Arco and Albertsons vs. Shell and 76

Here in western Washington, the price difference between Arco and Albertson's gas and Shell and 76 is almost 20 cents per gallon. Are there any disadvantages to long term use of the cheaper gas in my 97 Explorer? (4.0 L V6 automatic with 4x4)

Thanks

Don Shelton

Reply to
Donald H. Shelton
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No. If you are going to have problems with certain gas, it should show up right away. I've never had any problems attributable to 'cheap' gas in any of my vehicles. Some people have, but it's hard to tell how frequent it is from anecdotal evidence on the internet.

Reply to
Ratbert

All gas sold for road use in the US is required by the EPA to have an effective level of cleaning agents. What constitutes an effective level is debatable. If you notice the fine print associated with the TV ads that claim Shell gasoline provides better mileage you will see that it says something like "compared to gasoline with minimum levels of cleaning agents." So I guess Shell (and the Shell gas sold at "Texaco" stations for that matter) is supposed to be better because it has more cleaning agents.

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Regards,

Ed White

Reply to
C. E. White

While not a 'universal truth', you'd be surprised to find that in most loactions, all gas comes from the same tanks at the tank far/distribution point. The difference between brands is usually in the additive package, which is added as the gas is put into the delivery truck's tanks. Under Federal rules, the addative packages must contain certain elements, including cleaning agents. The basic differences are in the actual proportions of the various agents in the package. IOW, all gas in the US will work fine in the vast majority of gas-fueled vehicles on the roads today (assuming you don't run leaded gas in an unleaded gas vehicle, or other strange stuff like that).

There are exceptions, though; I had a '75 Gold Wing, whose variable-venturi carbs were finicky about the amount of some agents in the additive packages, and would gum up on Shell gas, in particular.

Reply to
bill

I would agree that most gas is the same from my experiences, but I have found certain discount gas stations that seem to have poor quality gas. There are two USA stations about an equal distance from my house. I have bought gas from both stations in the past. After buying gas at the one station I started to notice engine "knocking" under acceleration. When I buy the gas at the other station I have no problems

I repeated the buy it here & buy it there excursive a number of times and the results were always the same. I no longer buy gas at the "bad" gas station. I don't know if they have contaminated tanks or what, but it doesn't run right in my Explorer.

Larry

Reply to
LCC

Thanks, gentlemen, for the information. 20 cents per gallon in my pocket is better than in theirs!!

Reply to
Donald H. Shelton

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