A few weeks ago I made a post regarding a ridiculous hesitation I was experiencing when I decided to get on the gas, pretty much in gears 3-5. I thought the car may have been starving for fuel, maybe fuel pressure loss, possibly the fuel pump needed to be replaced, maybe it was the mass air sensor, or the tune. Well after trying to diagnose the problem myself, I detuned it and the problem did not go away, it just happened at lower RPMs.
Well, anyone who knows anything about Ford dealers in the northeast probably has heard of Tasca Ford, Tasca Racing. As a matter of fact they’re like one of two dealers authorized by Ford to do KR conversions to a GT500, in the area, and are mentioned in an advertisement for the KR. Well, I live 2 miles down the street from Tasca Ford so I dropped the car off for two days. After day one, I called the manager of Tasca Performance, and this is what he said, we can’t figure out what’s wrong with the car, we ran it on the dyno, it’s still doing the same thing, it’s not throwing codes, and it’s not the tune. WTF![:@]The following day, they changed the MAS, ran it on the dyno, still doing the same thing. A master tech, then started pulling plugs….HOLY S@#T he said, the plugs were fowled beyond recognition. They asked if I had ever put fuel additives in the fuel and I said yeh, fuel stabilizer in the winter, but I’ve run 20+ tanks of fuel since, and no problem. What are you using for fuel? I said Sunoco 94…He said that might be your problem, you and maybe 2 other people are using high octane, considering the price of fuel now a days, only knows how long it’s been in the ground. It’s probably bad fuel and who know how much water is in it. They suggested using a lesser octane fuel, which is probably fresher, and adding octane, considering it’s not a daily driver. I stopped buying fuel from this particular station, no problem yet, knock on wood.

 

wow, thats actually concerning, because i use 93' which is around me, but id imagine im one of the few people actually using it with the prices so high.

i think ill ask the operator when the last batch of 93 came in. and hope they actually arnt a tool and know

 

I have never ran anything except Shell 93 octane in mine (Actually I have only put gas in it at the samestation every time since I bought it). No problems yet. I did change my plugs at 6500 miles due to the well known spark plug issue and replaced them with the champion 7989's with anti-seize.

 

The only thing I think sounds odd is the statement about no one using 93 (or 94) octane. I have a 2007 Chevy Avalanche, 2007 BMW X3, 2008 350Z, and the 2007 Mustang. The only one that doesn't require 93 is the truck!

Then again maybe everyone is just using lower then the recommended for the vehicles.

 

I read this article on the subject in the Contra Costa Times just last week.
[blockquote]
"Gas station owners say they are pumping so little premium that it can take three or four weeks to sell their high-octane inventory, as opposed to a couple of days for a delivery of regular gas."[/blockquote]
I don't see how gas can go bad in a station holding tank in 3-4 weeks. Seems to me it would take much longer for any real degradation.

I think I would avoid that particular gas station.

Martin

 

He was being a smart ***. His point was basically with the price of fuel, not may people are fueling up with higher octane fuels because of the cost, so it's sitting around. [sm=smiley13.gif]

 

If you are running the stock tune, there is no reason on earth to go beyond 87 octane.

 

how many of us use stock tunes or 87 oct tunes

 

Read my signature....SCT Tuned.....[&:]

 

I've got an 87 octane performance tune, a 91 octane torque tune and a 91 octane race tune from Doug at Bamachips.

I love them all and run the 91 race in my (now) weekend pleasure driver. (I recently began working virtual office full time.) I don't mind paying the $3-$4 more per tank to run the 91 tune. If I did I would have no problem at all withthe 87 performance tune. The difference between it and the stock tune was like night and day; the difference between the 87 and 91 octane tunes is very subtle.

Martin