Don't have access to Chevron gasoline, which has
a built-in carbon fighting additive called Techron,
but the additive is available at most auto stores.
At present, I'm adding a bottle of it to my gas at
every 3,000 mile oil change interval. Don't know if
there is anything better out there or if there are
other name brand gasolines that have a similar
'ethanol fighting' additive in their gas which would
not necessitate the need for a separate fuel
additive. The cost of the Techron is about $7.00
per bottle with the suggested insertion of it at a
point when the gas tank is near empty. P.S. - I
always use only major brands of gasoline and have
noticed that the build-up of carbon that was
developing at the end-tips of my exhaust are no
longer happening since the addition of this Techron
additive. Do you have a source for you information about 10% ethanol causing carbon build up? I would be interested in the details. Which gas station companies do you use? I try to stick with Chevron and Mobil exclusively, I found even Shell adds 10% ethanol...

There is a paragraph in the manual that talks about this. Apparently ethanol is okay, methanol is not... does that sound right? So all gasolines add ethanol?? Do you have a source for you information about 10% ethanol causing carbon build up? I would be interested in the details. All the major brand gas station pumps here in the N.Y,
area are marked as containing 10% Ethanol. If you
go to www.lubricationproducts.com and click on
Tri-Chem AM - 2010 Gas System Treatment you
will note their contention that, "Ethanol blend in
the fuel causes four times as much carbon to
form on the valves and in the combustion chamber."
Since the Techron by Chevron product is much less
expensive.....only about $7.00 per application which
I'm doing every 3,000 miles.....I would have no problem
continuing with it. It's possible that this TriChem
application is superior but since I have noticed that
with Techron my exhaust tips are clean, I will stay with
that product unless specific brands near me include a
similar additive in their 93 octane gasolines. P.S. - I
do remember one radio show where The Car Doctor
(Ron Ananian) mentions that a formal carbon cleaning
machine is available at many service stations and that
it should be used every year or two, in addition to
carbon fighting additives that are added periodically to
the gas. He, personally, speaks highly of the Techron
and has told his customers to use it every 3 to 6 months.
In addition to having a national radio show.....and being
awarded a 'Best Service Center in America' award....he
continues to be a 'Monday To Friday' working mechanic
at his RA Auto facility in Waldwick, N.J.. So all gasolines add ethanol??
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...-promises.html

Wlecome back, Rip Van Winkle.

Boy I bet the corn growing industry in the US loves this legislation! But apparently according to the article (thks for link codym) it doesn't require every gallon of gas to contain ethanol but is based on a quota system?

As I read it now, only 2.78% ethanol to increase to about 5% by 2012. It varies from state to state and manufacturer to manufacturer.

Carbon buildup is a result of poor quality poorly gasoline more than ethanol. Mobil gas is actually prettu bad. Chevron, Texaco, BP and shell are the best with regards to low sulphur levels and higher detergent levels.

The main cause of carbon though is people who take lots of short trips and don;t ever get the engine up to speed for a good length of time. I've seen a vehicle with 2000 miles carboned up beyond belief (it was 3 years old at the time - give syou an idea of how much the little old lady that owns it drives it) and I've seen vehicle with 100K miles that are driven hard and get frequent oil changes that were clean as a bell.

As a side note, water injeciton systems also eliminate carbon deposits. Use these brands

www.toptiergas.com

Ethanolo has nothing to do with carbon build up, and every brand has ethanol these days.

Also read the myths about Methanol here..

http://www.businessweek.com/print/te...519_225336.htm I also either use Chevron gas or add Techron gas treatment separately. I get the bottles of Techron gas treatment from Costco. It comes in a case of 4, and if I recall correctly, came out to about $3-4 per bottle.

By-the-way, I find my car runs better using Mobil or Exxon (neither of which or Top Tier rated), but in that case, add bottles of Techron periodically. The Techron gas treatment does not seem to hurt performance.

Also, I read on the case of Techron bottles that it should be used every 1,000 miles, not 3,000. Doesn't ethanol burn cooler than straight gasoline helping to keep the valves cool? This would be reason that high powered racing engines burn straight alcohol. So, the best of both would be better to run the 10% ethanol and use the additive periodically. I think this is oil industry talk, not necessarily reality. There has been so much fighting trying to keep ethanol from being a viable fuel for cars they don't seem to stop at anything. I wouldn't worry about 10% ethanol in your fuel causing major problems. Perhaps some of the problems reported are caused by ethanol raising the octane and retarding timing. I think this is oil industry talk, not necessarily reality. There has been so much fighting trying to keep ethanol from being a viable fuel for cars they don't seem to stop at anything. I wouldn't worry about 10% ethanol in your fuel causing major problems. Perhaps some of the problems reported are caused by ethanol raising the octane and retarding timing.
If you think the oil industry doesn't want ethanol or is fighting the ethanol trend, I think you're misinformed. The oil industry gets major tax credits for using ethanol. It's much more profitable for them to use ethanol in place of MTBE.

Ethanol is a pure political play. And although people think the farmers come out ahead, in reality it's the oil companies that make the most money of its usage.

Lastly, the addition of ethanol hasn't changed the octane. It's still the same octane rating as before. Straight ethanol is higher octane, but the blends you get at the pump are exactly the same as before, and if it was 91 octane before ethanol, it's 91 after.