plus for diesel IMO.