Costco Gasoline Quality: Do you get your gas at Costco?

You don't want ethanol in your gas. I could try to explain this but Project Farm on YouTube explains it pretty good.
Most cars built today can deal with up to 10% ethanol but it's best avoided due to harshness on seals, gaskets and lower energy results compared to a non ethanol gasoline. Ethanol also likes to separate after a shortwhile...watch Project Farm .

 

Okay. I started as the lowest ranking operations position. Ended as an operations superintendent. Between I operated crude and vacuum crude units. Hydrogen desulfurization units, sulfur recovery units, fluid catalytic crackers, light ends and asphalt blending & blowing. And here’s the good part blending facilities.

I could go on and on but you should get the idea. Oh and this was in California. You know the place where legislators told the experts how to make gasoline just for their state.

I began when TTE was in use went through the MTBE boondoggle and the second boondoggle ethanol blending.

 

For my truck gas is gas give me the cheapest you can find and it will never see more than 87 don't care where its from.

 

AFAIK, the answer is yes there is a difference. 91 E0 has to be refined close to or at it's final octane. 87 E10 starts off at like 84 and has it's octane raised with ethanol at the blender.
But, I've wondered how E0 BOB fits in with RBOB, CBOB or CARBOB. Perhaps you would care to enlighten me?

Also, is it correct, compounds that deliver nitrogen(PBA, PIBA, PEA...) are what is used for detergent additives? These compounds are what are normally branded and advertised by companies to differentiate themselves; Nitro, Techron, Invigorate, etc?
Is this why you petroleum guys say it's all the same shit?

 

I'll always try to get Costco gas when I can cause the pricing is consistently the cheapest.

 

lmao what a post, the Great Oz, a Legend in You’re Own Mind haha
I’m gonna need a link to a reliable source or two proving Costco bought gas from Isis intentionally... or otherwise. After all I gave links to everything I said.
You sure do like to type

 

That's a good career in operations. Lots of experience. Valero?

So again, with that much experience, why do you think the Top Tier additives are a marketing scam? And the blending of octane ratings? Are you talking about the different octanes of the various blendstocks that are blended together to create gasoline that meets certain specifications?

You're pretty much on point about the grade designation of gasoline. Basically, gasoline has to meet requirements as specified by the EPA and local governments. Those specifications dictate how refiners blend certain components into their gasoline in order meet certain characteristics to limit smog and ozone. RBOB, CBOB, CARBOB, AZBOB, etc. are all designations for types of gasoline.

• Conventional blendstock for oxygenate blending (CBOB) - will be blended with oxygenates to meet the requirements for conventional gasoline. "Least" restrictive.
• Reformulated blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) - blended with certain hydrocarbons (less of some, more of others) to meet tighter EPA requirements for gasoline and motor vehicle emissions in designated areas of the country that have high pollution. The final product is known as reformulated gasoline.
• CARBOB - a reformulated gasoline specially blended for California to meet their stricter air quality requirements. I'm not in California but from what I understand, in the broad strokes, the RVP of the RBOB must be lower than normal RBOB specification.
• AZBOB (Arizona), LVBOB (Las Vegas), etc. are all specific gasoline blends to meet local requirements.

I think there is also some confusion when talking about gasoline blending. Gasoline isn't just a single homogenized fractionated cut. Its a mixture of different components from various refinery units. Each of those components have different physical properties (RVP, octane, etc.) that must be modeled, based upon laboratory data and linear programming, to determine the the blend "recipe" of each batch of gasoline to meet regional, CBOB, RBOB, CARBOB, etc specs.

Crudely, yes. The deposit control additives developed and marketed by all these companies are their own proprietary blend that can be a complex mixture of detergents, demulsifiers, antioxidants, metal de-activators, and cosolvents. The effectiveness varies wildly based upon a number of factors, such as formulation, the ratio of each component of what is actually in the package (and what isn't). It just depends.

There are a number of standardized ASTM tests that determine the efficacy of these additives:

• ASTM D5598 - Evaluating Unleaded Automotive Spark-Ignition Engine Fuel for Electronic Port Fuel Injector Fouling
  
• ASTM D5500 - Vehicle Evaluation of Unleaded Automotive Spark-Ignition Engine Fuel for Intake Valve Deposit Formation
  
• ASTM D6201 - (Top Tier Gasoline Detergent Test) Dynamometer Evaluation of Unleaded Spark-Ignition Engine Fuel for Intake Valve Deposit Formation
  
• and there are others for cold start valve sticking test

Although uncommon, these additives can be a source of various fuel system problems. Each of these additives have inherent limitations. Too much additive can be problematic. Additionally, there can be interaction between the the additive and contamination in the fuel like water or rust, another chemical component in the fuel, or another fuel performance additive. The latter is partially why I don't bother with the bottles of snake oil found in auto parts store.

The vast majority if not all of these additives are amine-based, meaning they have nitrogen molecules. That is why I laughed when I first saw Shell's Nitro marketing campaign ten or so years ago. Its a good additive, just the adverts are amusing when you know the backbone of the physical properties of the additives.

Hopefully this answered your question.

What a strange comment considering that I agreed with what you posted, not that you said much. Its easier to post links than understand the information contained therein.

 

.......and here all those years I just Retarded it some ‘til it quit “pinging”.

 

It can cause problems with your vapor return system, screwing up your emissions control system. I killed a charcoal canister on a Mazda 6 overfilling on a regular basis, after it was damaged the system would throw a code every time I filled the tank.

 

So, I should only buy gas from Top Tier retailers?
Not necessarily. What is not listed among the requirements for Top Tier certification is a licensing deal. The Top Tier brand and logo are owned by a for-profit company called the Center for Quality Assurance (CQA). To claim that a brand of fuel is Top Tier, a retailer most pay CQA a fee, one substantial enough that some prominent national filling-station chains have historically balked at the expense.

This means that there are likely a number of gasoline retailers selling fuel that qualifies for Top Tier certification, but have chosen not to license the rights to say so.

Does the Center for Quality Assurance tests the fuel it certifies?
No. All a gasoline manufacturer needs to do is certify that they are using an approved fuel additive package and that they have complied with the other requirements listed above.

https://blog.consumerguide.com/top-tier-gasoline/

Do I have to buy Levies jeans, an Izod shirt, an Apple phone, a Subway sandwich or a Ralph Lauren Polo just because modern advertisements told me I have to do so? I don't think so.

 

What he said.

You can watch all the tanker trucks pull up to the "pump" and they all get the same stuff. The driver climbs up onto the tanker and dumps a packet of whatever additives that particular seller (Shell/Arco/Citgo/whatever) touts and dumps it into the tank; gets mixed into the liquid during transport to the station where it will be sold.

It has been this was for years; I learned about it when I worked for Shell in the (wait for it) 1960's!

Ain't life grand....

Regards,

Jim

 

You definitely don't want it in anything that doesn't get used regularly. It doesn't store well.

In the truck, I wouldn't worry either way. I have used ethanol fuel for over 20 years and 500K+ miles and had no fuel related problems. Newer vehicles are engineered for it.

Edit: side note: I filled up at Costco last night for the first time. I was wondering why they had signs to direct traffic. It was around 8pm and there was only one other car when I pulled in. I saved $0.12/gallon.

 

You have a choice and I choose to spend few extra cents to buy a better gas...yes it must be ethanol free. I didn't buy the absolute cheapest truck so I can use the absolute cheapest gas...no way. I do the same when comes to what we eat, no offense but we don't buy because of the low price...it must be free of unhealthy stuff. The municipalities already make sure we are drinking their fluoride and chlorine...oh, we take that out too...

 

75% of my gas is from Costco and I have no issues with it.

 

Top Tier is approved and licensed through Savant, how the hell don't you know that?

Want to apply? https://www.toptiergas.com/Licensing/

 

I wouldn't say it's "better gas."

I've never even heard of anyone having a problem with ethanol in a daily driven vehicle. If I had, I would avoid it whenever possible. But, I've had several vehicles with over 200K miles without issues.

I think ethanol is kind of stupid, too. But, it's not going to hurt anything, unless you use it in something that only gets used periodically.

What is the actual cost difference for ethanol free where you are? There's a gas station near the trails I run that has it, but it was 40 or 50 cents more. I could see spending the money for an ATV or something that sits most of the year. But, that's about it.

 

I had an 86 VW Jetta that I filled up with ARCO gas all the time. Everyone always said it was cheap gas don’t buy it. Sold the Jetta with 281,000 miles on it. Still did not burn oil between oil changes even at that mileage. So I don’t buy the cheap gas thinking. Now if I was racing that’s a different story.

 

$3.80 a gallon here in Northern California.