A Note About Gasoline and By Products

[tsigwing]

It's our understanding from the manual for a 3.5 EB that using Top Tier gas is recommended, either 91 for daily and 93 for towing. There is a detergent agent in these fuels.

Ours runs like a top, and idles smoothly, on those grades. With 93, it doesn't even feel like the engine is running.

https://www.toptiergas.com/gasoline-brands/

From my 2025 owners manual:


SELECTING THE CORRECT FUEL -
2.7L/3.0L/3.5L/5.0L, FULL
HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE
(FHEV)
E161513
Your vehicle operates on regular unleaded
gasoline with a minimum pump (R+M)/2
octane rating of 87.

Sponsored

 

[tsigwing]

Well, I guess I experienced my second miracle of note and was dead asleep when it happened.

First was graduating college on time (double dead rocket science degree). I was dead asleep most of those 4 years.

Second, I translate that reply to mean it would have eventually scrubbed itself clean (except the problem repeated infrequently over a series of a few months). But it took 128,000 miles for it to never repeat again. That is left handed math (I am right handed and admittedly struggle with addition/subtraction tables). 75,000 miles to get there. Have the problem. Use the product. 128,000 miles to never repeat.

Replacing injectors because that is a common problem is exactly what I would have expected to hear from the tricycle scientists at the dealership. Admittedly I did not seek their opinion. However, they were likely correct with that analysis, just not satisfactory to me when on commission. I admit my solution was a band-aid based on junk science, but, as with ivermectin, seemed worth a try.

Another disclosure of note is my 2010 CTS V had only 8 injectors to clean. A 5.0 has 8 port and 8 direct, so I admit to not having a direct correlation.

Maybe I should have gone ahead and replaced the injectors and it might have gone another 128,000 miles to never repeat. I will never know. With highway miles being around 90% of my driving it was worth the additional expense (at least in my opinion, which I much admire) if it cleared. I can assure you that replacing all injectors would have been exponentially more expensive

Picked the following up from the rocket scientists at google AI. Not that it can be trusted, but at least it makes sense to me.

Effects of alcohol on fuel injectors

Water absorption and corrosion: Alcohol is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs water from the atmosphere. When the fuel becomes saturated with water, the ethanol and water can separate, forming corrosive, unusable fuel that can damage the injector (water absorbed in alcohol also increases power, but that is another discussion).

Clogging and reduced fuel flow: The deposits loosened by ethanol can clog the injectors. This leads to a reduced fuel supply, a phenomenon sometimes called "coking".

Carbon deposit formation: Alcohol mixtures can alter the fuel spray pattern, increasing the fuel's tendency to form carbon deposits on the injector tip, a process known as coking.

Reduced atomization: The build-up of carbon deposits on the injector tip can affect the fuel spray pattern, leading to poor fuel atomization. This can result in a drop in engine performance and an increase in emissions.

How to minimize alcohol-related problems

Use fresh fuel: Store ethanol-blended fuels for the shortest possible time to minimize water absorption.

Maintain a full tank: Keeping your fuel tank as full as possible reduces the amount of air (and thus moisture) it contains.

Use a fuel injector cleaner: Regularly use a high-quality fuel injector cleaner to help dissolve deposits.

Choose quality gasoline: Opt for name-brand, high-quality gasolines that contain detergent additives, which help keep injectors clean.

I rest my case. I am not prepared to discuss the merits of the different fuel injector cleaners. I'm happy even if my expanation of what I did and how I cured it, using Chevron as a crutch, is BS. But so was ivermectin.

Funny how things makes sense when the agree with you, right or wrong.

 

[fmdog44]

......and the beat goes on

 

[Tone]

The posted excerpt is selectively cut and pasted. The full text from the 2021 F150 Ecoboost Manual:

Your vehicle operates on regular unleaded gasoline with a minimum pump (R+M)/2 octane rating of 87.

For best overall vehicle and engine performance, premium fuel with an octane rating of 91 or higher is recommended. The performance gained by using premium fuel is most noticeable in hot weather as well as other conditions, for example when towing a trailer.

We recommend Top Tier detergent gasolines, where available to help minimize engine deposits and maintain optimal vehicle and engine performance.

Anecdotally. the vehicle runs substantially better with 91 for daily and 93 for towing. It idled very rough with 87. With 91 and 93, the engine barely seems to be running. Plus an increase in MPG.

 

[National Superbike]

It's not just fuel systems that are helped by Techron, it's also deposits in the engine. You can also just always use Chevron gas since it has the Techron in it already.

 

[BIG MIKE]

Top tear gas & Techron fuel additive is the wisest choice. Ethanol has been added for a long time primarily for political reasons.

 

[jewc75]

Gas additives are a waste on direct injection engines.

 

[Eighthtry]

Fuel Injection. Direct?/Port?/Combined? This guy knows his stuff. He has the credentials. It is a good watch/listen.

 

[Zig10]

There's a major difference between cleaning a house every day versus once a year.

With 91 and 93 there's 23 to 26 mpg.

I honestly am impressed by your results. I have tried running 93 for about 5000 straight miles and got exactly 1 MPG improvement (23.4 vs 22.4). It did have a little more pep, admittedly. When I tow my boat long distances I still run 91+, but for daily use at an average cost of an additional $0.8-$1.0 per gallon the payback isn't there for me, unfortunately.

Sponsored