Top Tier Detergent Gasoline

[Sallow]

After returning from Australia, I had some trouble with my Mini. A couple of the coils went south and I had them replaced. That still didn't do the trick and I went back to the garage as the engine light went on. The Mechanic asked me what sort of gas I was using and I said "Premium", as always. He was like "No, what brand". I get my gas from a HESS on the corner. Turns out it was clogging up my fuel injectors. I added a detergent yesterday and had a look at what gas would be best. Turns out? There are websites for this..

Top Tier Gasoline
Top Tier Gasoline

Have a look.

I didn't even know this sort of thing existed.

 

[Mr. H.]

I try to buy from a BP station where available.
I do AVOID the small quickie marts like Hucks and Casey's.

Years ago I interviewed for a job with a wholesaler. I was shown a list of various "blends" for their gasolines and noticed some odd nomenclature. I said "this looks like some sort of inert "filler". The gal got this real sheepish look on her face and said "well, that's one way to describe it."

 

[Sallow]

I try to buy from a BP station where available.
I do AVOID the small quickie marts like Hucks and Casey's.

Years ago I interviewed for a job with a wholesaler. I was shown a list of various "blends" for their gasolines and noticed some odd nomenclature. I said "this looks like some sort of inert "filler". The gal got this real sheepish look on her face and said "well, that's one way to describe it."

Heh.

I got a BP across the street from where I live. Will be buying there from now on.

 

[Sunni Man]

Thanks for the useful thread Sallow.

I have been using the HESS station down the street.

But now I will only be buying my gasoline at a Top Tier station. ..

 

[Jarlaxle]

Been buying by price for 20 years without a problem...and many "unbranded" stations sell the same gas as the expensive stations.

The one I usually go to sells Mobil gas.

 

[Pogo]

"Top tier" is a scam. Gas is gas is gas. There's nothing substantially different in a few brands that invent a label for themselves.

If your issue is coming from that Hess station I strongly suspect it's something in that specific station's system.

 

[Sallow]

Been buying by price for 20 years without a problem...and many "unbranded" stations sell the same gas as the expensive stations.

The one I usually go to sells Mobil gas.

Mobil is one of the top tiers.

 

[Sallow]

"Top tier" is a scam. Gas is gas is gas. There's nothing substantially different in a few brands that invent a label for themselves.

If your issue is coming from that Hess station I strongly suspect it's something in that specific station's system.

My mechanic told me there was a difference.

I did a google search on this..and came up with the site.

 

[Pogo]

"Top tier" is a scam. Gas is gas is gas. There's nothing substantially different in a few brands that invent a label for themselves.

If your issue is coming from that Hess station I strongly suspect it's something in that specific station's system.

My mechanic told me there was a difference.

I did a google search on this..and came up with the site.

Yeah I know, it's been out there for years and there are those who believe in it but I think the general consensus is that it's basically an advertising gimmick. All gas includes, by law, a detergent additive package, this one purporting to be superior, which is really little more than saying "our product is better because it contains Ziplificon B15". It would take too long to test but my bet is if you went to another Hess station the issue would likely go away. I would at least check with your Hess and your BP and see if they're not getting their gas from the same truck anyway.

Have to say, I have a MINI and have had no such issues and I'm usually using either the local cheapo brand or Citgo, which is not on the TT list. Also I'm in a rural area and my driving is almost always highway, so the slow city driving where car snot tends to accumulate might be more a factor for you than for me.

 

[Sallow]

"Top tier" is a scam. Gas is gas is gas. There's nothing substantially different in a few brands that invent a label for themselves.

If your issue is coming from that Hess station I strongly suspect it's something in that specific station's system.

My mechanic told me there was a difference.

I did a google search on this..and came up with the site.

Yeah I know, it's been out there for years and there are those who believe in it but I think the general consensus is that it's basically an advertising gimmick. All gas includes, by law, a detergent additive package, this one purporting to be superior, which is really little more than saying "our product is better because it contains Ziplificon B15". It would take too long to test but my bet is if you went to another Hess station the issue would likely go away. I would at least check with your Hess and your BP and see if they're not getting their gas from the same truck anyway.

Have to say, I have a MINI and have had no such issues and I'm usually using either the local cheapo brand or Citgo, which is not on the TT list. Also I'm in a rural area and my driving is almost always highway, so the slow city driving where car snot tends to accumulate might be more a factor for you than for me.

Do a lot of stop and go driving. Traffic in New York is horrible. So?

It's a big issue.

 

[Pogo]

My mechanic told me there was a difference.

I did a google search on this..and came up with the site.

Yeah I know, it's been out there for years and there are those who believe in it but I think the general consensus is that it's basically an advertising gimmick. All gas includes, by law, a detergent additive package, this one purporting to be superior, which is really little more than saying "our product is better because it contains Ziplificon B15". It would take too long to test but my bet is if you went to another Hess station the issue would likely go away. I would at least check with your Hess and your BP and see if they're not getting their gas from the same truck anyway.

Have to say, I have a MINI and have had no such issues and I'm usually using either the local cheapo brand or Citgo, which is not on the TT list. Also I'm in a rural area and my driving is almost always highway, so the slow city driving where car snot tends to accumulate might be more a factor for you than for me.

Do a lot of stop and go driving. Traffic in New York is horrible. So?

It's a big issue.

That's what I mean -- city driving like that where an engine doesn't get to "breathe deeply" builds up carbon probably quicker than any choice of gas can. Without knowing what your patterns are, that may be more of a factor than anything.

I drive overall pretty gently but every once in a while I open 'er up just to, as the line in There's Something About Mary goes -- "clean the pipes". Learned that lesson long ago during a car inspection when my Tercel wasn't passing emissions (this was while living in a city) - the mechanic handed me the keys and suggested I "go air it out". I got his drift and took it around the block at near-furious speeds, rolled back into the shop and passed emissions easily.

 

[Sunni Man]

I drive overall pretty gently but every once in a while I open 'er up just to, as the line in There's Something About Mary goes -- "clean the pipes". Learned that lesson long ago during a car inspection when my Tercel wasn't passing emissions (this was while living in a city) - the mechanic handed me the keys and suggested I "go air it out". I got his drift and took it around the block at near-furious speeds, rolled back into the shop and passed emissions easily.

That's commonly known as an "Italian tune-up". ..

 

[Sallow]

Yeah I know, it's been out there for years and there are those who believe in it but I think the general consensus is that it's basically an advertising gimmick. All gas includes, by law, a detergent additive package, this one purporting to be superior, which is really little more than saying "our product is better because it contains Ziplificon B15". It would take too long to test but my bet is if you went to another Hess station the issue would likely go away. I would at least check with your Hess and your BP and see if they're not getting their gas from the same truck anyway.

Have to say, I have a MINI and have had no such issues and I'm usually using either the local cheapo brand or Citgo, which is not on the TT list. Also I'm in a rural area and my driving is almost always highway, so the slow city driving where car snot tends to accumulate might be more a factor for you than for me.

Do a lot of stop and go driving. Traffic in New York is horrible. So?

It's a big issue.

That's what I mean -- city driving like that where an engine doesn't get to "breathe deeply" builds up carbon probably quicker than any choice of gas can. Without knowing what your patterns are, that may be more of a factor than anything.

I drive overall pretty gently but every once in a while I open 'er up just to, as the line in There's Something About Mary goes -- "clean the pipes". Learned that lesson long ago during a car inspection when my Tercel wasn't passing emissions (this was while living in a city) - the mechanic handed me the keys and suggested I "go air it out". I got his drift and took it around the block at near-furious speeds, rolled back into the shop and passed emissions easily.

All well and good..but it's hard to "open her open" on a pot hole infested FDR or George Washington Bridge.

 

[sameech]

I try to buy from a BP station where available.
I do AVOID the small quickie marts like Hucks and Casey's.

Years ago I interviewed for a job with a wholesaler. I was shown a list of various "blends" for their gasolines and noticed some odd nomenclature. I said "this looks like some sort of inert "filler". The gal got this real sheepish look on her face and said "well, that's one way to describe it."

Yeah. I am having issues because I sinned and went from BP to Sheetz two consecutive fill ups because Sheetz was lagging on th gouging and was still 25 cents cheaper than BP. I started having a sputtering problem. Ran a tank of injector cleaner and then a tank of Heet in case I picked up water. Started cutting off on me when idling at stop lights. Changed the fuel filter. That helped some but now the cutting off thing is back. The garage said I may have to run 2 or 3 tanks of lloyd's tune up in a bottle to get it taken care of after the filter change. I am about to fill up and do tank 2.

I am also probably going to change my plugs and wires just in case this weekend as I just crossed 100K miles, but it feels like a fuel system problem because it is like I will lose power for a second and then it will want to accelerate some and it did not start until effing Sheetz.

 

[Mr. H.]

Why don't you just pony up an extra quarter/gallon?
What's that... an extra $4/tank?

 

[Sallow]

Ugh..still having problems.

 

[Sunni Man]

Ugh..still having problems.

Try changing your fuel filter.......you might have water trapped in it.

Also, maybe it's time to change the spark plugs. ..

 

[mamooth]

This thread dredged up something that has been stuck in my brain since ... maybe 1974? That is, this commercial ditty by the Irish Rovers.

We're the rocker arm assembly, assembly, assembly
We're the rocker arm assembly, we don't like dirt

But detergent gasoline
Helps keep our engine running smooth and clean
So it's Mobile, oh it's Mobile gasoline.

 

[sameech]

Why don't you just pony up an extra quarter/gallon?
What's that... an extra $4/tank?

Probably because I had just cleaned out my savings account to pay off almost $25K in funeral/final medical expenses for my mother and I am flat broke at the moment unless I want to cash out my retirement account too

 

[cereal_killer]

"Top tier" is a scam. Gas is gas is gas. There's nothing substantially different in a few brands that invent a label for themselves.

If your issue is coming from that Hess station I strongly suspect it's something in that specific station's system.

Not true. Top Tier gas has higher levels of detergents in it. This is fact. Chevron and Exxon are excellent in this aspect.

The cheap stuff burns dirty because of the low levels of deteregents in them. They use the very minimum amount of detergents in them. There's a reason it's cheap/cheaper. It sucks.