Does it matter what brand of gas one buys?

[Lefty]

The guys at work were talking about different brands of gas. One said that there is a difference between some of the stations, and that the additives of some brands are a lot more beneficial to newer engines than others. Anybody out here know much about the subject?

[elkhunter11]

I personally avoid Mohawk and Husky gasoline,because the ethanol produces less mileage in my vehicles.This can be explained by the fact that ethanol contains less energy per volume than pure gasoline.

I also avoid service stations that aren't that busy,and that may have fuel sitting in the tanks for longer periods,where moisture can condense in the tanks.

[Dacotensis]

There is a difference, ask any process guys.
Years ago I bought a used GM 3500. Awsome truck!
Well, at the end of the summer the previous owner called me and asked me to move his truck camper from a lot to his house. No problem as he said he would fill the tank.
Off to shell we go! I ended up needing a new fuel pump. Something to do with the detergents if I recall. There was a big stink over this in the media.

[catnthehat]

I don't burn shell gas in my vehicles and never will.
Oldbadger's sister used to work I the lab there, VERY interesting discussion a few years back!!
I have a pertoCan and an ESSO card for my work truck, and generally use ESSO in everything I drive - even my lawn mower!:>)
Cat

[cujo1969]

Doesnt it all come from the same refinery and piped in to calgary. Except for co-op its brought in from there own refinery.

[sharrozap]

Costco has the best price, I have better mileage since started filling at Costco two years ago.

[mudbug]

We found that gas from Super Store would give us less km's/tank than others, both in my 2003 Ranger 4cyl and in the 1998 Accord 4cyl

[summit151]

i actually just did a test between petro can gas and fas gas


i put the exact same amount of liters in my truck. 56L from petro and 56L from fas gas. the fast gas tank lasted me 260km. the petro tank lasted me to 302 km.

i drove the exact same speeds everywhere and went the same place on each tank.


i have heard from a couple people that fas gas is garbage fuel so i tried it out and it is.

[loyaleddie]

I am not sure about gas...But Co-Op Diesel has got to be the worst, had to change fuel filters after 4 months of use...(and I only used Co-Op diesel)

[denpacc]

Originally Posted by loyaleddie

I am not sure about gas...But Co-Op Diesel has got to be the worst, had to change fuel filters after 4 months of use...(and I only used Co-Op diesel)

My brother uses Co-op diesel fuel almost exclusively, 5 years and 160 000 kms and not one issue with his Dodge 1 ton. Maybe your truck just doesn't like Co-op diesel.

[jack88]

Burning purple gas pretty much cancels out any savings at the pump because I got TERRIBLE milage from it......some of it even comes with a healthy dosage of water!

[plinker]

I delivered fuel for Shell in the early 80's. We had agreements with Gulf, Texaco, and Turbo in that they would trade each other millions of litres of fuel. So when you went to Shell the chances were pretty good that you weren't getting Shell products. We were Shell tankers with Shell decals and Shell employees, but we would bring Turbo one week, Gulf the next and Texaco later. Some of the older stations that were small never ever got a load from Shell. We had A Trains (double trailers) that couldn't fit into the stations so we farmed the work out. To save money Shell would use the three other fuel sources to refuel the stations rather than go to the Bowden(Shell) refinery. Shell was sued quite a few years ago now because of false advertising with the Shell Helps campaign they had. They would brag about the special additives they had in their gasoline, but in the meantime people at those stations were buying "Shell" gas that had Texaco and Turbo and Gulf additives in them. Oops! For years when you bought Premium gas from Shell it was always Turbo Premium you were getting. Bowden couldn't make the stuff fast enough so we had to go to Turbo and get 5000 litres for every station load we would deliver. Today you will never figure out who's fuel you are getting because there is one carrier that pretty much has the fuel contracts and as such it is difficult to figure out who is what, going where, unless you follow the truck from fuel depot or refinery to the station.

On a side note: I never fuel up when a tanker is doing a drop. The fuel is coming out of those hoses at a high rate of speed (around 48,000 litres in 25-45 minutes depending on how many hoses are used) and as such it stirs up all the water, dirt and other neat stuff in the tanks. The filters don't catch all the sediment while the reloading is done ( funny how 17 year olds think they are getting even with a station by kicking snow, mud and other things down the load spout when they do their daily dips) and you stand a chance of getting some garbage in your tank. Especially if you are filling diesel!!!

[4thredneck]

Originally Posted by jack88

Burning purple gas pretty much cancels out any savings at the pump because I got TERRIBLE milage from it......some of it even comes with a healthy dosage of water!

Water is heavier than gas so it seperates, if you have a healthy dose of water and the temp is below zero what do you think will happen to it? Maybe in the summer you could get water but again the two will seperate and I don't think an engine will run on water.

[loyaleddie]

Originally Posted by denpacc

My brother uses Co-op diesel fuel almost exclusively, 5 years and 160 000 kms and not one issue with his Dodge 1 ton. Maybe your truck just doesn't like Co-op diesel.

huh?...what co-op does your bro buy his fuel from...maybe its a localized problem

[catnthehat]

Plinker, I have heard this before, actually one guy that told that was a gas station operator of a Petro Can station.
But what I can't understand is why the big thing with the shell gas then, and why people got settlements for wrecking fuel pumps with shell gas??
Cat

[loyaleddie]

Originally Posted by jack88

Burning purple gas pretty much cancels out any savings at the pump because I got TERRIBLE milage from it......some of it even comes with a healthy dosage of water!

Regular Gas+Purple die= purple gas.....its the same fuel as regular

[Nickote316]

When I fill up with shell gas my check engine light comes on. When I fill up with husky it goes off lol. I thought at first it was just a coincidence, so I filled up at shell for a couple weeks and the light came back on. Then filled up at Husky and it went back off.

[wwbirds]

When I was going to high school in southern ontario i got a job working for Brett petroleum which was an independent operating several franchises in the area, Sonny's etc. I was riding a motorcycle in those days and knew Mike really well who was also a motorcycle mechanic. One day he was working on his personal bike (Honda 750 4) and needed a part from Kitchener only 15 minutes away. I volunteered to run up and pick it up on my Norton 750 Dominator and he thanked me. Pulling out of Mikes service station and motorcycle shop I nipped across the road and filled the Norton on the high test Sunoco.

When I got back with the part Mike asked wtf I thought I was doing filling up at the competitors station. I told him I had to used the highest octane rating I could for the Norton. now Mike operated a fuel tank truck business as well and promptly explained that when he was waiting in line to fill his tanker at the refinery he very often parked beside the Sunoco tanker. he was not pleased about it but we laughed about it many years later.

[Alberta Bigbore]

I like the gas at the Esso at the Sherwood Park roadking... I find i get better milage then some others,,,,, even the mom and pop gas bar by my place ...has fuel my vehicle likes over husky and mohawks and shells

[elkhunter11]

I purchase fuel at several different stations,many of them Shell,and I have yet to have any fuel pump issues.The Shell problems online seem to be restricted to certain locations,and certain refineries,that had unusually high sulfur contents in their fuel.

[Almer Fudd]

Plinker's got it right.
I've been out of the fuel business for over 10 years but, the only refineries servicing the prairies are Esso, PC and Shell in Edmonton and the Federated refinery in Regina. Suncor markets some diesel but I don't think they have much gasoline.
Husky has some small refinery capacity in Lloyd and Prince George BC
The Turbo refinery at Balzac was shut down when Shell bought the company back in 1991.
Most fuel marketers trade fuel all the time depending on availability.

[deanmc]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Plinker, I have heard this before, actually one guy that told that was a gas station operator of a Petro Can station.
But what I can't understand is why the big thing with the shell gas then, and why people got settlements for wrecking fuel pumps with shell gas??
Cat

While it is the same fuel many times I believe the different companies will add their secret additives later. I drove a dodge dakota back then and shell did indeed replace the pump and other components of the fuel system.

Interesting to note at shell bulk stations they only have clear diesel in the tanks. Dye is stored separately and injected into the pump.
I never knew a farmer that would not use marked fuel.
My employer used around 200,000 liters per year and i can say most times the water comes if you dont fill your tanks every day. Diesels recirculate fuel back to the tank for a couple reasons one is to help keep the pump cool. This warms the tank and if you leave it empty and it cools off and draws in several liters of cold air you can accumulate a lot of frost/water in the tank very quickly.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

I personally avoid Mohawk and Husky gasoline,because the ethanol produces less mileage in my vehicles.This can be explained by the fact that ethanol contains less energy per volume than pure gasoline.

Shell because I get airmiles.

I was warned the other day to avoid putting ethanol gas in my sled. The Mohawk in town is the easiest to access on my sled and last year a couple of hours after filling up there I blew a piston. Maybe it was just a coincidence but it happened to someone else that I know (the fella that told me about it). He said that the fella in the repair shop told him that at the time there were about 10 other sleds with engine damage because of the ethanol fuel. I haven't had time to research it but in the mean time I won't use it.

[elkhunter11]

I was warned the other day to avoid putting ethanol gas in my sled. The Mohawk in town is the easiest to access on my sled and last year a couple of hours after filling up there I blew a piston. Maybe it was just a coincidence but it happened to someone else that I know (the fella that told me about it). He said that the fella in the repair shop told him that at the time there were about 10 other sleds with engine damage because of the ethanol fuel. I haven't had time to research it but in the mean time I won't use it.
__________________

Failures of two stroke engines are more common when ethanol is used.The guys running pre mix on modded mountain snowmoblies avoid ethanol like the plague.

[unclebuck]

Bowden was a Texaco refinery, and never had anything to do with Shell. it is now owned by what they call themselves "First Nations", under the guise of FasGas. Give your heads a shake, because it is an old refinery, incapable of putting out the quality of fuel that is required in the newer vehicles. Having been in the bulk fuel business, we were made aware of where our product came from, just in case there was an equipment problem that we had to deal with!!! The Esso refinery is also an antique. It is either PCan, or Shell, who at this point in time have the most uptodate refineries. Best fuel mileage that will happen without some tweaking of the injection system. Co-op has an exchange agreement, where various fuel suppliers in Saskatchewan get their product in that province from them in exchange for a product out of Esso.

[Duk Dog]

Canadian Tire as I love my CT $$. A few trucks back didn't seem to like Shell gas so as a rule of thumb I have pretty much avoided it since.

[plinker]

unclebuck, not sure how you were involved with the fuel industry, but you might want to get your facts straight. I was a Shell employee in the 70's and 80's and it was a Shell refinery when I hauled and until it was sold years later. I have pasted a paragraph from Shells website for you.

Quote "In 1961, Shell purchased North Star Oil Ltd., which had 1,000 service stations, 350 bulk plants and a refinery in St. Boniface, Manitoba. A year later, it bought out the assets of Canadian Oil (White Rose), which included 2,900 retail outlets, refineries in Sarnia, Ontario and Bowden, Alberta, as well as oil and gas properties".

And here is the link.
http://www.shell.ca/home/content/can...ternative.html

And another quote
"But the refinery never stopped a tradition of flying multiple flags on tall poles, to stand out as an Alberta landmark along the Queen Elizabeth II Highway. The custom dates back to construction of the plant in 1962 by White Rose Oil and was kept alive through takeovers by Shell Canada and Parkland."

[wsmman]

Originally Posted by Nickote316

When I fill up with shell gas my check engine light comes on. When I fill up with husky it goes off lol. I thought at first it was just a coincidence, so I filled up at shell for a couple weeks and the light came back on. Then filled up at Husky and it went back off.

I had same problem only it was the gas jockey at one station didn't tighten the gas cap as much and would turn on the check engine light

[cujo1969]

Around here wen ufa left and started to use the co-op bulk fuels guy figured gained milage and power. There deisels suppose be a higher grade then the others. But who knows they're all crooks.

[bukwild]

Bad news for all of us who do not like ethanol blended gas. Since March of last year I have been working on the new ethanol blending system at the Suncor (read old Petro Canada) loading faciltiy here in Edmonton. If you drive the Anthony Henday you will have noticed the new blue rack and the new ethanol tanks. I was told that Canada legislation requires all gas sold in Canada to be ethanol blended by November of 2010 but an extension was granted to Feb of 2011. Also the trucks that load up at that facility deliver gas to an assortment of stations not just Petro Canada. Personally I fuel up at Shell because when we built the new lube oils system at the same facility last year the design firm that we contracted to had just done the Shell fuel loading facility so I know that the system was light-years ahead of the Petro system when came to filters and pigging lines between different products. I would like to know though if there is an independant lab that has tested the major suppliers for actual results.