Harley76

The story.[/align][/align]A couple of weeks ago we had a warm spell here in Michigan (50plus degrees) and being the old Harley guy that I am, decided to take my old Iron Head out for a ride. Well to make a long story short, I stopped at a gas station for a cup of coffee and while sipping my brew spied a young man pumping gas into his Mustang GT. I went over to have a talk and brag about my GT and as soon as I got there he hung up the pump and I noticed he only put $10 of 93 octane in and that at this station the pumps where the single hose type for all 3 octane levels. This is the type of gas station I try to avoid like the plague when on the Harley as I only have a 3.5 gal. tear drop tank and out of habit will avoid it in the GT if I can. So I explained to him why he was making a mistake and thought I'd pass it on here too.[/align][/align]Why its bad.[/align][/align]If you are buying gas at a station that does not have a dedicated hose for each octane you are putting at least point .3 gals of gas from the last octane level used into your tank. On our cars this does not make that much of a difference when we fill up (from 93 to 92.8). If your running low on fuel however and only put $10 in this will make a big difference in octane drop. You can imagine what this does to the 3.5 gal tank on my Harley. Here is a training page for weights and measures that will explain the .3 gals in the hose on page 2-10.[/align][/align]http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Training/upload/(302)ch2.pdf[/align][/align]Moral[/align][/align]If money is a little short and you can't fill up, find a dedicated pump.[/align][/align]Long winded bastard ain't I,[/align]Harley[/align][/align]

ink003

i never would've thought of that- definitely makes a difference, and especially if one has a tune running. thx for the advice harley76!

white07

I never had a explanation behind it but when I see pumps like that I always figured you could be putting a lower octane gas into your car cause its in the line. Since I have a tune for 93 putting 87 in can be bad news. Thanks for the info.

Tracedaddy

Good point. Thanks.

viperrmk

Cool never knew that. Thanks

Ultrashock

All of the gas stations in my area have a single pump with the 3 octane buttons. =[ This does make sense though. I havn't had any problems with the 93 tune so far though.

Full Throttle

yeah same thing around my area (ontario). I don't think that I have ever seen a pump with hoses for each octane level.

schapman

I cant see it making a differencein a large tank. If im running a 93 tune my car isnt going to blow up if the gas is only 92.8. Thecomputer will adjust the timing if its even needed.Also, the octane only matters if your runnin your car hard. I could run 89 octane gaswith my 93 tune if i was just on a long trip on the highway and had it on cruise control.

Ultrashock

I do remember seeing 1 pump per octane a long time ago when I was a kid. I don't see them anymore around here with all the new stations...even older ones. Im with shapman, I don't think its so significant that it will do any real damage. However, with the 3.5 gal situation...it could be a different story. I just say that acetone video on how it raises mpg when added 2 oz/10 gal. Not to get off topic, but does anyone REALLY believe that would work? [&:]

TAMPAGT07

The 93 represents the minimum octane rating.Usually the ratings are actually slightly higher.I believe even if your octane dropped to 92.8, this should not be a problem. Hopefully the inspector(s) in your area are doing their jobs and monitoring the gas pumps.