Intersting Article on Gas Detergent Quanity

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Originally Posted By: Stephen_G
Originally Posted By: Dwight_Frye
I wish they would have tested ARCO. They are typically the least expensive major brand here in CA. I don't really trust the off-brands. I have to run 91 octane in my Nissan 370Z. I typically add a bottle of Techron every 3000 miles or so, and a dose of MMO about every 2000 miles. Never had any problems with injectors on my last car, and Infiniti G35 using the same brand and octane and cleaning regimen, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.


Arco=BP


Thanks ! That's good to know about ARCO, as BP scored well in the tests.
 
Originally Posted By: ffracer
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Tell me that study wasn't paid for by a couple oil companies.

As long as you buy gas from a high volume station it will be fine. Doesn't matter what brand it is, or what you pay.


And your basis is what....?

There's plenty of automaker analysis that the EPA standards are too low. Go look at the conferences that automakers have presented at.

All depends on how long you plan to keep your car. Over a 100k miles, it is a problem. Have seen it personally.

The idea of having a national standard that wastes gasoline as gas age and change owners, is simply idiotic when it could easily be prevented for 1-2 cents and the fuel savings over time will easily prevent it. It is a long term build up issue and easily solvable.

No one complains about hardening of the arteries after a cheeseburger until years later, why would they notice this?


Well lets see my family used to own about 12 gas stations, an engineer who designs additive packages for one of the big ones and lots of experience.

Another cool thing is that each brand's additive package cleans out the others, so fuel system cleaner is a waste of money. Just switch around brands.

Fuel problems? Never on a fuel injected car.
 
I say high volume stations for two reasons:

One they are more likely to change their filters. IE the fuel is filtered when it is pumped out of the in ground tank. A lot of small mom and pop type stations cheat and don't change them until they absolutely have to, instead of on a set schedule. Ever see a pump that goes real slow? That's a clogged filter.

Secondly larger stations tend to have better tanks, with fresher fuel, which is not full of water and sediment. A more extreme case of this is seen at inland lake marines, good luck there its like pumping fuel in a 3rd world country!

I rather buy from a station that sees 400 cars a day instead of 40. So I'm always at the busiest and as a result the cheapest stations.

Brand doesn't matter it all comes from the same pipe, and they put in their little additive package in the truck.

OTOH octane does, so I always run what the manual says.
 
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Originally Posted By: hattaresguy


Well lets see my family used to own about 12 gas stations, an engineer who designs additive packages for one of the big ones and lots of experience.

Another cool thing is that each brand's additive package cleans out the others, so fuel system cleaner is a waste of money. Just switch around brands.

Fuel problems? Never on a fuel injected car.



What does the engineer have to say about certain additives like PEA that is a detergent that not only cleans but DOES NOT leave its own residue behind like most others do?

There is a significant different between detergents in many cases.
While the gas may be the same the detergent package is NOT and it can make a huge difference in tens of thousands of miles.
 
Originally Posted By: Stephen_G
I am debating running Shell 91 octane two times a year, just to get the higher detergent percentage. Just to clean out my system, instead of running fuel injector cleaner.



This. I've been known to run a tank or two of 91/93 during the year to clean things out.....
 
Between 50k and 65k, one of my cars was being filled with primarily non top tier gas and did mostly short trips.

The loss in performance was dramatic. The first dose of Gumout All In One made a huge difference and I did a couple more treatments until I couldn't feel any further difference.

I stocked up on Gumout All In One from Big Lots when it was on clearance and will using it on an annual basis. I've switched to top tier and ensure all my cars get a good ratio of sustained highway driving to counteract short trips.

Another car, much younger and with 400hp, also saw several months of short trips and non top tier gas. Gumout cleared that out too although the actual impact was much less due to the age as well as the sheer power of the car.
 
I thought filters, as they plugged up, would be better able to filter out particles? All the large pores are plugged?
 
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Ever see a pump that goes real slow? That's a clogged filter.


Typically, if a pump is pumping real slow, it's a Line Leak Detector fault (or an actual leak in the line). Some stations have older mechanical LLDs which are not tied in with the electronic tank gauging systems. The way they alert the station operator of either a fault in the LLD or a leak in the line is they restrict flow to about a gallon/minute (or similar). Customers complain and the station operator is alerted to the problem.

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Brand doesn't matter it all comes from the same pipe, and they put in their little additive package in the truck.


True, the base product is generally the same. But also as you say, the finished product will be different, as the additive package is applied when the fuel is downloaded into the tanker vessel at the terminal. So if you want a certain brand because of its additive package, you'll only find that finished product at that brand's stations.
 
IMHO insofar as fuel detergents or "additives" are concerned you only need to know one word...

TECHRON

Cheers!

p.s. Because it WORKS!
 
Most tests indicate that the Chevron detergent formula of PEA works most effectively because it cleans carbon deposits extremely well and just as important IT DOESN'T LEAVE ITS OWN RESIDE BEHIND IN THE PROCESS! Very difficult to beat that.
 
Glad to see BP ranking up higher there (actually better then Shell at lower octane). We have Shell and BP in abundance here and always fill up at Shell when possible. But BP is so close to me and easy to get to, I generally go there just as much now. Glad to know both are excellent choices!
 
Originally Posted By: xBa380
Glad to see BP ranking up higher there (actually better then Shell at lower octane). We have Shell and BP in abundance here and always fill up at Shell when possible. But BP is so close to me and easy to get to, I generally go there just as much now. Glad to know both are excellent choices!



Shell and BP are probably the only brands in my area that use more detergents than the minimum. For a short while all the UDF stores were Mobil top tier then Mobil pulled out recently.
 
Turkey Hill used to be "Top Tier" but no more since they entered the Ohio market. Extra detergency obviously isn't a priority in this state.
 
I use RaceTrac and a bottle of Redline injector cleaner every 20K miles in my cars.

I was fortunate to buy 25 bottles when AAP had it on clearance for $3 ea.
 
Originally Posted By: Dwight_Frye
Originally Posted By: Stephen_G
Originally Posted By: Dwight_Frye
I wish they would have tested ARCO. They are typically the least expensive major brand here in CA. I don't really trust the off-brands. I have to run 91 octane in my Nissan 370Z. I typically add a bottle of Techron every 3000 miles or so, and a dose of MMO about every 2000 miles. Never had any problems with injectors on my last car, and Infiniti G35 using the same brand and octane and cleaning regimen, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.


Arco=BP


Thanks ! That's good to know about ARCO, as BP scored well in the tests.


Better fill up soon!!

BP Closing refinery, letting ARCO leases expire
 
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