I am wondering how many f150 owners out there run premium fuel in your trucks? I know that ford says run regular unleaded. I have allways ran premium in my trucks but with gas prices the way they are i am considering a change to regular.Any thoughts or comments on this?

 

It does you absolutely no good to run premium in a vehicle not designed for it. You will most likely be getting worse mileage due to unburned fuel that will also start cuasing a buildup on the pistons and heads. Higher octane fuel does not make any more power unless you are runing a chip that advances timing and thins out your air/fuel mixture. Higher octane means that it has more resistance to preignition and is used in engines with higher compression and or advanced timing. Save your money and use regular.

 

I run regular in mine and so far no knocks or pings on hard acceleration.

 

The engine is designed for low octane. I would'nt chance anything by using premo.

 

DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY on premium grade gasoline!!!!!!!!!!!

The 2004, 4.6 L and 5.4 L V8's are designed to run on REGULAR GRADE (87 octane) unleaded gasoline.....and their engine control computers are pre-programmed for the 87 octane, regular grade gasoline.....and run PERFECTLY FINE on it. I have almost 15,000 miles on 5.4 V8 with ABSOLUTELY NO performance problems at all..... !!

If not initially, then over time.....you will actually get REDUCED performance by switching to a higher grade of gasoline, because the unburned "excess hydrocarbons" in the higher grades of gasoline will end up as carbon deposits on your pistons, heads, and plugs.....ALL of which will DEFINITELY have a NEGATIVE effect on your engine's performance.

DON'T do it.......and besides isn't almost $2.00/gallon for the recommended REGULAR gasoline way too damn much to pay already.....

Fred

 

DON'T do it.......and besides isn't almost $2.00/gallon for the recommended REGULAR gasoline way too damn much to pay already.....

Fred
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ALMOST $2.00 PER GALLON? Thats a bargain. Here in Seattle we're average
$2.23 gal. It can be obtained cheaper at AM/PM or 7-11. No matter the price their fuel will not see the inside of my tank.

 

I've run 85 octane in Utah and New Mexico and have had no problem. In Jokelahoma I run 87.

 

TRITON-ic and others.....

Last night in Lake Wylie, SC....which is 6 miles south of where I work in Charlotte, NC.....I paid $1.70 for CITGO regualr unleaded......

I guess the previous "smiley faces" are in order based on the facxt you are paying $2.23 in Seattle....

Fred

 

85 octane? I have never seen that before. I thought it was only 87 - 93

 

Im with you on that one ive never heard of 85 either

 

They use it in high altitude states. I've only seen it in New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. But thats the only states I've driven with mountians. Except California which I never saw 85.

And It's still the same price a regular. in Moab, UT $2.05 two weeks ago. in NM it was $1.95 two weeks ago.

 

In New hampshire I paid 1.87 this morning, no telling what it is this evening ...

 

Here in Louisiana it is 1.87 for reg and 2.05 for premium.

 

Let me give you a more technical answer but I will try to keep it basic. Using premium gas is not only hard on the pocket book but it is hard on the engine if it is not designed to use it. Here is why. When crude is refined or cracked, it is broken down into its hydrocarbon chains. Methane has has a single carbon atom, propane has three, butane has four hydrocarbon atoms chained together, pentane has five, hexane has six, heptane has seven and OCTANE has eight hydrocarbon atoms chained together. Heptane and OCTANE are used to formulate the basis for todays gas. Heptane has one bad property though, it is unstable under compression. This property is used to ignite the fuel/air mixture in the combustion chamber. So, if you are buying an 87 OCTANE fuel, you are buying a fuel that is 87% OCTANE and 13% heptane. So why wouldn't a premium gas be better? Because there is less heptane, the flame front is slower to form upon ignition, it doesn't reach maximum efficency until the piston is already on the down stroke. It is similiar to running the timing in a retarded positon. It can cause an engine to run internal temps higher than necessary or design, it will most likely cause the engine burn more fuel as the flame front is slow to form, can be hard on the emmissions systems as there will be more unburned fuel to deal with. Of the fleets that we track, none have had satisfactory results using premium gas in an engine designed for regular gas. Unleaded plus (89 octane) is a mixed bag as most engines do not respond any differently than they would to 87 Octane. Some will run better/stronger but this is mostly due to the differences in the sensor systems not being totally identical in every engine.
There is a lot more to this answer but I don't have the time to write a book, which it would surely take. This is a very general answer but I hope that it addresses your concerns.

 

I feel very not smart after reading the last post.