Trashy gas is actually pretty common, particularly when fueling from stations with older fuel tanks. If you can figure out which station is supplying the low quality gas, they are required by law (in many states) to pay for any car repairs needed due to the bad fuel.
There is a legal process for authorities to identify, and trace this sort of thing.
Yep. Keep receipts for fuel purchases as well. It's my understanding that a purchase of 10g before a breakdown in the fuel system can be tracked back to bad fuel and a win in court.
Yep. A lot of fuel has 10% ethanol in it, which sucks in a lot of water due to being hygroscopic. Also, gas after a bad rainstorm or when a tanker is filling up is bad.
If your car sits for over 3 weeks or has a cap less gas tank you will have issues. My ford had issues cause of the lack of cap it would more prone to getting water in the gas from the ethanol.
Try top gas stations. Chevron, Mobil 1, Exxon, etc. Cheap stuff like quiktrip or speedway gives me issues.
Been going on for a couple of months for me. Knok and ping. Had it checked out and Master Mech said
Nothing he could find and did a service. It didnt go away and started using higher octane. Its gone. Put regular in its back.
That could also be a sign that your car is made to run higher octane.
There are a lot of cars that say right inside the gas flap that they require higher than 87.
A low octane motor can run high octane fuel, but not the other way around. Lower octane will ruin a motor designed for higher and it will express itself in pings and knocks.
Yeah this happens like once a week in one of my owner's groups "does this car REALLY need premium?" and they get indignant when we respond with "what part of that 91 octane minimum marking on the gas cap do you not understand?"
I’ve noticed by going to Costco, and getting premium gas every time, but I get up to 5 miles more to the gallon. With an 18 gallon tank, I think it’s worth the extra expense. Besides the gas it’s just better for your vehicle.
I know, I know… Some people say premium gas is not a big deal. But I have a Dodge charger, and I’m getting 24 miles to the gallon in my vehicle. I’ll take that! All day every day!
When I running out of gas, which is not very often, because I try to fill up at half a tank, I will go to Circle K and get premium there. But it does cost more, and I don’t think the gas is as good as what you’re getting from Costco.
If you've got a car designed to run on premium putting regular in it will reduce you milage as well as power and that's if it can compensate, if not putting regular in will lead to a premature death for that engine.
Yes, this is understandable. There are some vehicles that are designed by the manufacturer, and recommended for premium gasoline. Mine does not happen to be one of them, however, after evaluating my gas mileage and overall performance of my vehicle… I’m sticking with premium.
One of my family members challenged me to do so, I thought they were crazy. But they were right. Costco, premium gas, I get the best performance and mileage out of my vehicle. And 24 miles to the gallon on a dodge charger is a damn good deal. Sometimes it might drop down to 23 but that’s if I’m driving around town a lot not on the freeway.
Years ago on the air force base, the motorpool only supplied 1 grade of gasoline and, by the smell, I could tell it was premium. Do they know something we don't? No, people are trained to be cheap to themselves and all their stuff. Premium in all my stuff for the last 20 years and never needed any injector cleaner and, as you state, 5+ more miles per gallon, even on my old 1995 K1500 with 376,000 on the engine and counting.
Your comment about people being cheap, and being cheap to themselves, it’s so true. They think they’re saving money, but in the long run, they’re not. But it’s the fact that the psyop has been running for so long, we think it’s OK to buy $10 shirts at Walmart and expect them the last.
When my father passed away, I had some extra money, I went out, and I spent money on clothing. Good clothing, stuff that would last. I’ll never have to buy another pair of jeans for the rest of my life, and that includes every other garment you can imagine.
I may want to buy a few things here and there, however, I will not need to. The clothing I purchased is top-notch. And I don’t mean designer, top-notch, I just mean quality top-notch.
The increased price spread took a long time to catch up to the inflation rate but is still feasible in the benefit of lower overall operating cost including maintenance, payments, insurance and heavy repairs.
I had water in my tank for the first time ever a week ago. Filled up the day before, car sat overnight and the next day took five attempts to get the engine to turn over. After it belched smoke and ran rough for a few minutes it stabilized and went back to normal so must have passed the contaminants that had sunk to the bottom of the tank. Put a bottle of HEET in to bind up any remaining water and have been running normally since.
On my Facebook groups for this car had several people last week with similar stories.
I gassed up 2 weeks ago and after, my vehicle was blasting warning signs left and right. Warning lights for engine, battery, etc. When that tank went dry and I refueled at a different station, suddenly all those warning lights went off. I do believe some gas is tainted.
I have a 2012 Kia Sedona with 255,000 miles on it. We’ve had it since it was new. We use mid grade gas and have had no problems. My step dad has a 2012 Toyota Tacoma that has had regular gas put in it all it’s life. He’s had two O2 sensors replaced already at almost $160 each and at 65,000 miles. My advice, spend the extra $.10-.20 per gallon and save in the long run.
Has a vid about mixed fuel pumps where you may get a bunch of ethanol from the last customer's purchase. Mostly applicable to a small gas can, but depending on how much you put in your tank, could make a difference.
Yep. Last couple of weeks have had some interesting tow-ins with a no-start. Most were flooded out..? Hold the pedal to the floor during cranking to clear it out. When it starts kicking, bring the pedal back to about half, going lower as it stabilizes.
That's what happened to mine, started on the 5th try and a lot of vapor from liquid getting vaporized and burnt in the exhaust system for a few minutes then back to normal.
No you stated corn syrup which is a defined substance that is totally different from ethanol. They're not putting sugar in gasoline, working in refining I'd have heard about that long ago.
I had a fuel pump fail many years ago during the summer when gas was over $3. In those years, $3/gal was obscene. What a coincidence that my fuel pump failed when gas was so expensive! Banging the tank would sometimes get the pump to start again. Did the windings go bad, or did the brushes wear down to the point that they didn't make good contact anymore?
Running regular in a premium only car can also do it, the fuel pump is cooled and lubricated by the liquid going through it and the viscosity is not quite the same between grades.
Trashy gas is actually pretty common, particularly when fueling from stations with older fuel tanks. If you can figure out which station is supplying the low quality gas, they are required by law (in many states) to pay for any car repairs needed due to the bad fuel.
There is a legal process for authorities to identify, and trace this sort of thing.
In my case it was a good station that I've used for ten years that suddenly had water in their gasoline and this was premium as well.
Yep. Keep receipts for fuel purchases as well. It's my understanding that a purchase of 10g before a breakdown in the fuel system can be tracked back to bad fuel and a win in court.
Yep. A lot of fuel has 10% ethanol in it, which sucks in a lot of water due to being hygroscopic. Also, gas after a bad rainstorm or when a tanker is filling up is bad.
If your car sits for over 3 weeks or has a cap less gas tank you will have issues. My ford had issues cause of the lack of cap it would more prone to getting water in the gas from the ethanol.
Try top gas stations. Chevron, Mobil 1, Exxon, etc. Cheap stuff like quiktrip or speedway gives me issues.
Unleaded 87 here in Ohio is essentially E10, intake valve stem seals hate ethanol
Been going on for a couple of months for me. Knok and ping. Had it checked out and Master Mech said Nothing he could find and did a service. It didnt go away and started using higher octane. Its gone. Put regular in its back.
That could also be a sign that your car is made to run higher octane.
There are a lot of cars that say right inside the gas flap that they require higher than 87.
A low octane motor can run high octane fuel, but not the other way around. Lower octane will ruin a motor designed for higher and it will express itself in pings and knocks.
Just a thought......
Yeah this happens like once a week in one of my owner's groups "does this car REALLY need premium?" and they get indignant when we respond with "what part of that 91 octane minimum marking on the gas cap do you not understand?"
My brother, in VA about a month or so ago got notified that 2 of his vehicles had fueled up with gas that had water in it. From Wawa.
No - but I always try to get my gas from Costco. It’s cheaper, and also it would be the same gas all the time. I do not shop at Arco for gas ever.
I’ve noticed by going to Costco, and getting premium gas every time, but I get up to 5 miles more to the gallon. With an 18 gallon tank, I think it’s worth the extra expense. Besides the gas it’s just better for your vehicle.
I know, I know… Some people say premium gas is not a big deal. But I have a Dodge charger, and I’m getting 24 miles to the gallon in my vehicle. I’ll take that! All day every day!
When I running out of gas, which is not very often, because I try to fill up at half a tank, I will go to Circle K and get premium there. But it does cost more, and I don’t think the gas is as good as what you’re getting from Costco.
If you've got a car designed to run on premium putting regular in it will reduce you milage as well as power and that's if it can compensate, if not putting regular in will lead to a premature death for that engine.
Yes, this is understandable. There are some vehicles that are designed by the manufacturer, and recommended for premium gasoline. Mine does not happen to be one of them, however, after evaluating my gas mileage and overall performance of my vehicle… I’m sticking with premium.
One of my family members challenged me to do so, I thought they were crazy. But they were right. Costco, premium gas, I get the best performance and mileage out of my vehicle. And 24 miles to the gallon on a dodge charger is a damn good deal. Sometimes it might drop down to 23 but that’s if I’m driving around town a lot not on the freeway.
So true
Years ago on the air force base, the motorpool only supplied 1 grade of gasoline and, by the smell, I could tell it was premium. Do they know something we don't? No, people are trained to be cheap to themselves and all their stuff. Premium in all my stuff for the last 20 years and never needed any injector cleaner and, as you state, 5+ more miles per gallon, even on my old 1995 K1500 with 376,000 on the engine and counting.
Your comment about people being cheap, and being cheap to themselves, it’s so true. They think they’re saving money, but in the long run, they’re not. But it’s the fact that the psyop has been running for so long, we think it’s OK to buy $10 shirts at Walmart and expect them the last.
When my father passed away, I had some extra money, I went out, and I spent money on clothing. Good clothing, stuff that would last. I’ll never have to buy another pair of jeans for the rest of my life, and that includes every other garment you can imagine.
I may want to buy a few things here and there, however, I will not need to. The clothing I purchased is top-notch. And I don’t mean designer, top-notch, I just mean quality top-notch.
It used to be though that premium was only $0.20/gal more than regular, then post-Obama it's about $0.80/gal more for no damn reason.
The increased price spread took a long time to catch up to the inflation rate but is still feasible in the benefit of lower overall operating cost including maintenance, payments, insurance and heavy repairs.
This is so true, but I’m finding that gas at Costco is cheaper. By a lot. So I go and deal with the lines that I hate so much.
I had water in my tank for the first time ever a week ago. Filled up the day before, car sat overnight and the next day took five attempts to get the engine to turn over. After it belched smoke and ran rough for a few minutes it stabilized and went back to normal so must have passed the contaminants that had sunk to the bottom of the tank. Put a bottle of HEET in to bind up any remaining water and have been running normally since.
On my Facebook groups for this car had several people last week with similar stories.
Did you have a bad rainstorm in the area? That will do it
No and the car is kept in a garage. Never had issues during previous rainy weather, first time this had happened to me in my 26 years of driving.
I would try different gas stations then or better octane then.
Yes.
I gassed up 2 weeks ago and after, my vehicle was blasting warning signs left and right. Warning lights for engine, battery, etc. When that tank went dry and I refueled at a different station, suddenly all those warning lights went off. I do believe some gas is tainted.
I have a 2012 Kia Sedona with 255,000 miles on it. We’ve had it since it was new. We use mid grade gas and have had no problems. My step dad has a 2012 Toyota Tacoma that has had regular gas put in it all it’s life. He’s had two O2 sensors replaced already at almost $160 each and at 65,000 miles. My advice, spend the extra $.10-.20 per gallon and save in the long run.
There's a gal on youtube called Chickanic.
Has a vid about mixed fuel pumps where you may get a bunch of ethanol from the last customer's purchase. Mostly applicable to a small gas can, but depending on how much you put in your tank, could make a difference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQZK-hcl5M4&t=364s
(Warning: brevity is not one of her strengths)
Yep. Last couple of weeks have had some interesting tow-ins with a no-start. Most were flooded out..? Hold the pedal to the floor during cranking to clear it out. When it starts kicking, bring the pedal back to about half, going lower as it stabilizes.
That's what happened to mine, started on the 5th try and a lot of vapor from liquid getting vaporized and burnt in the exhaust system for a few minutes then back to normal.
Well, I have to run Seafoam through my motor to clean it out a LOT more often than I used to have to.
There's so much ethanol in the gas, that the yellow gummy residue actually seeps out around fuel line connections.
Good idea! Run corn syrup through your fuel lines! That oughta make things operate smoothly.
Ethanol is corn syrup. Its ruining everyone's engines.
No corn syrup is a sugar solution, ethanol is ethyl alcohol. I'm a chemical engineer, you're not going to change my mind.
When I say syrup, Im not talking about Aunt Jemima, Im talking about consistency.
Whatever they're doing with the corn-based fuel/additives is causing automobile lines to gum up. Its from the ethanol. This is a fact.
Call it what you want to, it does what it does. Its "like" a syrup and it clogs fuel lines.
No you stated corn syrup which is a defined substance that is totally different from ethanol. They're not putting sugar in gasoline, working in refining I'd have heard about that long ago.
I had a fuel pump fail many years ago during the summer when gas was over $3. In those years, $3/gal was obscene. What a coincidence that my fuel pump failed when gas was so expensive! Banging the tank would sometimes get the pump to start again. Did the windings go bad, or did the brushes wear down to the point that they didn't make good contact anymore?
Running regular in a premium only car can also do it, the fuel pump is cooled and lubricated by the liquid going through it and the viscosity is not quite the same between grades.