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roonierella
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« on: October 02, 2006, 06:05:08 PM » |
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Hi Guys!
Been a while!
Anyways... I had made an appointment to have my Mini looked at this morning because it was running rough and was hesistating when I started her up.
Long story short, they checked the ethanol content in my fuel and it measured a whopping 18% ethanol content.
I last filled up my tank Saturday morning at the Shell on Laskin Road, down at the Oceanfront near Atlantic. I had put the 93 octane high-test in it.
So I would recommend avoiding this gas station if possible.
See ya round!
~ Tiffy
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Capt_BJ
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« Reply #1 on: October 02, 2006, 06:52:51 PM » |
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They checked the ethanol content of your fuel?
I'm a wee bit dubious on that .... If they'd lain that line on me I'd ask 'how' cuz I'm fairly certain they didn't send it out to a lab and if there's a quick and dirty way to check I'm sure they'd be happy to show it to me :roll:
I presume 'they' is CF?
What did they suggest as the fix? Use another gas station? Did they offer to check the gas from there?
More importantly....did they fix the problem or tell you "it is the gas...go away"?
I'm all in for some stations having bad gas...esp water...which is why at home I like one that I know does high volume. But this story leaves me wondering.....
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dc/dc
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« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2006, 08:20:49 PM » |
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Shell is Top Tier, so I'm a bit surprised...
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F15eWeapon
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« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2006, 08:48:48 PM » |
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Yeah, you guys didn't know about the petroleum development lab behind the Mini Service building? :P
I'd love for CF to tell me exactly how I'm supposed to find a gas station that DOESN'T put ethanol in it's fuel right now.
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obehave
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« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2006, 10:37:26 PM » |
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I've found that Lucas fuel system treatment is good at helping with the issues raised by ethanol.
My lawnmower hates the stuff more than the MINI does.
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roonierella
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« Reply #5 on: October 03, 2006, 09:27:30 AM » |
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Correction on the location..
It is the Beach Shell, located at 705 22nd St in Virginia Beach.
Yeah, they checked my fuel... Frank over at Checkered Flag said a lot of the gas stations have been adding more ethanol to their premium fuels to boost the octane rating in the fuel.
Explains why my car ran like crap.
I think I am going to call over to the gas station and give the manager a heads up.
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Capt_BJ
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« Reply #6 on: October 03, 2006, 10:59:22 AM » |
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how did he test it? that's my question....
taste or smell don't count ...
how long did they have your car? I know no way to test this other than sending a sample to a lab.
I toss my b.s. flag on this.
btw I run shell 90% of the time. I suspect that shell for this metro area comes from the same distribution point - but could be wrong, I'm guessing - I have seen no problems in any of my 4 cars, or my lawn mower.
I know CF reads this board....how did you test the fuel? convince me....
(or is this the topic of your first planned Tech day at the dealership... :roll: )
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obehave
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« Reply #7 on: October 03, 2006, 11:30:02 AM » |
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how did he test it? that's my question....
taste or smell don't count ...
how long did they have your car? I know no way to test this other than sending a sample to a lab.
I toss my b.s. flag on this.
btw I run shell 90% of the time. I suspect that shell for this metro area comes from the same distribution point - but could be wrong, I'm guessing - I have seen no problems in any of my 4 cars, or my lawn mower.
I know CF reads this board....how did you test the fuel? convince me....
(or is this the topic of your first planned Tech day at the dealership... :roll: ) I bought 7-11 gas for the lawnmower. Same gas gave my car fits. Moved to Exxon and have had no issues with the car. Unfortunately my lawnmower gas can is still 1/3rd full. |
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fool68
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« Reply #8 on: October 03, 2006, 02:22:10 PM » |
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Unfortunately my lawnmower gas can is still 1/3rd full. What you should do is sneak up to some unsuspecting PT Cruiser in the dark of night and dump the 7-11 Hugo Chavez Special Blend Gas into it's tank while the owner's asleep :twisted: |
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Capt_BJ
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« Reply #9 on: October 03, 2006, 02:42:57 PM » |
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higher octane does not mean more power in the gas and ethanol in the gas - might! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_ratingso poor performace of the engine due to ethanol is possibly because the fuel is overpowered for the engine :idea: |
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obehave
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« Reply #10 on: October 03, 2006, 03:31:31 PM » |
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higher octane does not mean more power in the gas and ethanol in the gas - might! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_ratingso poor performace of the engine due to ethanol is possibly because the fuel is overpowered for the engine :idea: In the case of the alcohol fuels, like Methanol and Ethanol, since they are partially oxidized fuels they need to be run at much richer mixtures than gasoline. As a consequence the total amount of fuel burned per cycle, counter balances the lower energy per unit volume, and the net energy released per cycle is higher. If gasoline is run at its preferred max power air fuel mixture of 12.5:1, it will release approximately 19,000 BTU of energy, where ethanol run at its preferred max power mixture of 6.5:1 will liberate approximately 24,400 BTU, and Methanol at a 4.5:1 AFR liberates about 27,650 BTU. So unless you can adjust the the variance in fuel ratio requirements you'll have issues. The MINI can compensate. The lawnmower can't.  Poor little lawnmower :cry: |
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AprilWhine
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« Reply #11 on: October 03, 2006, 04:45:19 PM » |
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About a year ago, we messed up and bought racing fuel when we thought we were buying diesel for our generator. :roll: The lawn mower and leaf blower both loved the diet of racing fuel. 8)
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2nd MINI
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« Reply #12 on: October 04, 2006, 10:32:56 AM » |
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BTW, I had performance issues with Shell, both in Tidewater and when I was in TN/NC visiting the Dragon.
Bob
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Capt_BJ
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« Reply #13 on: October 04, 2006, 11:56:08 AM » |
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Any station, regardless of brand, can have problems
A station that doesn't move much gas has a higher probability of having water in their storage tanks. And if you hit a station when they are almost out of gas you can end up getting who knows what out of the bottom of the tank. Lots of variables.
That's why some recommend aiming for the 'busy' stations or one tht you know does a high volume. Their tanks presumably are kept churned.
In my earlier life I sort of managed an airfield where we stored aviation fuel. Since we were an island in the middle of nowhere, and moved (aka a ship with a flight deck and assigned helo), the pilots tended to be a bit anal about the gas I put in their little bird. But there were limits to the tests one can perform.
We'd "recirculate" the fuel for a set amount of time b4 filling the bird. And then do a clear and bright test - take a sample in a jar and shake it up. You can see water in emulsion if there's water there, and then let it settle and see if there is sediment. Yes we had filters but gunk still happened and filters did not get it all. We could not test the actual composition of the fuel however...when a truck full was delivered all we could check was how clean the contents were.
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minispec
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« Reply #14 on: October 08, 2006, 04:22:21 PM » |
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... I'll try to find out how the shop determines the ethanol content in a car's fuel sample. I can say this- in my experience at the store those who have been advised that they have a high ethanol content in their fuel and have followed the recommendations given by the store have not come back with further issues. Witchy-poo science perhaps, but to the casual observer it seems to work.
I pump that wonderful WAWA gas in my car- the cost is low-low-low and the place is always packed because of it creating frequent turnover of the product. And the car has yet to have an issue.
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