Costco Gas engine ping/knock

Sounds like an old wives' tale, innit.

My track record in this thread on factual matters hasn't been very good so far, but to the best of my & Google's knowledge -- table sugar doesn't dissolve in gasoline. Supposedly it just settles to the bottom of a container, like plain sand would.

 

Which I can't understand.

The refineries are all up and down the coasts, it's not like they have to ship-it to the midwest to sell it..

Somebody is making a pretty penny off the drivers in California, I used to live there, back when it was nice LOL.

 

I use 93 oct at the moment from Costco

 

There is no issues with costco gas. The issue is tacoma's ecu "programming", especially when intake air temperature hits above 90°F.

 

ALL gas by law has the same formulation. You might get more ethanol from one refinery over another but every brand typically comes from the same refinery. Different brands will mix in detergents and additives but the base fuel is the same.

Costco and Sam’s are very good because the gas is always fresh. They sell so much of it the tanks are refilled almost daily from the refinery. I’ve never had an issue with either retailer. I have had issues with a 7-11 off the beaten path. Truck hesitated and didn’t start easily. A can of something with PEA and fresher gas fixed the issue.

 

I buy gas from Costco whenever possible. I've bought Costoco gas in several states, especially while traveling cross country. Never had an issue with any of their gas stations. I've gotten good gas from Costco's across western Canada.

 

How about Costco's food court though? I've gotten some bad gas/pinging from there.

 

But for $1.50 you get a lot of cheap gas.

 

I use gas from Costco near me almost exclusively (Brighton, MI) with no issues. Waiting lines suck, unless early morning or just after store itself closes. Have tried both the 87 and 93 octane versions, but didn't notice much difference in truck performance or mileage (filled tank from almost empty each time). Maybe a bit better mileage with the 93, but not enough to justify paying .50 - $1 per gallon more. My kids aren't as interested in the food court anymore, since they got rid of the churros.

 

All gas has to meet certain specifications.
I work at an oil refinery and we sell to all the distributors. Only difference is the additives that each company has there own, ie Techron..

 

This is something I haven't heard of. My entire family uses Costco Gas and we have never had a problem in any of our cars

 

Yeh I'm gonna call this a low-effort thread, OP didn't give any other relevant details whatsoever. Approximately 1 zillion people drink COSTCO gasoline into their Tacomas every minute of every day with no issues at all.

What model year of Taco? How many miles on it? What oil-change interval? Any other issues with the vehicle? What was the outside temperature like on the day-of? Was the battery recently disconnected for >5 mins for any reason (which would reset the fuel trims etc. in the ECU)? Etc.

Pretty much 99.53262364% of what COSTCO sells, regardless of what it is, is good-quality (at a minumum,) and frequently very-good. Why would that be any less true of their always-fresh gazzoline, fed out of what are obviously very-well-maintained fueling facilities.

 

First off, no running issues with any fuel so far in the year I've owned my Tacoma, regardless of which station (knock on wood I can keep saying this). Here's my pseudo-scientific two cents: This is really baking my ziti. We all assume we get the same fuel economy from any station if we buy the same octane...but do we? Tossing out winter trips as temp, humidity and slippery roads seem to be the biggest variables on economy, on the same 450 mile interstate round-trip route I've fueled up at different stations within a few miles of each other and what I saw was there is a direct correlation between the price of the fuel and the fuel economy on that gas. Costco (currently $3.09/gal 87 octane) got me 18.4-18.5 mpg or 5.99 miles per dollar. Loves ($3.29/gal) also got me 18.5 mpg or 5.62mi/$. Shell and Phillips ($3.44/gal) got me 20.9-21mpg, or 6.1 mi/$. So, I'm skipping Loves, but other than that I get just as far on the same buck; the only difference is where I have to fill up again and Costco would be up to 50 miles sooner on a 21 Gallon tank!

 

Errr, uhhh.

Maybe, maybe not.

On a 450-mile trip did you set the cruise control for exactly the same speed and keep it there >95% of the time?

What about the wind conditions during said trips? A variation of +/- 5 to 7 knots of wind, and/or a change in direction of said wind, over some or all of the trip, would easily account for the differences you're ascribing to differently-priced gasoline.

 

I serviced the equipment at the fuel terminals where gasoline from the refinery, is blended with ethanol and whatever additives each customer requires for their brand.

I've used Costco and Sam's for over twenty years without issue in my Tacoma and other vehicles.

I usually add Techron every spring and fall to each vehicle. years ago my mother's new car was running rough after she filled it at a small country store. I filled the tank with 91 octane, added a can of Techron and the problem went away. I told her to never get gas from that statin again.

 

Costco guy here.....No issues!

 

2021 v6 4wd.
19,900 miles.
Oil chg/ Tire rotation every 5k. ( it's due soon )
Battery disconnected once about a year ago to swap out battery.
Otherwise it runs like a champ.

Put some Shell in recently and ping has gone away. Could have been a bad day I understand they sell quality gas and I'm willing
to give it another shot.

 

Gas stations near a major highway are the least likely to supply "bad" gas. The economic status of area population around a gas station is important to know as well.

(inb4 "WTF is he talking about rich versus poor people living in the neighborhoods?!?!?!?")

A gas station's fuel tanks that don't get cycled often enough will, because of that ethanol sh!t, attract moisture which then sits under the gas causing phase separation. Then when you pump that into your tank you're getting a bunch of H2O along with sediment because that tank of fuel has just been sitting there unused. If a bunch of -- shall we say affluent -- people live around the area they will likely use more of the top octane fuel in the area stations, thus cycling the gas in those tanks more frequently and preventing the "bad gas" issue if you use the expensive option.

 

In discussing COSTCO gasoline specifically (vis. the thread title) -- I doubt this is ever an issue.

I don't think there's such a thing as a "slow" or "low traffic" COSTCO. They always think & plan very carefully to pick locations that will get lots of ongoing business. And likewise I doubt there's such a thing as a "slow" or underutilized COSTCO gas station. Part of the selling proposition for COSTCO gas is that it is almost by definition "fresh" because the pump utilization & fuel delivery cadence are so high.

 

No issues with the Costco's I've been using.