Well.... we lost 89 octane locally!

[SumpChump]

Originally Posted By: MNgopher
Laughing that two of us posted the same thing at the same time. Small world...


Yep Kwik Trip, Near LaCrosse-ish. Small world indeed. I love the 5-8 club for food in Minneapolis.

 

[SumpChump]

Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
I'm in the La Crosse area and some pumps are like that, other Kwik trips haven't switched yet.


LaX region (East) here too. Tomah still had the 89 as of a few days ago still.

 

[blupupher]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: mk378
You can mix premium with regular and get an octane that is proportionally in between.
but that requires swiping your card 2x @ $.75 each time or making 3 trips into the store,waiting in line while some smelling homeless guy scratches his lotto tickets just to get gas.

Why are you paying $0.75 to use your card?

 

[TmanP]

Some stations (Arco, for one) charge a service fee for the use of a card. They're primarily on the west coast.

 

[Malo83]

Originally Posted By: TmanP
Some stations (Arco, for one) charge a service fee for the use of a card. They're primarily on the west coast.

ARCO $.35, use their 89 in all my vehicles

 

[HemiHawk]

What honestly happens when an engine uses a higher % ethanol? I ask because recently I got a powerwasher with a subaru engine. It says not to exceed 10%, and even then it suggests using some kind of ethanol fighting stuff in the gas. Will an engine running e15 have issues or is it more an issue of time and storing it?

 

[Coprolite]

the ethanol fighting stuff is to keep the gas stabilized and to keep it from creating that goo that you can't burn. The % limit is due to plastics/rubbers that can't handle the alcohol and leaks or ruptures result.

Originally Posted By: HemiHawk
What honestly happens when an engine uses a higher % ethanol? I ask because recently I got a powerwasher with a subaru engine. It says not to exceed 10%, and even then it suggests using some kind of ethanol fighting stuff in the gas. Will an engine running e15 have issues or is it more an issue of time and storing it?

 

[MNgopher]

Higher ethanol can cause problems in the fueling system dye to its higher corrosiveness. It can also cause other issues due to the lower energy content. That being said, E10 has been used forever around here. In any modern piece of equipment it should not cause issues.

Another poster mentioned the 93 octane was lost too. Reality is that it has been largely absent in this market for many, many years. You can still get 93 octane at BP stations (which are dying off) or a very few Shell stations. And what you can get is simply 91 octane with 10% ethanol. No ethanol free 93 octane.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: Malo83
Originally Posted By: TmanP
Some stations (Arco, for one) charge a service fee for the use of a card. They're primarily on the west coast.

ARCO $.35, use their 89 in all my vehicles

most places are now .50 to .75 a swipe.

 

[JustinH]

Originally Posted By: Brons2
You lost 93 Premium too, that stuff is available everywhere down here.

On the other hand, I have no gas available to me that is labeled Ethanol Free.

Because of the water absorption, I only buy gas for the mower about a gallon at a time. It can sit all summer and works fine, but never over the winter, or the mower barely runs. I try to time it so I run out in October-ish. The St. Augustine goes dormant from November to February. By March 1 it's usually time to start mowing again, with a fresh batch of RUG.


I am in the Austin area and could not find any ethanol free fuel locally either. My lawn mower also runs like junk on anything over 6 month old gas as well.

I have switched to buying the bottled premix fuel for my two stroke weedeater.

I have to put 93 in my sonata, anything less it pings. Just filled up at sams club for $2.21/gallon with 93.

 

[HonorAndHonesty]

I wish I could Get Ethanol Free Top Tier fuel here. I am lucky enough to be able to get 90 octane Recreational fuel Locally, but I dont believe its top tier, and its stored in an above ground tank and i dont know how much they sell so I worry about the gasoline going stale.

I can also drive 30 miles and get 91 octane Ethanol free from the pump, but I dont believe its top tier either.

 

[Coprolite]

Justin, not familiar with that particular drivetrain in the Sonata, but it seems that something should be able to be done to enable it to run on regular again.

I run stabil and a dash of PEA in my small engine fuels and they are ok. This is much more economical than that prepackaged fuel.

 

[blupupher]

Originally Posted By: TmanP
Some stations (Arco, for one) charge a service fee for the use of a card. They're primarily on the west coast.

I thought that was illegal/ against the terms of credit card companies?
I would not buy fuel from any place that did that for sure.

To the OP, did all stations get ride of 89 octane, or just that one?
Is that vehicle designed for 87 octane? If it is pinging on 87, something is going on, your just putting a bandaid on it by using 89.
The whole e-15 thing is a joke. I also have a Scion that specifically says no e-15-85 as well. And my 2002 F150 is not designed for ethanol at all, and hate having to run even e-10.

 

[SumpChump]

Originally Posted By: blupupher
Originally Posted By: TmanP
Some stations (Arco, for one) charge a service fee for the use of a card. They're primarily on the west coast.

I thought that was illegal/ against the terms of credit card companies?
I would not buy fuel from any place that did that for sure.

To the OP, did all stations get ride of 89 octane, or just that one?
Is that vehicle designed for 87 octane? If it is pinging on 87, something is going on, your just putting a bandaid on it by using 89.
The whole e-15 thing is a joke. I also have a Scion that specifically says no e-15-85 as well. And my 2002 F150 is not designed for ethanol at all, and hate having to run even e-10.


Seems they all are going rid of 89. In that corp.

The engine a 2AZ-FE 2.4 is a known oil burner due to small/coked scavenger ring drain holes. So they get carboned up and ping. One of Toyotas little booboo's.

 

[TiredTrucker]

What is sad, and no one seems to complain about, is with how expensive autos and pickups have gotten, why are the OEM's using sub par components in them that ethanol would be a corrosion problem? There is not a vehicle being made that shouldn't be able to handle up to E30 without even an ECM change. As for ethanol attracting and bonding with water, that is true. But not really a issue with a modern vehicles since fuel systems are non venting, so just don't add water or leave the fuel cap off for days at a time.. Small engines, yeah. Good idea to not let ethanol sit in them for extended periods.

 

[Coprolite]

TiredTrucker, it is likely that most fuel systems can resist higher alcohol levels. The biggest cost is in the elastomers used. Switching those to resistant varieties can increase elastomer cost by orders of magnitude. In my oilfield work, we had three different sets of elastomers available. Nitrile, Viton and Kalrez. Each one was at least an order of magnitude more expensive that the lower version(cents, dollars, 100s). One common part was about $120 each in Kalrez form. Luckily, it was so good that we almost never had to change them, where the others would be changed often.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: Coprolite
TiredTrucker, it is likely that most fuel systems can resist higher alcohol levels. The biggest cost is in the elastomers used. Switching those to resistant varieties can increase elastomer cost by orders of magnitude. In my oilfield work, we had three different sets of elastomers available. Nitrile, Viton and Kalrez. Each one was at least an order of magnitude more expensive that the lower version(cents, dollars, 100s). One common part was about $120 each in Kalrez form. Luckily, it was so good that we almost never had to change them, where the others would be changed often.

OK but you're not using Kalrez elastomers because of the EtOH. It has to be something else in the stream that would be attacking Viton.

And where are you seeing ethanol in "oilfield work"?

 

[Coprolite]

I was drawing an analogy(or parallel) to oilfield work. Our requirements are different, but as additional chemical resistance is needed, the elastomer costs grow. Over the whole system, it can have an impact that is appreciable.

We are concerned with H2S, CO2 and high temperatures(usually defined as 306+ or 350+ degF).

I couldn't speak to the specifics of the issue, but can appreciate the increased cost of making the system resistant to increasing amounts of a chemical.

 

[MNgopher]

To the poster that stated he shouldn't be using E10 in an 02 F150, go back and read your owners manual. E10 fuels have been in use in many areas of the country going back to the early 90s. My F150s of that vintage (97-03) allowed E10 and ran 200000 miles on it with no issues.

As to why don't automakers just make everything able to handle E30, it's all about cost. Even pennies add up over hundreds of thousands of units.. More to the point though us the EPA stating E15 is safe to use in all 2001 and newer vehicles. Those older systems weren't designed for it. Anything made since the EPA made its decision should be able to handle E15 though. Doesn't mean I'll use it either.

 

[CincyDavid]

I saw Subaru-powered power washers at Sam's Club recently, for a lot less than Honda-powered ones...that's the first time I had seen any OPE with Subaru power.

I just run 87 in everything I own...seems to work just fine, and everything around here has ethanol in it. My Stihl string trimmer runs fine on old gas with Stihl-brand oil mix, it takes me all season to use a gallon. If I have any left at the end of the season, I just dump it in the old Briggs & Stratton-powered Snapper walk behind and use it up...smokes a little on start-up but seems OK after that.