too much octane?

[tac0meat]

ok i got over 300k miles and every once in a while a run that NOS octane booster, it doesnt really boost octane that much but i can tell after i run it cause my gas milage goes way up. i normally run 87octane but the other day i figured what the hell and ran 93. i also throuhg in a bottle of NOS octane booster but auto-zone was out of the street formula (what i usually run) so i just got the off-road formula. now my car seems to just feel dogged. it runs fine, no stuttering or anything but it just doesnt "feel" right, like ive lost power and the engine just feels taxed like im pullin a trailer or somethin, is this because of the high octane plus the booster?

 

[93 & 96 EB & XLT]

Hm... where can you get this octane booster? Its sounds good for me, but sorry, I don't know the anwser to your question.

 

[ExplorerEB96]

ok

Take it out to the local highway and open her up a little... get the lead out ....after you run down the gas to a little under a quater of a tank go get an engine flush... you can do your own .....or you can go to a Jiffy Lube (hover over them like hell though..the one I take it to is owned by a friend of mine and they are pretty good)....mine started to bog down after using 93 gas for a while.... I took it to my Jiffy Lube and had them do what they call an enigine flush..... Wow what a difference!!! If you don't trust Jiffy Lube take it to a shop you trust and have them do it..(I think its Gum Out or something like it)

Karol
explorereb96@ford-trucks.net

 

[Gearhead]

Octane, in and of itself, will not increase power. Octane is a measure of how resistant gasoline is to detonation. As we all know, when pressure increases, temperature increases. If the temperature (pressure) gets high enough, the air/fuel mixture will ignite on its own. This is detonation and is often referred to as "ping" or "spark knock".

The reason that octane levels are important is that it allows you to run higher compression ratios or modified ignition tables. If the engine does not have "spark knock" there are two things that higher octane gasoline or octane boosters are doing for you:

1. Increasing the time required for the flame front to travel through the chamber because the timing has not changed to reflect the higher octane. This causes poor performance.

2. Increase the flow of cash from your pocket. This causes fewer mods to be performed on your truck and thus also causes poor performance.

Sorry, I got a little long winded there (I used to be a technical instructor). I hope that helps with you question.

 

[Anime]

yeh

Yeah..what he said.


The Stock OHC 4.0L runs some pretty good compression
(9:1) so running 93 is ok but unnecessary. Running 93 plus octane booster is...really unnecessary. You only need 93 or better in there if you have engine mods that increase compression or affect your ignition, and/or you have a chip that advises using 93+ octane for the best performance gain.

Youre better off spending your money on good name brand gasoline to begin with(87-89 octane), and using fuel injector cleaner every so often rather than the octane boster.

Keep up the regular maintainance..plugs, wires, air cleaner, MAF sensor, oil, fluids etc etc..only when all other systems are in check will gas affect anything.

 

[yob_yeknom]

quotes from another thread

Originally posted by newtek007
Engines are designed with different compressions ratios which do better on regular octane gas. Usually, truck engines are 9.5 compression ration or somewhere around there. Most engines in the is range run better with regular octane gas. Using higher octane gas will actually foul up the engine with carbone deposits in the long run. If your engine is pinging using regular gas then you are either using really cheap gas or you need a tune up. Yes, the universal distributor that Ford uses does actually go bad. Hope it helps.

Originally posted by yob_yeknom
There is your answer. That is very true.
In case you need convincing, I work at a gas station. A year ago I pumped gas there. (now I'm a cashier) One lady in a JGC always got 93 octane gas. She kept coming in complaining that our gas sucked, but she liked full service so she had to keep coming back. (we are the only full service around, and the only one I even know of anywhere) I told her to use 87 octane but she wouldn't listen. After many trips to the dealer to have her GC de-carbonized (they had been telling her not to use 93 octane) they finally said they would not de-carbonize it anymore since she kept using 93. She uses now 87 and has not had the problem since.

 

[Tars]

OK, here will answer your question.This is taken straight out of my Chiltons manual on page 1-37. It covers 91-99 Rangers, Explorers, and Mountaineers.

"All of these trucks(Ranger, Explorer, Mountaineer) must use lead-free gasoline. It is recommended that 91-99 trucks avoid the use of premium grade gasoline. This is due to the engine control system being calibrated towards the use of regular grade gasoline. The use of premium grades may actually cause driveability problems."

 

[Rhett]

Whoa! Opened my eyes. learn somthin new every day.

I'm switching down to 87 octane now. Been using mid-grade. Hopefully it won't ping at 87.

If you have a chip, does this mean you will have to run cleaner in your engine more often, since you would use 93 octane gas?

 

[Alec]

I have a full injector cleaning done about every 2 oil changes. I really need to start using those cleaning fuel additives Actually, at times when I use Chevron (Techron) more often between oil changes, the deposits aren't so bad. But it is very true that using higher octane gas can be detrimental to the engine by fouling the fuel injectors and leaving carbon deposits elsewhere. But if you have regular injector flushes and/or use a good fuel cleaner, premium gas is ok if you have to use it.