Noob octane error - filled 1/2 tank w/85 octane

[NOVA_Ranger]

My 2013 SHO had a 93 tune from LMS and my wife took the car for a weekend trip. She filled it with 87, without knowing better. On my drive to work the next week I decided to have a little fun and notice it was stumbling hard when I jumped on it, very noticeable. I just drove the car like a normal person that week (very challenging but I did it) and no issues after that.

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[Dgc333]

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Was the handle yellow? Was this e85. I was not even aware they made gas below 87 octane in the states...

But if this was e85 I would drain the tank of gas.

I have seen a number of references to the color of the cover on the pump nozzle having some significance to what the pump dispenses in this thread. Where I live the vast majority of the covers are black. I have seen red, blue, yellow and green but they don't have relation to what the pump dispenses. It seems to be more a part of the branding, for example a Shell station having yellow or BP green.

 

[jflogerzi]

[

I have seen a number of references to the color of the cover on the pump nozzle having some significance to what the pump dispenses in this thread. Where I live the vast majority of the covers are black. I have seen red, blue, yellow and green but they don't have relation to what the pump dispenses. It seems to be more a part of the branding, for example a Shell station having yellow or BP green.

Typically in my area: Normal Gas is black, green is diesel, and yellow is Ethanol or AKA e85

 

[VAMike]

I have seen a number of references to the color of the cover on the pump nozzle having some significance to what the pump dispenses in this thread. Where I live the vast majority of the covers are black. I have seen red, blue, yellow and green but they don't have relation to what the pump dispenses. It seems to be more a part of the branding, for example a Shell station having yellow or BP green.

It's more common when the pump dispenses more than one type of gas (i.e., diesel/ethanol, not regular/premium). If there's only one, then yeah, the color doesn't matter.

 

[RoadBoss]

FWIW, while living in CO I put probably 7500 miles of exclusively 85 on my 2019 Ranger before I realized that's not recommended. I switched to 87 just to be careful but it didn't change anything about the vehicle that I could discern. That being said, since trading in for a 2021 I only use 87+. I've noticed that in western KS, 86 octane is an option!

Same. The dealer actually told me 85 octane was fine, so that's what I ran exclusively for the first probably 6 months I owned the truck. Didn't seem to have any ill effects, though I can certainly tell it likes 91 a little better.

Also, I'm pretty confident these trucks are smart enough to know that if low octane fuel is causing any issues it's going to throw a CEL and reduce performance to make sure you don't damage anything.

 

[Wytchdctr]

Also, I'm pretty confident these trucks are smart enough to know that if low octane fuel is causing any issues it's going to throw a CEL and reduce performance to make sure you don't damage anything.

It doesn't have a sensor to tell it what gas is in it; I am pretty sure it just goes off the knock sensors. I also have no doubt that reasonable driving with slightly lower octane would be something it can adjust for with said sensors.

buuuuutttt... get into a situation where it needs high octane. Either tuned or maybe even stock while towing in super hot weather while trying to race the civic that looked at you funny... and you might kick off some not so awesome detonation. One horribly timed uncontrolled explosion and things break before a sensor has a chance to adjust fuel or timing. Who needs ring lands anyway eh?

 

[Dgc333]

It's more common when the pump dispenses more than one type of gas (i.e., diesel/ethanol, not regular/premium). If there's only one, then yeah, the color doesn't matter.

It would make sense if it was standardized. The gas stations I frequent if they sell diesel the pump is away from the islands with the gas pumps and for all practical purposes there is no E85 in Massachusetts.

 

[RoadBoss]

It doesn't have a sensor to tell it what gas is in it; I am pretty sure it just goes off the knock sensors. I also have no doubt that reasonable driving with slightly lower octane would be something it can adjust for with said sensors.

buuuuutttt... get into a situation where it needs high octane. Either tuned or maybe even stock while towing in super hot weather while trying to race the civic that looked at you funny... and you might kick off some not so awesome detonation. One horribly timed uncontrolled explosion and things break before a sensor has a chance to adjust fuel or timing. Who needs ring lands anyway eh?

the curve from running perfectly to catastrophic detonation is not usually that steep, unless maybe you've modified the hell out of your ecoboost.

 

[Wytchdctr]

the curve from running perfectly to catastrophic detonation is not usually that steep, unless maybe you've modified the hell out of your ecoboost.

Running the wrong gas under the wrong conditions is one way to jump off that steep cliff. Like those that found out their oil could help cause LSPI the hard way (among other variables); helping a new standard show up around 2018 I think? The SN Plus stuff or +. Can't remember.

Also, I gave a pretty ridiculous scenario of engine load in what was quoted. Racing wile towing with or without low octane is a good way to break more than the engine.

 

[RoadBoss]

Also, I gave a pretty ridiculous scenario of engine load in what was quoted. Racing wile towing with or without low octane is a good way to break more than the engine.

woops, apparently I didn't read your post very well, it was a long day, lol.

 

[VAMike]

It would make sense if it was standardized. The gas stations I frequent if they sell diesel the pump is away from the islands with the gas pumps and for all practical purposes there is no E85 in Massachusetts.

meh. it's one of those "why fix what isn't broken" things--in the vast majority of cases in the US fuel pumps only dispense gasoline, so it just isn't a pressing issue.

 

[Apples]

Playing the devil's advocate...

Current US average for regular gasoline is $3.47. Premium average is $4.09. The difference is .62¢.

Depending on your state of tune (I.E.: stock vs FPT, et. al.), the gain in HP of premium over regular is between 25 and 33 HP (with a corresponding increases in torque, based on published dyno results appearing within these pages).

Doing the math, the cost per HP is .025¢ and .019¢ respectively—minuscule amount!

 

[dtech]

Playing the devil's advocate...

Current US average for regular gasoline is $3.47. Premium average is $4.09. The difference is .62¢.

Depending on your state of tune (I.E.: stock vs FPT, et. al.), the gain in HP of premium over regular is between 25 and 33 HP (with a corresponding increases in torque, based on published dyno results appearing within these pages).

Doing the math, the cost per HP is .025¢ and .019¢ respectively—minuscule amount!

Well doing math it would be somewhere around $10.00 give or take everytime I fill my tank, and I can't accurately say how often I need/use the extra HP, I suspect it's a very small percentage of time so it's regular that goes in my tank and hypothetically I pocket the $10.00 I could have spent on premium. Were I making a vehicle decision based on max HP I'd be driving something else.

 

[andybj]

I have been using 85 in my ranger (most of the time) for 35k miles now. This is totally fine for non-spirited driving. If I know I will be towing, I will get a tank of premium.

I live at 7k Feet. Boost will nearly 100% compensate for altitude, but the turbo will build boost slower then sea level.

 

[Langwilliams]

Playing the devil's advocate...

Current US average for regular gasoline is $3.47. Premium average is $4.09. The difference is .62¢.

Depending on your state of tune (I.E.: stock vs FPT, et. al.), the gain in HP of premium over regular is between 25 and 33 HP (with a corresponding increases in torque, based on published dyno results appearing within these pages).

Doing the math, the cost per HP is .025¢ and .019¢ respectively—minuscule amount!

For me it's about $10 a tank for premium vs regular here. When I was working I pretty much filled the tank every week getting 15 gallons. That's $520 a year, every year. For a one time $500 cost you could get the Livernois tuner with 5 tunes an get better performance while using 87 or 89 octane. Not a bad deal.

I ran the 93 tune because I enjoyed the performance boost. I was thinking I'd want to stop using premium when I retired thinking it was 40-50 bucks a month for a kick in the pants I got 3 or 4 times a week. Well now sometimes a tank of gas will last me almost 3 weeks. Now I'm thinking $20 a month is a fair price to pay for the kick in performance 93 delivers.

I put the lower octane tune in for winter. My thinking was I didn't need an extra 40 HP when road conditions were sketchy. Having retired I don't really drive when it's a mess out often like when I had to commute to work an back. This spring I'm going back to the Livernois 91-93 tune an I'll probably run it year round.

That's the beauty of these trucks/engines....you can make choices that match the truck to your needs/wants.

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