Club gas and additives

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Is it true that discount gas from club retailers (Costco, Sams Club) does not have any additives like detergents and cleaners that you would probably find in major name-brand gasoline ?

Although one would imagine if that was true lots of people would have had problems with their cars already and word on the street would not be in their favor.

So whats the scoop on club discount gas ?
 
I guess it differs by location?

In Hawaii, our Costco buys their gas from Aloha Petrol in bulk. That's why it's more cheaper buying at club places. Aloha Petrol is a top tier gas so we get quality gas at a cheaper price than Chevron and other Aloha gas stations.

So I guess it depends where the Costco or Sams club buys their gas.
 
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As far as I know gas cannot be sold without X amount of detergents and cleaners in it.

The name brands such as Chevron, etc just add more / proprietary blends of additives into their gas at whatever percentages that we will never know.

If you buy non-branded gas you still purchase gas with the minimum required by law additive pack
 
We were at Costco yesterday and they were getting a delivery of gas there.

Wished I had my camera. The truck was a chevron truck. I went over and asked him if they just use his truck to deliver other brand gas?

Nope, He was delivering 3000 gallons at Costco then going down the street for 2 more deliveries @ Chevron stations. All the SAME fuel.

He was delivering only reg unleaded. He said that Costco gets fuel from a few different places.

Bill
 
was it really the same or in a different compartment on the truck from the Chevron gas? Usually there are three tanks on the truck.
 
The EPA mandated a certain amount of detergents in gas around 1995. Later, engine deposit issues led to some refiners and auto manufacturers getting together to develop "top tier" gas with additional detergents, basing it on results criteria (not specifying detergents as such but what the desired measurable results should be).
 
Originally Posted By: shanneba
was it really the same or in a different compartment on the truck from the Chevron gas? Usually there are three tanks on the truck.
He said the same gas. I can only go by what he said.

There used to be a member here who drove fuel trucks and said the same. He said to buy gas from a gas station that sells a lot so you get fresh gas. Then buy on price. Don't get caught up on brand because it is all the same.

I've done that for decades and never had a single carb or FI problem.

Take care, Bill
 
Originally Posted By: youdontwannaknow
Is it true that discount gas from club retailers (Costco, Sams Club) does not have any additives like detergents and cleaners that you would probably find in major name-brand gasoline ?

Although one would imagine if that was true lots of people would have had problems with their cars already and word on the street would not be in their favor.

So whats the scoop on club discount gas ?


youdontwannaknow,

All gas must have a certain amount of solvents it in order to be sold in the U.S. Federal regulations you know. :) Besides that I always add a big bottle of Techron after every oil change anyway. If you feel you need extra solvent then consider a large bottle of what ever brand you like to keep the deposits down. Just figure it that way.

With gas prices going up so fast one needs to buy the cheapest they feel to keep money in thw wallet. Believe it or not here in my neighborhood mid Wilshire area of Los Angeles the gas price for Shell gas is a whopping $2.70/gallon!!!!!! And the stupid rich people are buying it. Not me I'll go to Arco and get it for $2.20/gallon.

Durango
 
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
We were at Costco yesterday and they were getting a delivery of gas there.

Wished I had my camera. The truck was a chevron truck. I went over and asked him if they just use his truck to deliver other brand gas?

Nope, He was delivering 3000 gallons at Costco then going down the street for 2 more deliveries @ Chevron stations. All the SAME fuel.

He was delivering only reg unleaded. He said that Costco gets fuel from a few different places.

Bill

The Costcos here get gas from random suppliers - but I know for a fact when I see a Redwood Coast Petroleum or Beneto/KAG tanker there, they're getting gas from Chevron's Richmond or Shell's Martinez refinery. If I see anything else than those 2, it's probably from Kinder-Morgan or Arco's Richmond rack.
 
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
We were at Costco yesterday and they were getting a delivery of gas there.

Wished I had my camera. The truck was a chevron truck. I went over and asked him if they just use his truck to deliver other brand gas?

Nope, He was delivering 3000 gallons at Costco then going down the street for 2 more deliveries @ Chevron stations. All the SAME fuel.

He was delivering only reg unleaded. He said that Costco gets fuel from a few different places.

Bill


You do realize they add the additive pack after the tanker is pumped at the rack? So, base fuel is generic, Chevron or not. It is the additives that matter. So, this is inconclusive.
 
Interesting that the driver SAID that he delivers the SAME fuel to Costco as Chevron. The tanker he was driving had the SAME fuel in each tank.

I guess he does not know what he is delivering but you do.
 
Club place usually just buy from the lowest bidder at that particular point in time. So it could be top tier in one load and the bare essentials to keep the government happy in another.

Gas is gas, but the detergent and ethanol content differ from brand to brand.
 
The Costco near me is also next to the fuel tank farm. I've seen several different trucks in there like Coastal or Swain or even plain stainless stealth tankers.

I've always wondered about detergent levels of bargain fuel and last month I had the opportunity to look down into the intake of my 96 Maxima while doing a PITA rear valve cover replacement. To do this, I needed to remove the upper intake plenum. With that gone, I could see that the valves and stems had absolutely no build-up. For primarily using Costco premium for nearly 100k miles, it looked very clean on the top end.
 
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Interesting that the driver SAID that he delivers the SAME fuel to Costco as Chevron. The tanker he was driving had the SAME fuel in each tank.

I guess he does not know what he is delivering but you do.


Uh-huh, and you do? I.e. the additive pack is added at delivery, making the mix only relevant in the tank. The driver is not lying, base fuel is the same. The additives are added later.
 
Hate to break your spirits my friend, but add-packs for gas are added at the refinery... This is from working for Shell for over a year.

The only add-pack was the blue stuff for the ULSD, never understood how adding a jug of that make it less "sulphurous".
 
Originally Posted By: ffracer
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Interesting that the driver SAID that he delivers the SAME fuel to Costco as Chevron. The tanker he was driving had the SAME fuel in each tank.

I guess he does not know what he is delivering but you do.


Uh-huh, and you do? I.e. the additive pack is added at delivery, making the mix only relevant in the tank. The driver is not lying, base fuel is the same. The additives are added later.
What?

He takes the truck (and trailer) and delivers to each station. He told me that he delivers the same fuel to Costco that is delivered to Chevron. Each tank is the same. They mix it at the depot when they fill his truck.

Whatever. I know what the driver said and I hope he knows what he is doing. But since the price at Costco is cheaper, the gas has to be different.
smirk2.gif


Same mindset that since Mobil 1 is cheaper at Wal-mart, it is not the same Mobil 1 that you get at Autozone for $3 a quart more.

You get what you pay for...
LOL.gif
 
Originally Posted By: firemachine69
Hate to break your spirits my friend, but add-packs for gas are added at the refinery... This is from working for Shell for over a year.

The only add-pack was the blue stuff for the ULSD, never understood how adding a jug of that make it less "sulphurous".


Maybe there, but here (middle of nowhere) gasoline comes one of three places:

The Sunoco terminal 3 mi from my house. Pipeline from Philly. Most of the brands and no-brands use it. Additives added at the
 
Some reason post was deleted.

Additives are added at the terminal for each brand. About 80+% of the stations get their fuel from this terminal, since it is rural, there are two large oil companies that have most of the brand distribution, plus their own no-brand. Each brand gets its additive pack. Services Sunoco, Mobil, Citgo, and no-brand.
Sunoco and Mobil have much higher than EPA additive levels, Citgo and no-brand do not.

There are sprinklings of spillover brands like Hess and Gulf that have one station in a 50-mi radius. These get their gasoline from company terminals in Syracuse, 90 mi away.

Kwik-Fill (United Refining) owns its refinery in Bradford, PA (old Kendall/Keystone) and does its own deliveries in branded trucks to its stations, which are all over Western NY and PA. It has EPA level additives. Around here it does not deliver to other brands, but does elsewhere.

The prior company I used to work for had a fleet of Chevrolet Astos for delivery. They used Citgo only and it carboned up on all of them around 100k. Fuel system cleaning became a regular occurance.

People in the sports car club use high additive fuel and run 100k, 200k, with limited carbon issues.

It is really simple;

1. get high additive fuel and rarely put in fuel cleaners or
2. go anywhere and and add Techron,etc. twice a year.
 
Originally Posted By: firemachine69

The only add-pack was the blue stuff for the ULSD, never understood how adding a jug of that make it less "sulphurous".


ULSD must be additized to get the lubricity just to the same level as LSD was. Due to shipment of different fuel products down the same pipeline these additives can only be introduced at the terminal, otherwise cross contamination will occur at unacceptable levels. Sulfur is removed through additional catalytic processes at the refinery.
Vehicle fuel pumps and fuel injection systems depend on this lubricity to continue working.
 
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