Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2004 16:59:52 -0600
Reply-To: John Rodgers <jh_rodgers@BELLSOUTH.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <jh_rodgers@BELLSOUTH.NET>
Subject: Re: Gasoline War ! ! refineries / different gases / Vanagons &
gas
In-Reply-To: <4053693E.4070503@verizon.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
You are quite right about the additives. My Alaska Cousin when working
for Shell was rsponsible for seeing to it that the fuel they received
from the Tesoro refinery had the correct and proper amount of additives
per gallon. As I recall, the fuel began it's journey as a base fuel, and
had the additives put in later. This was true of all the oil companies
in Anchorage that received their fuel allotment from Tesoro.
One interesting aside. There was a diesel fuel produced that was known
as Arctic Diesel. It was used as a heating fuel in winter. But is was
also the same fuel used as jet fuel to power in the turbine powered
aircraft in the region as well.
Regards,
John Rodgers
88 GL Driver
sam.cooks wrote:
> I don't think it is quite that simple. All of the large refineries make
> basic gasoline that meets minimal government standards. Then the major
> brands add to that the special additives the differentiate their fuel
> from others. Some may do other proprietary things to the fuel to make
> it "their" formulation. The base gas is what you are likely to get at
> no name stations / convenience stores and it is cheaper because it
> doesn't have those additives. Whether the additives actually cost as
> much as the price differentials is very debatable.
>
> But it is correct that the no name, Exxon, and Texaco, that you might
> buy within 5 miles of where you live could have and probably did
> originate in the same refinery or at least in the most local refineries
> if there is more than one close by. The Exxon and the Texaco (insert
> other major brand names if you wish) will have the brand specific
> additives, and the no name gas will not have any beyond the minimal.
>
> When I see a convenience store selling brand name gas for about $.10
> less than anyone else in town is selling that brand, I am often
> suspicious that they have the base gas, not the actual brand name in
> their tanks.
>
> So each major brand has some refineries that make base level gas, which
> they use and sell to other brands and base gas users.
>
> But each major brand also pays to have base level gas made into it
> formulation, both at its refinery and at other refineries.
>
> Probably the largest impact from a boycott of a major brand is upon
> their station owners, but it would also hurt their profits from the sale
> of their proprietary gasoline formulation. How much it would hurt and
> how large a boycott it would take to make them wince is beyond the
> information in the articles I have read about how gasoline is made and
> distributed in the U.S.
>
> Volkswagen even makes reference to the differences in gas formulations
> in a note in the owner's guide for Vanagons, noting that some gases will
> not have all of the best detergent additives for keeping fuel injectors
> clean. In the Bentley, it is on the first page of the Vehicle Care
> appendix.
>
> In a thread a few months ago on the vw-camping list, a number of people
> reported having problems with hesitation type symptoms mainly or solely
> when they were using no name gas. Fuel injector cleaner would eliminate
> the problem for a tank or two and it would reappear. For some a return
> to brand name gas would eliminate or improve the problem.
>
> Sam
>
> --
> Sam Walters
> Baltimore, MD
>
> 89 Syncro GL
> 85 Westy Weekender
> 84 Vanagon, original owner, soon to be retired, just too many problems
>
> All incoming and outgoing email scanned by
> automatically updated copy of Norton AntiVirus.
>
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