Un Ethanol Behavior

Recently with all the problems with my car being connected to the Sheetz gas station cleared up, I was able to move on with other things in my life. But yesterday I met the mechanic who worked on my car and informed me on problems other people were experiencing the same problem I had.

The culprit; ethanol. Older vehicles cannot handle ethanol as it clogs up the fuel injectors. It took two large bottles of the cleaning agent to get all the knocks and kinks out of the engine. I was lucky because many more people had to have their entire system taken out and cleaned. But that day he told me something that most people do not seem to know or once they do they forget about it.

There are many different grades of gasoline sold here in America. People are mainly used to seeing three of these grades when they are at the gas station. Four if you count diesel. At this man garage, he has a contract with the town to service all the police and city equipment. To handle their needs he has to carry the highest grade of gas there is to better handle these vehicles. And that means it’s a bit more expensive than the usual price of gas. But the payoff is the increase gas millage and a cleaner engine one can get that using the cheapest gas.

So now I’m trying out his gas to see if paying more will come out better for my car in the long run. But I do know that I’ll never get any gas from a gas station that has ethanol in it. News Story about this gas station click here.

Gas Attack

Recently, as with every time I get my tax return, I put my car in the shop for a complete tune-up and overhaul. It cost a pretty penny but I had it for over 12 years and have yet to have any major problems with it. That is until a few weeks ago.

After I got the car back I took it to a new Sheetz gas station that just opened up and filled the gas tank up. Twice I filled up the tank from the same gas station and then warning lights started lighting up the dash board. I put it back in the shop where the computer systems said I needed a new catalytic converter. But I was still having problems with the car that the mechanic couldn’t find the cause of it acting the way it was.

Whenever I came to a stop light, I had to put the car in neutral and give it more gas just to keep it running. Even driving became a prayer session as listening and feeling knocking sounds from the engine, even as it struggled to go up hills. But I had a moment of clarity. That and someone else had the same problem; cheap gas.

I went back to the mechanic and sure enough the pieces fit. I have to use the over counter stuff to put in my gas tank to clean the injector heads. If that doesn’t work then it’s another trip to the auto shop to have the whole system cleaned out, again. The very same thing I did before I filled up twice at Sheetz Gas Station. 

Because it’s cheap doesn’t mean it’s worth getting it.