Cheap Gas Kills Your Engine

[Bandit’s Lair]

Well maybe once we get a new head on the snake things will improve. I’m hopeful at least. We shall see.

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[Maximus Gladius]

You’re talking about direct injection, yes? I’ve heard that it’s a good maintenance practice to have those valves walnut blasted at 50k miles.

 

[Maximus Gladius]

I would be curious how long it would take for blowby from a decent engine to produce enough buildup on valves to make a difference if nothing was done to clean the deposits.

You’re talking about the direct injection system, yes? I heard a good maintenance practice is to walnut blast them at 50k miles.

 

[ItsmeMrWright]

Is it even possible for you folks to vote all the riff-raft out of office, get rid of 90% of the state agencies and get back to "Normal?"
I tell ya, the rest of the nation looks westward and just shakes their head. It's shameful that happened to such a beautiful state!

We stand a good chance of getting a GOP guv this time around. But the left holds a super majority in both assembly and senate. My plan is to escape eastward within a year or two.

 

[Dilly’S Willy]

Getting this back on track and off politics, yes shit/cheap gas CAN kill your engine, but 90% of the USA doesn't generally sell anything below 87oct. SOMETIMES you'll find 85oct, but that's rare and generally was for lawn equipment back in the 80s/90s. Try running that in anything made in the last decade and you'll see issues, even with a carburetor.


Just don't be a cheap bitch and use at least 87oct from a quality gas station. I say "quality" as in, if they don't maintain their facilities, there's a high chance their tanks are just as bad.

And no, 91oct or higher isn't going to make you more power WITHOUT a tune for it. That's just not how modern ECUs are programmed for EPA regulations.
-If you want more info on this, just ask. Performance tuning is one of my specialties. And I'm sure @bmpcamry09 would agree about the above statements.

 

[MeanGreen]

Getting this back on track and off politics, yes shit/cheap gas CAN kill your engine, but 90% of the USA doesn't generally sell anything below 87oct. SOMETIMES you'll find 85oct, but that's rare and generally was for lawn equipment back in the 80s/90s. Try running that in anything made in the last decade and you'll see issues, even with a carburetor.


Just don't be a cheap bitch and use at least 87oct from a quality gas station. I say "quality" as in, if they don't maintain their facilities, there's a high chance their tanks are just as bad.

And no, 91oct or higher isn't going to make you more power WITHOUT a tune for it. That's just not how modern ECUs are programmed for EPA regulations.
-If you want more info on this, just ask. Performance tuning is one of my specialties. And I'm sure @bmpcamry09 would agree about the above statements.

I think the point of the video is Top Tier gas vs. non Top Tier gas. Not necessarily 87 vs 93.
Non Top Tier certified fuels have long been considered "cheap" gas.

 

[DylanM]

I think the point of the video is Top Tier gas vs. non Top Tier gas. Not necessarily 87 vs 93.
Non Top Tier certified fuels have long been considered "cheap" gas.

Yep, folks are mistakenly conflating cheap gas with low octane, when the intended meaning of the term actually refers to the quality of the fuel.

 

[Dilly’S Willy]

I think the point of the video is Top Tier gas vs. non Top Tier gas. Not necessarily 87 vs 93.
Non Top Tier certified fuels have long been considered "cheap" gas.

Except I've used both and had mixed results. Maybe back in the 90s-2000s this was more relevant.

I've had bad gas (even 93) from BJs and Costco, and I've have bad gas from Jim's buttfuck fuel too.


That's why I said it's more about how they maintain their facilities than who you're buying from. My grandmother worked for a massive fuel distributor and did their books for 20+ years. The only real differences are the detergents and additives they use between the retailers.

 

[DylanM]

Except I've used both and had mixed results. Maybe back in the 90s-2000s this was more relevant.

I've had bad gas (even 93) from BJs and Costco, and I've have bad gas from Jim's buttfuck fuel too.

That's why I said it's more about how they maintain their facilities than who you're buying from. My grandmother worked for a massive fuel distributor and did their books for 20+ years. The only real differences are the detergents and additives they use between the retailers.

Yes, facility maintenance is important as well, but not more so than anything else without having to resort to worst case scenario/hyperbolic example. Drinking contaminated water from a meticulously clean glass is still far more likely to give you the shits than drinking clean water from a glass with a little soap scum and hard water deposits. Those differences in detergents and additives are a large part of why some fuels cause buildup and poor running while others don't; the properly treated and thus better quality fuel outperforms and better protects your engine.

 

[Dilly’S Willy]

Yes, facility maintenance is important as well, but not more so than anything else without having to resort to worst case scenario/hyperbolic example. Drinking contaminated water from a meticulously clean glass is still far more likely to give you the shits than drinking clean water from a glass with a little soap scum and hard water deposits. Those differences in detergents and additives are a large part of why some fuels cause buildup and poor running while others don't; the properly treated and thus better quality fuel outperforms and better protects your engine.

Mayby you didn't quite understand. Yes they add other things, but when you learn who gets what from where, what's added, and then actually use both, and learn the hype is bs....it's all marketing brother.

They will sell you what you want to hear in order to charge you more money for the same quality product.


And if you've never actually tested a performance vehicle that's been tuned for quality fuel (not a corvette, or motorcycle, a REAL tuned vehicle (and not 50yo carbs) then you'd understand how this works in reality, not on paper.

I've used Shell and Mobile 93 in almost every state along the east coast in vehicle that REQUIRES quality fuel, and every single time those "Top Tier" brands consistently has the worst quality fuel I've ever used! My vehicle would ping, retard timing, and run like dogshit, until I filled up with another brand. "Top Tier" fuels are a gimmick, believe what you want, that's your right. But I'm not sorry, facts are facts from REAL world uses. And no, your ass can't tell you minute power increases, that's what we call the Placebo Effect.

 

[MeanGreen]

Mayby you didn't quite understand. Yes they add other things, but when you learn who gets what from where, what's added, and then actually use both, and learn the hype is bs....it's all marketing brother.

They will sell you what you want to hear in order to charge you more money for the same quality product.


And if you've never actually tested a performance vehicle that's been tuned for quality fuel (not a corvette, or motorcycle, a REAL tuned vehicle (and not 50yo carbs) then you'd understand how this works in reality, not on paper.

I've used Shell and Mobile 93 in almost every state along the east coast in vehicle that REQUIRES quality fuel, and every single time those "Top Tier" brands consistently has the worst quality fuel I've ever used! My vehicle would ping, retard timing, and run like dogshit, until I filled up with another brand. "Top Tier" fuels are a gimmick, believe what you want, that's your right. But I'm not sorry, facts are facts from REAL world uses. And no, your ass can't tell you minute power increases, that's what we call the Placebo Effect.

But the video (and forum for that matter) isn't about the fuel requirements of finicky tuned performance cars... It's about daily driven vehicles and if the fuel you put in it better or worsens engine performance over time. There's a lot of studies out there that show that PEA (the main cleaner in Top Tier fuels) does in fact keep your engine cleaner.

I personally don't seek out any specific branded fuels, but I do use a PEA based fuel cleaner every 5k miles or so. I don't "feel" a difference but that's the point. I want my vehicles to run how they're supposed to day after day.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Never keep vehicles less than 200k.

Never do anything but the cheapest fuel from the cheapest pump. Including using E30, or "Super 94" when the price offsets the mileage hit and makes sense.

Ran 87 in my 91 recommended FJ Cruiser for 241,000 miles until the day I traded it in.

Never had any snake oil in the tank or magic smoke sent through an intake.

Never changed my oil in less than 10k intervals.

Never change diff, transfer case, or transmission fluids, brake fluid, coolant.

Never a major component failure on anything I purchased new.

2011 FJ 241,000. 2018 GC 285,000. 2017 Ram 445,000, 2018 Ram 201,000 (currently), 2023 Gladiator 77,000 (currently), for funsies and to trigger the Fudds, also my 2022 Tesla M3P 66,000 (currently).

 

[MeanGreen]

Never keep vehicles less than 200k.

Never do anything but the cheapest fuel from the cheapest pump. Including using E30, or "Super 94" when the price offsets the mileage hit and makes sense.

Ran 87 in my 91 recommended FJ Cruiser for 241,000 miles until the day I traded it in.

Never had any snake oil in the tank or magic smoke sent through an intake.

Never changed my oil in less than 10k intervals.

Never change diff, transfer case, or transmission fluids, brake fluid, coolant.

Never a major component failure on anything I purchased new.

2011 FJ 241,000. 2018 GC 285,000. 2017 Ram 445,000, 2018 Ram 201,000 (currently), 2023 Gladiator 77,000 (currently), for funsies and to trigger the Fudds, also my 2022 Tesla M3P 66,000 (currently).

"Different strokes for different folks."

Not judging, but curious, do you "never" change any of those fluids because you think it a waste of time and money?

 

[Jrgunn5150]

"Different strokes for different folks."

Not judging, but curious, do you "never" change any of those fluids because you think it a waste of time and money?

What would changing them have gained me, when every one of them was still functioning fine when I chose to end my ownership of the vehicle?

 

[MeanGreen]

What would changing them have gained me, when every one of them was still functioning fine when I chose to end my ownership of the vehicle?

I was asking you your thought behind your maintenance practices. Honestly curious. I didn't respond to try to prove you wrong or right.

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