[TR] Fuel

[Michael Porter]

On 7/30/2017 7:41 AM, Don Hiscock wrote:
> Try this link for Costco's top tier gas:
> https://www.costcoauto.com/automotive_articles/fuel_economy/top_tier_gas_nozip.aspx
>

This notion of "bad gas, cheap gas" always confuses me, since the 
refinery system in this country has been pretty stable and unchanging 
for many decades (with one small caveat--Valeo has made quite a bit of 
money converting closed refineries to take heavy crude feedstock and 
producing gasoline and diesel, along with a #6 fuel oil fraction).  The 
brand-name refineries, just like the independents, sell to everyone.  
Now, the name brands have their own formulas (which mostly involve how 
much of a detergent load is added or the mix of octane improvers used), 
but, gasoline is gasoline. All the refineries tailor the end product for 
seasonal changes (which pretty much is dependent upon how much drip 
gas--the high fractions of natural gas that condense in the lines--is 
added).

Many people think by buying brand-name gas, they're not getting ethanol, 
but in almost every case, even the name-brand blends have some ethanol 
in them (a few percent, on average), because it's a relatively cheap 
octane improver (ethanol is 110 octane).  What matters most is how the 
gasoline is transported and stored, and what the turnover is.  Short 
illustration:  when I worked in a Toyota dealership in Florida, a Navy 
lieutenant had brought in his Celica for yet another free carburetor 
job, and I smelled something wrong. I said, "I think your problem is the 
location you're buying your gas."  He was indignant, saying that the 
owner had "guaranteed" that his tanks were certified.  I told him we'd 
drain the tank, and take a quart sample mid-stream, and if the gas was 
clean, he'd get another carb, but if it wasn't, he was on the hook for 
parts and labor.

I mean, hey, this was Florida, I couldn't be far wrong because area 
tanks flooded all the time and many of them were old.  Took the sample, 
and the guy exclaimed, "see, it's fine."  It looked a little cloudy, so 
I said, um, no, let's just wait a minute and see what settles out.  In a 
minute or so, it had separated into about one-fifth fine Pensacola 
red-clay silt, about 60% gasoline and about one-fifth water/alcohol 
mix.  "That's what you've been running through your carburetor and 
engine."  He was horrified.  And contrite.  And ready to commit mayhem 
on the guy selling him gas.

Most of the really old tanks are now gone, after fed and state EPAs 
cracked down on the leaky ones in the late `80s and early `90s, in 
accordance with the Clean Water Act, so this problem with storage isn't 
as great as it once was.  But, gasoline is gasoline, and if the refiners 
are on the up-and-up on their octane ratings, it's going to work pretty 
much the same.

Not sure what to say to the fellow who ended up with a hole in an 
exhaust valve, because that's passing strange.  Exhaust valves usually 
erode from the edges inward or develop radial cracks.  That sounds more 
like a material defect than from gasoline.



Cheers.

-- 


Michael Porter
Roswell, NM


Never let anyone drive you crazy when you know it's within walking distance....