Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Hi all,

Getting rid of old engine oil is fairly straightforward at the local tip - errr, recycling centre, with its gungy old tank designed to take used engine oil.

How should we dispose of old coolant (with antifreeze in it), or decades-old petrol from a drained tank?

RJ
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[Bitumen Boy]

Old coolant is the tricky one. Pretty much everything else is flammable to some extent and can be disposed of whilst burning other rubbish.

[Rick]

[Rootes75]

There always seems to be a garden fire burning in our village at he weekend, usually just as my better half has just put washing on the line!

I quite like the smell of a fire burning, it reminds me a lot of my childhood at my Grandparents place where a bonfire was a regular occurrence. My wife on the other hand was brought up in a very large town/city and she cannot stand the smell!
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[peter scott]

If it's not full of grit I'd say just mix the old petrol with a fair dilution of fresh stuff and burn it in your engine. If it is full of grit I guess you could filter it first.

Peter
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http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Kleftiwallah]

One of my earliesr memories is of my parents getting rid of our old straw palliasses on the bonfire. My goodness didn't they go up!

Cheers, Tony.
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It may work in practice, but not necessarily in theory!

[Bitumen Boy]

[Ashley]

We can dispose of old oil etc at the local tip.

It’s not a great place to visit because it’s so busy and the muddle people get into with mini trailers. Often they’ve even blocked the main road.

[Penman]

Hi Ashley
The quarry near Horsley???.
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Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[Ellis]

A relevant question for me.
I have been obliged to change my diesel tank from a plastic single skin type to a bunded one and have emptied the old tank.
Our local council will accept the old tank as long as an effort has been made to decontaminate it.

You would not believe the condition of the diesel fuel at the bottom, it resembled a muddy sludge and there are nearly ten gallons of it in plastic containers but how I dispose of that I don't know.
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[Bitumen Boy]

Might be of interest to some - have a look on youtube for DIY waste oil heaters, there are some simple designs that seem to work really well burning pretty much anything. Could be worth investigating for anyone who has a fleet of oldies as I know some forum members do.

[Mog]

My way to get rid of old petrol, just tip it on the ground , it will evaporate . Do not strike a match !

[alastairq]

Swap the modern daily driver for an old Daihatsu Fourtrak diesel. [The Independent drives the road better]

Then anything that might possibly burn, or go 'bang', can be shoved in its tank, the engine will run faultlessly.
Just make sure, if pouring in the remains of stuff like paintbrush cleaners, or old petrol..that a small quantity of any sort of lubricating oil is added.

If one happens to have some genuine diesel in the tank as well, so much the better!!

[This, from someone who has one of the above...and who unintentionally [I don't have accidents!]....added 25 litres of petrol to the tank.....the Daihatsu engine ran without a hitch..even after I added a small bottle of Halfords lawn mower oil.....not that I'd recommend using petrol as a cost saving measure...but at the time it was over 10 p a litre cheaper than proper diesel! I once thought I had emptied a spare fuel can of diesel into it..only to find I had emptied diesel, plus the underseal washings...picked up wrong can....Note to self...must get cans of different colours in future. I have dome stick oil heating...handy if ever my pension runs out too early?]

Warning..the above may not work with any other kind of modern diesel...

I wonder how many narrow boats are now powered by daihatsu diesels??

[MikeEdwards]

By coincidence, the question of anti-freeze disposal came up on another site, and one of the responses was:

" I once asked this question of Severn Trent Water. They obviously reiterated that garages must dispose of used antifreeze via proper waste disposal channels, but they recognise that someone changing his coolant at home cannot do so. They advised that small quantities can safely be disposed of by flushing down the toilet. It will be such a small concentration that sewerage works will be able to handle it.

It should never be poured down drains, as it will go direct into water courses."

[Clactonguy]

here we. ought to contact local council whom can advise correct approved disposal contractors etc .
old oil is collected at many recycling centres ( tips) and is filtered and reused as heating oil etc .
coolant is a different matter. local water authority will prosecute if you pour it down drains!
not actually seen how a council will handle that request!
as to old fluids being used to mix with fuel and burnt in engines..though older engines with simpler systems and. no pollution controls etc can handle a certain amount of 'crap' mixed in assuming it gets past filter..
modern common rail engines are susceptible to fuel dilution and it can get VERY expensive .in diesels mainly due to very high. pump pressures involved.