Fuel advisory for cold climates

[Bert]

Two days in a row it has been -18C (close to 0F) in Ottawa and are forecast to be even colder over the next few days. I have never had problems (aside from reduced output from batteries) starting my EFIs in cold weather up until this year. Carefully checking the disclaimers on gas pumps yesterday (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) has been quite informative; Ethanol blend-specific (up to 10%) gas pumps have recently been discontinued and now there are only 3 fuel choices. Regular (87 octane), mid-range (89) and Premium (91). Regular now says it "may contain up to 10% Ethanol", Premium contains none, and Blend is a 50:50 mix of Regular and Premium (ie 5%). In previous years the Regular grade gas only contained "up to 5%". I'm guessing because of this the ECU of 20 year old cars cannot adequately adjust fuel mixtures and are consequently more difficult to start when it's cold. Ethanol is not known for being very volatile at low temperatures.
I filled up with Premium last week in anticipation of this cold snap and both days so far the car has started like a champ. As opposed to previous occasions over the past month when I was running Regular and had to turn the engine over for 5-10 seconds before she'd fire.
From this informal test I would venture a guess that everyone can improve their cold-starts merely by switching to Premium (or no Ethanol) during cold snaps.

[stonemaster]

not all gas station are all ethanol gas, go to http://pure-gas.org/

[B3Festiva]

Re: Fuel advisory for cold climates

I use ultra 94 lol works wonders i can epically tell the difference.

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk 2

[sketchman]

Oops. I goofed.

[bravekozak]

Sunoco sold their Ultra 94 to Petro-Canada. This gas was intended for the older high compression engines, but is still available at select stations. It is considered the fourth grade of pump gas.

[Bert]

This is dangerous and not recommended but with a lot of precaution some have been known to pull there injectors and with all hooked up make sure they have a nice fine spray when the engine is cranked. While the injectors are out look in the holes and see if everything is shiny clean...carbon soaks up fuel like a charcoal briquette when you first try to start it. After you shut it off it evaporates all the fuel it stores...to cause more problems.
Clean everything. Check compression, readings near 100 psi don't like to start very good and any lower will idle poor as well.
The volatility of the fuel is what maters here, how easy it starts on fire. Fresher the better.

I doubt that grade of fuel is the sole reason for sluggish starts when it's cold but so far it has been an 'easy fix'. The Ontario gas pumps for 91 octane say right on them; "contains no ethanol". My car is black inside the engine from the former owner and had burnt valves when I bought it and uses about a quart of oil every 1000 miles. Mileage is also getting up there for a car that was strictly a grocery getter for 15 years and 125,000 mi and then went 100K more as a courier vehicle and long distance commuter for me.

[Movin]

This is dangerous and not recommended but with a lot of precaution some have been known to pull there injectors and with all hooked up make sure they have a nice fine spray when the engine is cranked. While the injectors are out look in the holes and see if everything is shiny clean...carbon soaks up fuel like a charcoal briquette when you first try to start it. After you shut it off it evaporates all the fuel it stores...to cause more problems.
Clean everything. Check compression, readings near 100 psi don't like to start very good and any lower will idle poor as well.
The volatility of the fuel is what maters here, how easy it starts on fire. Fresher the better.

[TheresGabe]

Umm... by law in my state all gas now contains at least 5% ethanol, and during the winter most contains 10%. It's delightful. And I get to watch my mileage drop 5MPG when it happens!

Edit: Just went back and read the facts. All normal gas stations in the US MUST have Ethanol. It was an act of Congress in 2010.

Here is an article about the change in Utah http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=11014069

[Bert]

My car has been very slow to start at cold temperatures as of this year. It's a an EFI meaning you don't have to pump the gas pedal when you turn the key. I noticed recently that 'regular unleaded fuel' pumps at the Filling Stations have a disclaimer attached that says 'may contain up to 5% ethanol'. Whatever is going on I decided to invest in a tank of Premium (no ethanol at all) this time around when the tank was dry. -18 C (pretty close to 0 F) this morning and the car started on the first turn like it is supposed to, and always has. Supposed to become much colder over the next few days and I will report back on how well the car starts under those circumstances. Festys were designed and engineered before ethanol additives came out and the primitive ECU may not adequately recognize the stuff (ethanol blends) when it adjusts/computes fuel mixtures.