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I actually get a little better mileage out of the higher octane so its really not a waste of money. My mileage went way down when the gas stations switched to this ethanol blend, so I was thinking maybe by putting a higher octane in it would run smoother. Was getting a bit of a spark knock, but the higher octane smoothed it out. Could have been some bad gas too though

 

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I don't run any ethonal

 

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I don\'t have a choice, that\'s all we can get around here. All the gas stations get their fuel from the same place and its got ethanol already added. Really sucks cause you have to buy more because of the poor mileage. Can\'t go out of town just to buy gas...

 

i don\'t understand why we\'re all typing like this.
Most premium gas is ethanol free, i thought.

 

Hmmm we have an ethanol free gas station here in town. I might have to try em out. Its actually a truck stop but if it works, ill be happy lol

 

Use the lowest octane gasoline that will prevent spark knock. Usually that is 87 octane.


I try to run straight gas, as any kind of ethanol blends make my mileage go down a lot. Ethanol is a completely stupid idea. Less BTU's, less power, less fuel mileage. No upside to it whatsoever.

 

93 it makes mine run alot better without adding octane boosters i can go from my house to mrytle beach and be a little low but not empty

 

Our trucks are not ethanol compatible and will run like a crap. It needs some engine modification or changes to make it compatible. So better to run it on 87 for the optimum mpgs.

 

I run 87, i ran 91 for awhile but i had a tune for it.Unsure on ethonal how do you know if your gas has it?

 

In CT it has to be posted on the pump.

 

I run 87 unless I am tuned for it.

Btw here is a link that will tell you what stations around you run ethanol free gas.


http://pure-gas.org/

 

Same goes for MO. I got a question though, my 3.0 is the flex fuel, does that make it okay to run gas with say 10% ethanol like we have at all the stations around here?

/thread jack

 

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Yea its fine

 

Kindof.

Ethanol produced from corn is stupid. Ethanol in a gas engine is stupid.

Ethanol is a engine designed specifically for E98 or straight ethanol is flippin amazing. Ethanol can be compressed much more then gas, and there for will combust much more violently, therefore producing much more power. Essentially this power comes for the extra compression, but it is much more powerful.

Our trucks are compatible with E10. E10 has been around since the 70's

 

89 e10 is 25c cheaper than 87 e0 here

 

91 here with Fred's mileage tune.
Love it.

 

I run 87 octane in the truck, and Octane on my Sirius radio! I have tried running higher numbers, but any MPG gain was not sufficient enough to make me wanna spent the difference on money. Either way though, I have the 4.0 SOHC engine, it loves fuel, no matter what it is... HATES ethanol

 

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Take the 4.0 and the old Ford 302. A mechanic told me that the 4.0 was basically a 302 with the back 2 cylinders chopped off. Why would the gas mileage be worse on the 4.0 than the 302 geared the same?

 

Seeing about a 3 mpg improvement running 93 octane over 87. I did add some Lucas fuel treatment at the last fill up, and mostly driving around town. I would have to say as much as fuel costs, a couple of extra dollars every fill up is worth it, especially with the throttle response.

 

That mechanic told you wrong.

Those two engines are completely different designs, nothing the same about them. The 302 is a fractional designed 90 degree V8, the 4.0 is a metric designed 60 degree V6.


That mechanic probably was thinking of the Chevrolet 350cid V8 and the 4.3L V6.

 

The truck is tuned for 87 from the factory. Unless you have a tuner requiring a different octane, your not gaining anything.

 

depends if you start feeling like your truck is miss fireing or sluggish it may be carbon build up so you can put higher octane in like shell 91 and it has cleaner in it and if you use it for about 2500 miles it should clear about 70% of the carbin build up and then you can go back to normal 87 at least thats what i heard in a video from chrisfix

 

Revived an old thread

Here's the facts about octane and Ethanol

A gallon of gasoline rated as 87 octane or 93 octane has EXACTLY the same amount of power/energy released when it is burned with correct mix of air, octane is NOT an energy rating
Octane is the amount of 8 carbon chains in the fuel, 8 is a stable chain and less prone to self ignition, i.e. pinging and knocking
Under 8 means the chain has an "open end" which is like a "fuse" that can be lit by heat causing self ignition, pinging and knocking

Compression is HEAT, so engines with higher compression ratios will self ignite 87 octane easier
under 9.4:1 ratio is usually OK for 87 octane, but its at the very edge
9.5:1 and up usually needs higher octane OR...........................a Knock Sensor, that's what Ford did with the 3.0l Vulcan, some years, and the 4.0l SOHC all years

The 4.0l SOHC ran 9.7:1 ratio, so could never run 87 octane as is, the knock sensor allows it to run 87 octane but at a reduction in power because of the change needed in spark timing
So YES, if you run 93 octane in a 4.0l SOHC you would for sure see better power and better MPG, but its not that 93 is better than 87, its the engine design
The 4.0l OHV ran 9.0:1 ratio so no difference between running 87 or 93 octane
Its just science

Ethanol has less energy per gallon, so adding 10% ethanol would lower power output, but it also helps pull WATER out of the gasoline and also prevents freezing of that water in the fuel lines
ALL gasoline has some water in it, if there is too much water it is called "bad gas" that's what bad gas is, unless gasoline has been sitting and evaporating for a few years, then it a different kind of "bad gas", varnish, lol
Water and gasoline can't "bond"/mix, and water is heavier than gasoline so settles to the bottom of gas tanks, where fuel pump sucks up any water first, making engine run poorly at startup, until water is cleared from the tank

Ethanol can bond with water and makes it "burnable", but it also bonds with 6 and 7 carbon chains making them 8 chains so increases "octane" rating, reducing pinging

Octane Boost or HEET are Ethanol additives to get rid of extra water in the tank or fix lower than 87 octane fuel

 

i run 87 ethanol laced .. fairly poor mileage wise. on the other hand i haven't used any 'dry gas' or 'heet' additives during the winter in years..

 

I run 91 due to detonation knock when using 87 blend. My truck runs smooth and seems to have more get up and go when running 91/93