is all gas the same?

[simple]

Does it matter where someone fills up? I've been hearing that some people say mobil is the best, but does it really matter? What about citgo, kwik trip, and speedway? Does it vary that much from station to station. The reason I'm asking is because I've been hearing reports that some injectors are being sent back to GM due to what mechanics believe is a bad injector, but GM is finding nothing wrong with them. Could it be bad gas? Here in WI we have the reformulated gas which I'm sure doesn't help.

 

The reports came from my local paper.

[ManyCamaroz]

I used to eat at this little diner for breakfast every morning as well as a Gasoline transport trucker. He told me that basically all fuels are the same until it reaches the specific terminal like Exxon, Citco and etc. and that is when the companies exclusive blends are added. I asked about the off brand station like Speedway, Qiuck Stop and the other mom and pop stations all about and he said that the off brands were actually one of the major brands, and it depended on what was loaded on the truck prior to delivery. Most of the problems that people have with off brand fueling stations is due to the fact that the mom and pop stores have aging supply tanks with water ingressing or the fuel is old due to not selling in volume and most of them get the tanks filled on consignment and pay for the fuel as it is sold.

 

He did advise me to stay away from Crown gasolines though. Their refining process was not up to par and whenever he finished offloading Crown fuels there was always some sludge in the bottom of the tanker. This scares me.

 

I can't back up what he said but I will heed to it.

 

My 2 cents worth...

 

Dennis

[GM-Tech]

Last May we ran into MAJOR problems with Texaco and Shell gas. In fact, it affected a large part of the Southeast. Fuel level senders were dropping like flies and we suspected something was wrong when the 10th vehicle was towed in, out of gas when the gas gauge said there was still plenty. When I called other dealers and they were seeing the same thing, we knew there was a fuel problem. Next day it appeared in the newspaper about the contamination.

 

Texaco and Shell footed the bill for these repairs because somehow too much sulfer was left in the fuel and it just ate the sender contacts.

 

So, that kinda says that all fuels are not the same. If there was just a difference in additive packages, other brands should have suffered from the same high sulfur content, but they didn't.

[ManyCamaroz]

Last May we ran into MAJOR problems with Texaco and Shell gas.  In fact, it affected a large part of the Southeast.  Fuel level senders were dropping like flies and we suspected something was wrong when the 10th vehicle was towed in, out of gas when the gas gauge said there was still plenty.  When I called other dealers and they were seeing the same thing, we knew there was a fuel problem.  Next day it appeared in the newspaper about the contamination.

 

Texaco and Shell footed the bill for these repairs because somehow too much sulfer was left in the fuel and it just ate the sender contacts.

 

So, that kinda says that all fuels are not the same.  If there was just a difference in additive packages, other brands should have suffered from the same high sulfur content, but they didn't.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

I had to replace the fuel sender and the module (dealer claimed it fell apart upon removal) in February of 2003 for the tune of about $700.00 if I remember correctly. Could it have been about that time? I live in North Carolina.

[GM-Tech]

I had to replace the fuel sender and the module (dealer claimed it fell apart upon removal) in February of 2003 for the tune of about $700.00 if I remember correctly. Could it have been about that time? I live in North Carolina.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

No, it was around May, no earlier than that. Absolutely not in 2003. And it was primarily in the Gulf coast states.

[sperry]

I found these GM Techlink articles...

 

GM Techlink 8-04 Top Tier Gasolines

 

GM Techlink 10-04 Top Tier Gasolines - partial list

 

At the difference in cost, wouldn't a bottle of injector cleaner each tank be cheaper...

[General Lee 01]

One thing you also have to worry about, some of the lesser-known/ Mom n' Pop stations were (and in some cases still are) infamous for dilluting their fuels with water, so they could drop prices, so they'd get more traffic.

 

Other than that, Comparing all those Gas companies' products, is pretty much like comparing all the competing Beer Products.

[GM-Tech]

One thing you also have to worry about, some of the lesser-known/ Mom n' Pop stations were (and in some cases still are) infamous for dilluting their fuels with water, so they could drop prices, so they'd get more traffic.

 

Water and gas don't mix. I don't see how it would do them any good to put water in their fuel. It'd just settle in the bottom of the in-ground tank and if the pickup was low enough, it'd pump pure water into your tank.

[General Lee 01]

That's what happened, and how most of them got cracked down on, Water was getting into customer's fuel tanks, and screwing up their fuel pumps, filters, and whatnot. My mom was a victim of this. The Station we bought the "defective" fuel from, was shut down not too long after our personal encounter.

 

 

Keep in mind though, this was the 80s, I'm sure most (if not all) of them have wisened up since.

[cit1991]

The way it's supposed to work:

 

Delivery trucks fill up at the local terminal. The terminal is attached to a pipeline run by a pipeline company. The fuel in the pipeline meets the specs of the pipeline company, but may have come from any refinery. The terminal adds the additive package and maybe some ethanol, and fills the truck, which goes to refill the station. There is no way to tell where the fuel came from.

 

If you live near a refinery, it will have its own terminal for the local stations. Chances are, all the fuel for that city comes from that refinery, regardless of brand.

 

If you live near lots of refineries (Corpus Christi all the way to Mobile Alabama, Newark area, and areas of California), most of the refineries have terminals, but not all.

 

Places where there is an attached petrochemical plant, will also blend in other naphtha streams that are usually not very desirable.

 

Many years ago, I worked for such a chemical plant. We had a full tank of steam cracked naphtha that was off-spec on durene (an aromatic gum former). Our refinery (major brand) would not take the material for blending...even in their huge gasoine pool. Our product coordinator came in the next morning, and told us he had arranged to sell it to the brand Y blending terminal across the river. The terminal does much less volume than our refinery. Needless to say, we all avoided brand Y for the next several months in our personal cars.

 

In refining/petrochemical towns, brand can make a difference due to all the horse-trading going on with small batches of various materials. For the rest of the country, you don't know what you're getting aside from the detergent additive package.

 

Never fill up at a station if you see them taking on a fuel delivery. The filling of the underground tanks stirs up all the crud at the bottom, which hopefully will get caught by the pump filters, or maybe not.

 

Independent retailers who sell brand X, are supposed to only sell that brand. The shadier operators will buy off-brand gas and fill their branded tanks with it...usually at night. This happens alot. If the station looks distrustful, avoid it, no matter the brand. If you can find out if a retailer (major brand) is corporate owned, that's your best bet...the people there are corporate employees with no incentive to mess with the product. These stations are also more likely to have filters installed in the pumps (all pumps are supposed to have filters) and change them on a schedule.

[ness5575]

i was told by my service guy years ago that i shouldnt use shell gas. said they had a lot of problems with it around here (se wisconsin).

 

lately i have noticed that my truck does not like kwik trip gas. it will ping a lot on acceleration when i fill up at kwik trip, it does not happen at other stations (citgo or mobil/bp's)

[tmf6902]

The fuel level sender problem happened to my wifes malibu from a shell station.....Suprisingly enough, Shell was very good about it....called em....told em....we set up an apt at the GM dealer.....it was fixed that afternoon, and a Shell rep came and paid the $800 bill.......that's right $800....I saw it with my own eyes......it's been good ever since.

 

I use exxon or mobil when it's around because I have a CC with them......otherwise I stick whatever in it.

[GM-Tech]

The fuel level sender problem happened to my wifes malibu from a shell station.....Suprisingly enough, Shell was very good about it....called em....told em....we set up an apt at the GM dealer.....it was fixed that afternoon, and a Shell rep came and paid the $800 bill.

 

Yep, they were very good about taking care of the needed repairs, almost no questions asked. I'm sure many people got their vehicles fixed who never purchased Shell gas in their life.

 

We'd do the repair and someone from Shell would come by with a check as you said.

[ToeJam]

I used to use Arco or BP gas (the cheap stuff around here) when I was a young, poor high school kid. I noticed even then that my car ran a lot better when I used Chevron or Texaco gas. On long trips I'm sometimes forced to use "Brand X" and I swear my truck doesn't run as well (but it could just be all in my head).

 

Anyway, I go out of my way now to use only Chevron for two reasons. One is Tecron, which is great stuff. The second is I've NEVER seen an independent gas truck at a Chevon, it's always a Chevron tanker truck. I'm not saying that independent contractors can't be trusted...but they need to make money just like anyone else and you never know what they hauled during a previous load.

[General Lee 01]

The place I really like is Sheetz. Gas is gas, but their stores are awesome!