Cars that say premium gas only, what happens if you don't use premium gas?

John Deere 4 stroke - Sorry about the terminology: fuel injection system, and hit wrong button - 426 hemi.

In the southern-most section of my township, all of the houses originally had only well-water, because that area was so rural, and as a result the houses were few and far apart. Then, about 12 years ago, one of those homeowners had his water tested, and it proved to have very high levels of MTBE. The state DEP tested all of the wells in the area, and found all of them to be contaminated with MTBE. It turned-out that a now-closed Exxon station located a couple of miles away had tanks that had leaked forā€¦ a long time. The fact that some underground springs ran from the area of the gas station toward those rural homes led to the contamination of their wells.

The resulting cost of running water mains into that rural area wasā€¦ hugeā€¦ but the township had no choice as a result of that MTBE contamination.

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Question from the ignorant:
In places where you can still get non-ethanol gasoline (side question, does anybody market it as E-zero?), is something other than MTBE being used?

I used to dissemble and clean, not because it needed it, but because I changed the GM float that would absorb fuel. That stopped when a metal float was made to replace it. After that, I sprayed carb cleaner (not what you use today-later banned by the EPA).

Federal gasoline tax is 18.2 cents Oregon state tax is 34 cents per gallon. Since ethanol decreases mpg it increases tax revenue as well as corn grower profits. As usual it is good for them and bad for us. Ethanol also increases smog!

https://www.popsci.com/corn-ethanol-smog

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The fuel economy drop from up to 10% ethanol vs. ethanol-free gas isnā€™t so pronounced that the average driver would notice the difference, and the price difference between the two doesnā€™t favor ethanol-free gas, but you can pay extra for ethanol free gas anytime you want to; more stations are carrying it now.

The place closest to me markets it as ā€œpure gasolineā€. They also sell E10 in regular and premium as well. They recently had to put up a notice, though, from the PA Department of Weight & Measurements. They only use one hose to dispense at the pump, so it takes approx 1-1.5 gallons to clear the Ethanol gas before the E0 stuff come out. So when I fill my lawn mower gas can, I put 2 gallons in the car first before putting the rest in the can (though since itā€™s a 5 gallon can, itā€™s probably not the biggest deal)

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You should read more. I agree E-85 is to enhance profits for Corn growers. But NOT E-10.

https://www.epa.gov/gasoline-standards/ethanol-waivers-e15-and-e10

https://ethanol.org/RVP%20one%20pager.pdf

Gas companies were required to put an oxygenate in gas. For along time that was MTBE, which was a petroleum product. But that is nasty stuff. Weā€™re still finding that crap in our ground water even after it was banned over 10 years ago. E-10 is now the preferred oxygenate. It may get into the ground, but it evaporates quickly.

Thatā€™s not good. The places where I buy ethanol-free gas have a separate hose for it, like the pumps that dispense both gasoline and diesel fuel. Race Trac gas stations in my area have combination pumps that pump E-10 and E-85, and they have combination pumps that pump E-10 and E-0. There is also a Chevron near where I used to live that markets 91 octane E-0 as ā€œboat fuel.ā€ I suspect that is what most people are using it for. I see people putting it into their late model cars and quietly shake my head. Iā€™m sure theyā€™re getting improved fuel economy and a placebo effect, but theyā€™re spending more money than necessary on their fuel with no benefit I can perceive.

The only places Iā€™ve used E-0 are in my lawn equipment and in my older motorcycle before I sold it.

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I remember full page advertisements in magazines back in the 1950s extolling the virtues of tetraethyl lead in gasoline. The subtle message was to purchase premium fuel because it contained more tetraethyl lead.
I also remember back in 1970 when the Standard Oil station where I was a customer put in a pump for lead free gasoline. The price was higher than regular.

Agreed, thatā€™s why they were required to put notices up at all of their pumps. I think they are planning to switch to dual hose units in the near future to avoid this. They sell their E10 87 between 5-10 cents cheaper than the chain up the road so I try to use them when possible. They have a really nice and clean deli inside too

Why would you politicize this site?

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Lead in gasoline lubricated the valve guides and protected valve seats It also was an antiknock compound. The lead was first added to gasoline in 1924. As compression increased the lead helped prevent preignition (knocking) which can blow holes in pistons. Modern engines have hardened valve guides and valve seats on the exhaust valves. When one restores the engine today on an antique automobile they can have hardened guides and valve seats installed so the car can run on modern gasoline. Another good practice is to replace all old rubber fuel hoses with modern ethanol gasoline resistant hoses. Ethanol dissolves the old hoses.

a wheel sensor can fail has nothing to do with all sensors working just fine, we are talking about a brand new car

Wheel-Sensor??? You posting to right thread?

First off - itā€™s KNOCK Sensor. And so what itā€™s a new car. What does that have to do with it? Itā€™s not going to stay new for ever. Learn about engine noises and pay attention. You can usually hear a knocking engine - especially when accelerating. If you do then back off on the throttleā€¦and then get the knock sensor checked.