My family has a land rover discovery that has been sitting since late 2019. I am attempting to repair it this summer by putting in a new engine. Unfortunately, the gas tank is completely full with 5 year old gas. About 24 gallons. I would assume it would wreck things and I would have to drain it. What is the best way of going about this? Should I just hook up a battery to the fuel pump somehow and let it all drain out? How would I store all the gasoline and dispose of it?

 

Hmm ... Interesting question.

I expect others may have better ideas for you, but the first thing that occurs to me is to remove the fuel pump and siphon the gas from the tank.

As for disposal, I would advise storing it however you can and then blending the old gas at low rates in this and other vehicles.

Again, just wingin' it here. Others may have better ideas, but with my limited knowledge I think I'd be reluctant to use the fuel pump to remove the gas from the tank because the fuel filters are integral to the pump and any debris in the tank may foul the integral filters.

 

When I swapped fuel tanks I popped the fuel pump bucket out and used a transfer pump to empty the tank into gas cans.

The fuel transfer pump is just an old frame rail mounted 12v fuel pump I keep around for just such jobs.

 

And fortunately for us, LR put a nice access panel under the rear carpet for easy access.

 

Back when I had an 87 firebird it took a lot of cutting to make a fuel pump access as nice as what land rover gave us in the disco 2

 

The fuel can be blended in small amounts in other fuels. You may also be able to give it away on craigslist. If you don't have enough gas cans you might be able to find a barrel free on craigslist. Removing the pump and siphoning is probably the best way to empty the tank.

 

Sounds like we have a consensus about the best way to empty the tank.

And as Harvlr says, Land Rover has made (relatively) easy to remove the fuel pump. Instructions are in the RAVE Workshop Manual. Do you have the RAVE?

You don't say where in the U.S. you are, but as Extinct implies there are likely several businesses near you who handle fluids in larger volumes from whom you can get fuel-safe containers. Not "officially-approved" gas cans, but containers that would do the job.

Heck, how about five, 5-gallon buckets with lids?

 

Call local lawn mower repair shops, ask how much they'll charge to dispose of it. They always have an excessive to dispose of.

 

may be in the minority but I'd wager the fuel is fine. plastic tank and 5 years isn't that old

 

Removing the fuel pump is fairly easy. The hard part is to remove the carpet. You have to remove the side panels or at least tilt them enough in order to pull the carpet. Alternatively you can cut a circular hole into the carpet. After replacing my fuel pump I put a screw into the carpet to mark the center of the circle, so I can cut the carpet if I need to get to the fuel pump next time.