What Temperature Does Gasoline Freeze?


Gasoline can freeze and it can hurt your car’s engine. But these situations are very rare.

What Temperature Does Gasoline Freeze?

Gas freezes below the temperature of -100 degrees Fahrenheit or -73.3 degrees in Celsius. The exact temperature where a matter freezes is called its freezing point, so in the case of gasoline, its freezing point is below -100 degrees Fahrenheit, which sums up to be -73.3 degrees Celsius.

gasoline freezing temperature

Gasoline, which is sometimes called gas in short, holds a freezing point at a specific temperature.  Although it is pretty unlikely for a temperature to go further down to a gas freezing point in the biosphere, it is to keep in your knowledge that gasoline does freeze at a certain point.

How Long Does it Take for Gasoline to Freeze?

It takes at least 1 hour below -100 degrees Fahrenheit (-73.3 degrees in Celsius) for gasoline to freeze. However, these cold temperatures are very rare and according to the temperature detected naturally on the Earth, gas cannot freeze on its own.

In order for gas to freeze up, gasoline crystallizes rather quickly when the temperature reaches below -100 degrees Fahrenheit. It doesn’t take too long to seize up and form crystals. It needs to be present at a freezing temperature, the temperature which does not exist on the Earth, so it is implausible for gas to crystallize on its own.

What Causes Gas to Freeze?

Condensation and low temperature below -100 degrees Fahrenheit (-73.3 degrees in Celsius) cause gas to freeze.

The gas present in your car or anywhere tends to freeze when exposed to severely low temperatures. The gas in your vehicle’s gas tanks is likely to freeze when there are water droplets present and condensation is occurring, which leads to freezing of the water droplets, resulting in the crystallization of the gas. Otherwise, crazy cold temperatures ranging below -50 degrees Celsius causes gasoline to freeze.

How Do You Know if Your Gas Tank Froze?

If the gas in the fuel tank freezes up, your engine will not start. It would shake vigorously before dying ultimately.

Gas freezing up in your vehicle’s gas tank can be very troublesome. Whenever there is condensation present in your car’s gas tank, the gas would freeze up when harsh winter falls. But don’t worry, you will get notified when this happens. If you live somewhere where wild winters fall, then the gas present in your vehicle’s fuel tank would freeze, causing the engine of your vehicle to die completely. Your engine would not kick start or even turnover. It can also sputter and vibrate madly, but it won’t burst out alive. Even if it does start, it will die suddenly and out of the blue. So basically, your car engine would be useless and dead if the gas present in it freezes.

How Do You Prevent Gas from Freezing?

Parking your car under warm shelter or adding an additive to fuel can prevent gas from freezing.

Gasoline present in your vehicle’s fuel tank would probably freeze under severe cold conditions. To prevent the stated problem, you can carry out some ways to do so. You can attempt to park your car in your garage or somewhere sheltered and warm overnight, keeping it away from the bitter cold. You can also add an additive to your fuel which would prevent the gas from freezing up in shallow temperatures.

What is the Freezing Point of Gasoline in Celsius?

The freezing point of gas in Celsius is -73.3 degrees Celsius.

As previously mentioned above, gases tend to crystallize when the temperature drops lower than -73.3 degrees Celsius. Some experts say that gases in your fuel tank begin to freeze when the weather reaches the point of -40 degrees Celsius. The freezing point of the gas is the same where it crystallizes in cold temperature.

Should You Keep Gas Tank Full in Cold Weather?

You should always keep your gas tank full in harsh winter, as half tanks lead to condensation, resulting in gas freezing.

The gasoline present in a fuel tank condenses when the tank is full halfway or is not full to the brim. As said before, condensation leads to freezing of gas, so it is preferable by experience to always try to keep the gas tank full in cold conditions.

In a nutshell, always check whether your gas freezes up in your vehicle’s tank under severe cold conditions because it can lead to the death of your engine or something way worse.

Robert Aksamit

Robert Aksamit

Robert Aksamit is a mechanical engineer and automotive industry expert. Robert was born in Minnesota and worked in the US automotive industry for 25 years. He is highly regarded for his passion and dedication to continually improving vehicles in response to customer feedback. Robert has a keen eye for sourcing the best vehicle components and materials on the market and is always looking for ways to enhance the user experience. As a writer, Robert covers automotive-related topics. Read more on Robert Aksamit's about page. Contact Robert: robert@promtengine.com

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