With all the advertising hype out there, I'll bet plenty of folks are confused about which fuel & octane they should be running in their rides.

That great unread document, called "OWNERS MANUAL", holds all the info one needs.

That said I wonder what the papers definition of, "will run just fine", is????

Many, but not all, of todays engines use knock sensors, which retard timing, when they sense spark knock & we all know what retarded timing will do to the engines POWER, don't we!!!!!!

Don't believe I would want to drive around with an engine designed to make it's best power on 92 octane, operating on 87 with retarded spark!!!!

Also not all fuels detergent additives will clean the combustion chamber too.

Look closely at the hype ads for Shell V-Power gasoline for instance, about midway through, at the bottom in hard to see white letters, they say, cleans fuel injectors & intake valves, big deal.

Not one word about claning the combustion chambers!!!!!

Now to me, having a combustion chamber detergent in my gasoline is important, because y 99 4.0L Ranger suffers from CCDI & any buildup of combustion chamber deposits in the "squish zone" causes a cold start up knock called "marble noise".

I tried the new formula Shell for three tanks in the Ranger last year in June & the knock was bask with a vengeance. I immediately went back to Chevron 87 & it took 4 tanks to quieten it down again.

So Shell V-Power isn't for my Ranger.
My Merc marine engine didn't like it either. I run premium in it as called for, but it would spit & sputter & wouldn't idle worth a darn.

Texaco or Chevron premium run just fine in it, so I alternate those two every 6 months in the marine engine too, just like the Ranger & my other rides.

So be mindful, that not all gasolines are the same.
Some have the minimum detergency required by federal law & not all have a combustion chamber detergent.

Why is that important, well some detergents that will clean the injectors & intake valves will trash the combustion chamber, so be mindful of that, when you make your choice of what your ride is going to have to choke down when you fill up!!!!!

Does fuel brand make a difference???? I found out it did for me big time, back in 97, when in desperation, I switched the Taurus to Texaco. It took about 5-6 tanks to fully wake it up, although I began to notice a little difference in throttle response & a 2 mpg increase at the end of the first tank.

Yah I had tried all the botteled magic elixers before that, to no avail.

I've found that choosing the best runnng gas will make from 2-4 mpg differece in the 99 Rangers 4.0L & 6.5-7 mpg difference in the 94 Taurus 3.8L, along with big driveability & throtle response improvements.

So expierment with different brands of gas where you live, keep good records, use at least 5 tanks of each brand & I'll bet you can find at least two that'll make a positive diffrence, I have & it was two I had not been using, one I had never used, Chevron!!!!!

The 94 Taurus 3.8L loves Texaco, it really woke it up.

The Ranger gets it's best mileage on Chevron then Texaco, so I alternate every oil change, between these two brands & it keeps the CCDI marble noise, in check too!!!!!

Just some of my experiences over the last 8 years with driveability & mpg on my rides.

 

Todays 100 octane leaded aviation gasoline has a nice blue tint. They dont make the purple 145 octane stuff anymore.

Jim

 

Lets see, if I remember correctly, back about 50 odd years ago, aviation petrol was dyed thusly.
violet= 115/145 octane
green= 100/105 octane
blue= 91/96 octane
red= 80/85 octane

Knew some guys that were mixing 115/145 50/50 with pump gas.

Heard of others burning valves in their police engines & turnpike cruiser engines usng straight 115/145 avgas.

I pumped penty of it, including Isenhowers Columbine Super Connie once.
Unloaded two 3K gallon tankers into one of the first online C130's.

Yup, they had recep radial engines in the early days!!!!!

Can also remember when oil filtes were optional equiptment on cars.

My first foreign car, a 65 VW didn't have a oil filter, just a mesh screen to screen out the big stuff.

Heck some of the early engines didn't even have oil pumps, they were "dip & splash" oling systems, kinda make's ya pucker up when you think about all that, doesn't it!!!!!

 

I personally use regular 87 in everything until i deside to tow my
boat or a trailer then its the high octane for me,whether it makes
a diff who knows but i feel better about it, and i could care less
what the brand is cuz all the trucks fill up for delivery from the
same place.

 

yeah, I'm not so sure there's any difference. I run two vehicles on 89 due to predetonation and the only bad gas problem I've had is a misfire issue from one station having water in it's gas.

The high octane stuff is only to help out with predetonation ( the gas going off before top dead center and thus ruining power and the engine) but this detergent stuff seems like snake oil to me. I've not seen better gas mileage any time that I filled up with the better brands.

 

While the basic fuel required by the Feds must distilled to contain a certain molecular structure by all refinerys & have added to it a minimum detergency, or have a special receipe for a certain area, state or even city, thats where the similaritys end.

The thing that makes various fuels different, is the additive package put in the tanker when it leaves the tank farm.

These additives make ALL the difference in the world over the short & longterm, in driveability, fuel economy, deposits & emissions.

Why do you suppose the big three pay extra, to have a certain brand gasoline shipped from Ky. to Detroit, to run/certify their various vehices Govt emissions test?????

This particular brand doesn't market their gas in Mich, so it must be tankered in special.

 

Yup, in the same corner, Im gonna go out on a limb here.
I think that people are so wanting gas to make a diff in there
vehicles theyll only run one brand, i hear guys dish arco when
really its the same as 76,shell,exxon,texaco,chev,conoco phillips
Bp, they get the stuff from the same plant and put there separate
names on the stuff so really the only diff is octane and unless your
vehicle says to use anything other than 87 your wasteing money
but of course if your towing than itll make a diff as far as octane goes. okay im done got carried away on ramblin sorry.

 

didn't know about that in the emissions test stuff paw. Maybe it does make a significant difference on emissions, do you think that translates to driveability/engine wear?

My basic deal is that after the time it takes to build up a significant amount of carbon deposits in the combustion chamber, the motor should have enough wear elsewhere to necessitate rebuild.
My 77 has either 225 or 325k miles on it (no hundreds place on the odometer and I know it's rolled over a few times) and it needs a rebuild. By this time I think that the carbon deposits have gotten to it. It diesels.

And for all of you that think that it's time for a new engine I have the 300I6 and after the rebuild (considering I do everything right) it should go another 300k.

 

Yup, pretty close.

the green was 100/130, replaced by the current blue 100 "Low Lead", which has more lead than auto gas ever did. The unleaded red aviation gas was just discontinued last year by the last one making it, Kern Refining.

Antique planes like the Connies are fueled with 100LL today, but run without the superchargers connected that would require 115/145. I remember fondly going to the airport with my dad in the 1950's and seeing all of those tanker trucks fueling the old Douglas and Lockheed airliners. Even today at my home airport, Long Beach, everything is still fueled from trucks, BP, Chevron and Exxon.

Jim

 

Well Amish77 I don't rightly know if you could extrapolate a gasolines additive package into longer engine wear, but my experience has been that driveability & mpg shure took a big lasting jump on the Taurus 3.8L, so I'm convinced the proper additive package can make a difference, it has for me.

One would think, if an engine is making better use of the fuel it burns, then it's likely making less soot & internal deposts, so seems to me that likely translates into less putrid stuff for the oil & filter to have to deal with.

And yes many gasoline additve packages have a light oil, for lubing the upper cylinder area, so if the gas is additized right, that should help with upper cylinder wear, without adding to the deposit load & certainly a combustion chamber detergent would help, it shure has for me in the Rangers 4.0L with it's CCDI marble noise problem.

Both Texaco & Chevron have a combustion chamber detergent that work for me!!!!!

Now which brands reciepe will work best for your engines design, in your area, for the kind of driving you do, you'll just to test some & keep records.

I did, & I ran at least 5 tanks of each brand, before I moved on to another brand to test.

On your 77, with that kind of mileage it's allowed to have some deposits LOL, so if you believe carbon deposits are the cause of the dieseling problem, try adding some "Seafoam" or Chevron "Techron" to a tank of Chevron or Texaco gas & running most of that out, with some of the tank used at or above 3K rpm for at least 3 miles on the highway, on say a 20 mile round trip run, with some of the spirited >3K rpm accelleration thrown in from time to time on that trip.

If you notice an improvement afterward, then you might be right about about the carbon deposits, so give her a second dose & see how it goes.

If you use only Texaco or Chevron gas by themselves, it'll likely take at least 5 tanks to get it as clean as the additives can, as it takes about 1K miles of driving or 5 tanks of gas, for one brands detergents to clean the others deposits.

By adding the consentrate additives to a tank of gas, you have about a 5X stronger mix, than without, so it'll likely clean things up in one tank.

The Seafoam can also be added through a vacuum line, directly into the engine, if your in a hurry & are careful not to let it have too much at one time & hydrolock the engine & bend something up. LOL

The Seafoam is about half the price of the Techron in my area, but both are good for removing deposits.

I prefer to add them to a tank of gas & let them clean things up slowly, so the plugs don't get fouled or the cat converter have to gag on a bottle of the Seafoam.

That way you won't smoke up the whole neighborhood either if added to a tank of gas, as it'll smoke heavily, (like a blown engine) for a while, if you add it through a vacuum line. LOL

 

As a fuel truck driver i want to bring up a few points in the above quotes .

at least in the Pgh .Pa area 99.99% of gasoline comes from the same pipeline , the only difference is the name on the side of the truck that picks it up .
I personaly have loaded at a texaco refinery next to a BP , Sunoco , and various other "brand" names and we all were loading the same product from the same tank , most stations purchase gas thru a supplier contract and the supplier basically shops around for the best price point on the fuel , this is how most brand name corporate stations work

The "difference" in gasoline is in the station you pump it from , if it is an older station there is usually alot more sediment and gunk that is inside the tank and alot depends on the volume of gas that the station uses .

if you get gas from a newer busier station you more than likely are getting a "better" product (ie. fresher cleaner gas ) because there is minimal sediment buildup in the newer tank and it has less time to sit in the tank and deteriorate .

also dont rule out a no name station , they usually get there fuel from the same place as the bigger name brand places .

anywho the above is just observations i have made ,your mileage may vary

 

So when is the brands additive package added to the fuel you load out to deliver to a gas station in your area 1980f150 ????

Here in SW Va I'm told it's added at the tank farm load rack, just before the delivery run.

I too understand the base refined fuel is the same comming through the pipeline to a given area from any refinery & what makes it any one brand, is the additive package put in at the load rack, before delivery.

I was also told it's common for different companys to trade the base product among themselves, to help cut down on transportation costs.

So as you've seen, any one brand needing that partcular distillate, can load it from anyones refinery or pipe, making the base product, because the BASE products molecular structure is mandated by the Feds, it's all the same bas gas & the additive package is not yet added, which makes it a paricular brand.

Here in SW Va it isn't added until the truck is about to leave the load rack to make it's retail stations delivery.

I agree with getting your petrol from a newer high volume station, where turn over is higher.

Just don't fill up while your tanker is there, stirring things up LOL.

Most stations around here won't pump that storage tank for a delayed period of time after a delivery, so things can settle down & not give you a load of sediment. LOL

Anyway interesting input from the delivey end of things.

 

The add pack is put in while the truck is being loaded , added automatically ,its all computerized now , most refinerys here do not permit anyone on top of the truck anywere on their property .

 

and almost forgot , with talking to the lab techs at the refinerys the aditive packs are almost identical between the brands , thats why you might see a sunoco truck loading in a texaco plant and a BP truck in a Sunoco plant . so yes the base gasoline blend is the same maybe small variances in what additives are put into the fuel , but in my experiance they are very small differences .
Nothing in my opinion to make me choose one brand over another I ususally am more worried about the condition of the station that i am buying the gas from then what the name of the Gasoline is .

Most suppliers are more worried about the price point than which name they are purchasing, most of the time we are talking 1/2 of a cent price difference between refinerys .

 

Well there must be some significant difference thats giving the big three an advantage on their emissions certs, because they pay to have Chevron trucked from Ky. up to Mich. for use in their emissions testing, because Chevron doesn't market their gasoline product in Mich.

Yup, the Chevron petro engineer I was having the conversation with,( about gasoline & additives), job was to put in the addpack at the load rack.

Good idea to keep folks off the tankers, good to hear it's all automated now.

When I was doing this in the Navy, it was all done manually at the load rack.

Most of our trucks were only 3000 gallon 10 ton gas carrying vehicles, we had a few semi tankers with JP-3, 4, or 5, for the larger jet aircraft, but 3000 gallons of high octane avgas was all I cared to have behind me in my cab over LOL.
We were all told that 3000 gallons of avgas was equivalent to 10 tons of TNT, so we youngsters wouldn't be trying to do wheelies or drag race. LOL