Cure to BC Chev 94, Ethanol (bioflame) ;)

[BC-Boy]

the only thing is ethanol absorbs water, i belive that pump gas containing ethanol in a wet humid climate in poor quality holding tanks can develop a lesser grade. so adding it yourself is a sure shot to target a certain percentage. i cannot se any danger as long as you dont go past E15 , and doing any kind of fuel mods like this requires logging, if it isnt logged and anylized theres no point because you have no clue what impact its having on your car.

[TariqRG]

Just thought I'd chime in here as well with my experience between US (blaine) gas vs our 94 chevron.

I tuned my 240sx with Blaine, Chevron 92 gas and maxed out that gas (knock threshhold) @ 425whp @ 21psi. I ran that gas for a bit and decided to put a tank of 94 and hit the dyno again.

Well.... on the first pull it was knocking so loud once boost hit that I had to let off. I started pulling timing to the point where the tq curve looked so jagged that it wasn't even worth running that boost (pulled 4 degrees). I brought the boost down in increments to see where I would max out and it liked 18psi but unfortunately it only made 365 @ 18psi.

That's a 60whp loss on our mustang dyno! It was pretty heart breaking knowing how bad our gas is.

We've also tested every fuel in B.C at our shop (racing greed) and confirmed that chevron 94 is the best, crappy, but the best in terms of knock resistance.

Love your idea on the E10,

I'm definitely going to look into that!

[BC-Boy]

Originally Posted by TariqRG

Just thought I'd chime in here as well with my experience between US (blaine) gas vs our 94 chevron.

I tuned my 240sx with Blaine, Chevron 92 gas and maxed out that gas (knock threshhold) @ 425whp @ 21psi. I ran that gas for a bit and decided to put a tank of 94 and hit the dyno again.

Well.... on the first pull it was knocking so loud once boost hit that I had to let off. I started pulling timing to the point where the tq curve looked so jagged that it wasn't even worth running that boost (pulled 4 degrees). I brought the boost down in increments to see where I would max out and it liked 18psi but unfortunately it only made 365 @ 18psi.

That's a 60whp loss on our mustang dyno! It was pretty heart breaking knowing how bad our gas is.

We've also tested every fuel in B.C at our shop (racing greed) and confirmed that chevron 94 is the best, crappy, but the best in terms of knock resistance.

Love your idea on the E10,

I'm definitely going to look into that!

That sounds alot like what ive gone tru, although im NA , ive had 3 tuners who have all been bewildered by the fact i cant even properly run a 91tune.
At times in the revband mostly midrange i could hit 94 like timing advance but it knocked severly on low rpm high load, and also at high rpm high load, the ethanol has made it so now i can very smoothly run a 94 tune,
I even did some testing up in the hills @ about 3000ft and only had one instance of very very mild tip in, not even enough to pull the IAM but i went WOT at 2500rpm up a slight hill, i was testing it i dont usually do that. but im impressed it runs better than with my race gas mix ! that supprised me. Usually those hills will destroy my IAM.
Im from out east and our gas was great, everyone ran tunes as advertised and we never had issues running 20+lbs boost on our 93oct. I really dont get this BC gas, i wonder if its not the possibility of being tar sand bitumen . instead of crude from the mid west.

[OjiGeorge]

great thread, looks like an alternate to meth!

[BC-Boy]

Originally Posted by OjiGeorge

great thread, looks like an alternate to meth!

when i can get to tracking down some cheaper ethanol, this is going to be a easy and cost effective way of turning piss into wine. lol.

[OjiGeorge]

I'm seriously pissed that they false advertise. Chevron's gas has probably been the cause of many engine failures. I wonder if its proven not to be 94 if we could launch a class-action law suit?

[BC-Boy]

Originally Posted by OjiGeorge

I'm seriously pissed that they false advertise. Chevron's gas has probably been the cause of many engine failures. I wonder if its proven not to be 94 if we could launch a class-action law suit?

Umm i dont know, i think it would be hard to obtain any cash from this, i called chevron and spoke to owners about gas testing, and the owners said that you can contact a goverment agency and file a complaint , and that they will take charge of the testing. but im sure they as allways give notice, to catch them red handed,id do it myself and have legit sealed samples with adhesive break seals with serial numbers and get the on site employee to initial and date the sample , just like a good old piss test

[OjiGeorge]

We should do something. It's complete BS. False advertizing is definitely illegal.

[Fear]

Lol good luck with that.. Oil companies are right along side the military industrial complex and big pharma... They own the world, you'd be found with a suicide note stucfed in your pocket, hanging in your closet with a belt around your neck before you get chevron to pay for any fa20 engine failure.

[BC-Boy]

Originally Posted by Fear

Lol good luck with that.. Oil companies are right along side the military industrial complex and big pharma... They own the world, you'd be found with a suicide note stucfed in your pocket, hanging in your closet with a belt around your neck before you get chevron to pay for any fa20 engine failure.

aha :P only in the usa, here in canada they would keep you awake for days in a cold room with nothing but a 48in screen and hockey pucks passing across it, feeding you nothing but poutine, but improper poutine made with sliced cheese,SOYA CHEESE on top of that, they would make you regret life. and never watch another game of hockey ever again.

[OjiGeorge]

So tried running the BioFlame with the FB SD Basemap tune to try to get the AFRs above 9.

So far, first impressions have been not so good. I mixed 3.8L with a full tank of Canadian Chev 94 (no ethanol in the gas, says chevron). Made sure to shake up the car to mix it up. Also unhooked the negative battery terminal for a bit to reset the ECU learned settings.

Fist impression- When starting in 1st, the car needs quite a bit more throttle not to stall. It's also weaker after the clutch is disengaged. After the car is moving it's sometimes really jerky when accelerating 'smoothly' from a low rpm in a low gear.

The AFRs are definitely leaner. I was hoping to lean things out a bit, but this seems like quite a bit more lean throughout the entire drive. If I'm on the gas lightly it's around 15! 15 is unheard of for my car with turbo.

Before my AFR would hit 9 when WOT it seems to go around 11ish now, but I didn't want to push it repeatedly for fear of popping the motor. Im going to try some more driving tomorrow and take some logs. Maybe it is ust taking the ECU some time to learn?

Not sure what I should be looking for as warning signs in the logs?
@FullBlown

[TjAlmeida]

It would be cool if you guys figure something out. I already add fluid to my truck every fill up by choice, would hate to have to add fluid to the car because it needs it to run properly on its tune.

To each their own I guess, hope you find something that works!

[OjiGeorge]

Day 2: Car was having some pretty bad idle issues when I started it (died once at a red light).. but after driving for 5 or so minutes things started to even out. After that the car drove pretty respectable for the remainder of the day. I'm not sure if the ethanol didn't properly mix yesterday, or the ECU had some big re-learning to do, or what was going on.

Anyways, I'm still not completely satisfied that my car is running safely, but it seems to be running ok atm.

My AFRs are still leaner, but much closer than what they were before. The lowest I can get the AFR to go is a 9.6 when WOT, and I had some WOT runs where it stayed at 10! This is a pretty big change from before. Also, when the car is WOT it feels like it has some more kick to it.

Jury is still out.. what's going on here. I wonder if chevron adds something else to their 94 than Ethanol to up the octane?

Haven't been to Shell in a while, but I think their V-power has no ethanol in it. Maybe will try the next tank with V-Power and a jug of BioFlame.

[BC-Boy]

Originally Posted by OjiGeorge

Day 2: Car was having some pretty bad idle issues when I started it (died once at a red light).. but after driving for 5 or so minutes things started to even out. After that the car drove pretty respectable for the remainder of the day. I'm not sure if the ethanol didn't properly mix yesterday, or the ECU had some big re-learning to do, or what was going on.

Anyways, I'm still not completely satisfied that my car is running safely, but it seems to be running ok atm.

My AFRs are still leaner, but much closer than what they were before. The lowest I can get the AFR to go is a 9.6 when WOT, and I had some WOT runs where it stayed at 10! This is a pretty big change from before. Also, when the car is WOT it feels like it has some more kick to it.

Jury is still out.. what's going on here. I wonder if chevron adds something else to their 94 than Ethanol to up the octane?

Haven't been to Shell in a while, but I think their V-power has no ethanol in it. Maybe will try the next tank with V-Power and a jug of BioFlame.

Hey George sorry i didnt call you back, ill give you a call tomorrow. yah i had that same problem twice , the first time it was pretty cool, like 9-10ish at night i mixed the ethanol to a ful tank and it ran like garbage, it felt like the ethanol didnt mix and sank to the bottom of the tank, then did some reading apparently it has to be constantly mixed while filling the car the that it doesnt seperate from the gas, has to be mixed with oxygen like having a small hose in the gas fill neck while fueling up during cold (they labeled cold as 15c) :/ . also it did that to me a few days ago, i think maybe i got a really bad tank of gas that maybe had alot of water in it or something, but that ENTIRE tank ran ruff, bad idle and really just did not run solid at all. those are the bad experiences ive had in about .... 7 tanks now, that is mixing 1/2 container into a 1/3-1/4 empty tank, but i think the deal is the ethanol and gas have to be pretty warm +20ish to mix properly..... this has come to mind after some reading up. if you could put a jug in a 5gallon pail and 2-3 gallons of gas and mix it for a minuite then add that to the tank and then fill, it would prob mix better. i think what happen to you as happen to me it all sank to the bottom and you ran strait ethanol , it ran like that for me 15km ish and couldnt even idle, then was perfectly fine for the entire rest of tank. but that one bad tank it ran not as bad, but really poorly for the entire tank.

So i belive that because ethanol does absorb water, if there water in the fuel maybe it leachs it out and stays seperate from the fuel instead of mixing, then spouches around in the tank and when the cars not moving it settles (idle) and you get more ethanol and water than you do gas, possibly if the reason the gas is bad is due to water and not a actual degradation of it chemical properties it will make the gas WORSE, by reacting to the water, but if the gas is bad because its just weak then it can possibly add some pep .
one thing is sure , the VP Octanium , has never let down, and doesnt do weird stuff, that stuff is pricey as hell @40$ for a 32oz can which treats a tank of gas to net 97oct, but ive used like 8-9 tanks of it and its never ever had a hickup like the ethanol, now.. its pricey.. so i did research apparently based on other peoples independent tests 95 percent of the octanium just like tha TORCO is made up of solvents, cheap solvents, such as Xylene and Toulene , the other 5 percent is MMT which is a sort of synthetic lead which lubricates the otherwise dry combustion of the solvent, alot of people allready run this stuff in alot of applications, i just dont know how good it would be on our direct injection system. possibly finding another lubrification agent other than mmt which is the cause of the orange residue buildup we can find something.
there is a product call formula 112, its made in calgary from a well know petrochemical company, the owner told me over the phone this stuff only 2oz of it will yeild a massive gain in octane, its very corrosive and should not be poured strait into the gas neck but premixed then poured, he has not seen benefit to using a stronger ratio. it cannot be shipped you have to pick it up directly, found a guy on a corvette forum, he uses this stuff and says it works very well comparable to a full can of torco, yet only 2oz?? torco 32oz! i want to try this stuff, if its good im gonna run it in my sled this winter