The importance of running Top-Tier gasoline in your 2019+ Ranger.

[RustyShackleford94]

My pinto engine gives zero f***s. Gas is gas to it.

 

[sgtsandman]

Yes, I guess I was mixing Brands with Octane. Thanks for the clarification. Qwik Fill is a station or brand of fuel? When I think "brands" usually it's Shell, 76, Exxon, BP, and the like. We have BP stations, but Circle K stores carry Shell gas, but we don't have a "Shell Station" unless you consider the Circle K the "Shell Station". I still have never noticed "top Tire" or "TT" on the pumps, but I will start looking.

Qwik Fill is a gas station brand. Where they get their gas, I have no idea.

 

[HenryMac]

Direct injection... Fancy stuff. Increases efficiency AND power, whats not to love right?

Well... unfortunately, fancy new ways of doing things can bring along fancy new problems.

If a direct injection motor is run on garbage fuel.. I.E fuel NOT labeled Top-Tier (see below)..
View attachment 64865

..this can (relatively quickly) lead to an alarming amount of carbon buildup on the backside & stems of the motors intake valves, the surrounding area in the intake, and even the tips of the injectors themselves.
View attachment 64866


This buildup can and WILL cause:

• Loss of top end power
• Poor acceleration
• Cold stalling
• Misfiring
• Reduced fuel economy
• Check engine lights
• Rough running
• Poor idle

This build up comes from a few places. Quality of gasoline makes a massive difference. By just using a top-tier rated fuel you will greatly reduce the amount of buildup (regardless of injection style) thanks to its extra detergents and science.

View attachment 64868

The pcv system is also a big culprit. The pcv system recycles oil vapor/combustion blow-by/unburnt fuel from the crankcase into the intake. On their way through the Intake the aforementioned gasses/vapors stick to the hot valve and get baked on.

The pcv related buildup can be somewhat increased by the DI motors penchant for fuel dilution in the oil. If you take short trips with your 2019+ ranger, the chances of your oil having a quart+ of gasoline in it by the time you hit the reccomended change interval is a good possibility. Due to this, and how the pcv operates, if your recycling non-top tier gasoline through the intake.. naturally the build up will be worse.

Running an air/oil seperator will greatly reduce the amount of buildup by removing most or all of the oil vapor & unburnt fuel before it can make its way past the valves.

DI motors are more susceptible to this buildup compared to carburated, TBI, or MPI motors simply because the DI motor doesn't have these areas of the intake/valves constantly "washed" down with fuel during operation.

If/when this build up gets bad enough, the only real fix is to media blast the inside of the intake & back of the valves. While this cleaning is getting to be common practice due to the increasing amount of DI engines on the road, its not exactly a cheap thing to have done.


While the list of top-tier selling gas stations has massively increased over the past 10 years or so, not every station is on board. Below is a list of top-tier stations.

Fuel Stations - TOP TIER™

TOP TIER™ Licensed Brands prominently display the TOP TIER™ logo on the pump, pump handle, canopy or in a station window.

www.toptiergas.com

Folks really need to read the owners manual for their vehicle ....

 

[HenryMac]

My pinto engine gives zero f***s. Gas is gas to it.

An OEM 4 banger in a Pinto isn't direct injected... or turbo charged. A Model T Ford engine doesn't need top tier fuel either, nor does your lawn mower.

 

[Ranger850]

nor does your lawn mower.

Then why did my lawn mower salesman tell me different. Seriously, I've been buying premium for my mowers forever.

 

[Ranger850]

Folks really need to read the owners manual for their vehicle ....

View attachment 64906

Is this for a Ford Ranger or a Pinto or a Santa Fe?
This basically says a "minimum of 87 octane and for best results use 91 or better, especially when towing or in cold weather, for BEST results." So just don't use 93 or jet fuel? I can handle that.

 

[sgtsandman]

That’s for the new Ranger. The truck is setup to run decently on 87 octane but 91 octane is better. Not unusual for a force fed engine. Most require higher octane fuel all the time.

 

[Ranger850]

That’s for the new Ranger. The truck is setup to run decently on 87 octane but 91 octane is better. Not unusual for a force fed engine. Most require higher octane fuel all the time.

Because my NON Turbo DI 2.4L '19 Santa Fe, has almost the exact same instructions.

 

[19Walt93]

Folks really need to read the owners manual for their vehicle ....

>>>>You get a gold star. I "fixed" hundreds of customer complaints over the years by opening their owners manual.

 

[HenryMac]

Because my NON Turbo DI 2.4L '19 Santa Fe, has almost the exact same instructions.

Three Reasons for that:
#1) The Hyundai "Korean to English" translation is off,
#2 The Koreans just copied Ford's manual, like they copied everything else,
#3) "91 will increase the chances of burning a hole through the hose"... more on this ignorance can be found HERE

They wanted to call their company "Honda"... but they even messed that up.

 

[Dirtman]

Even my 2009 says right on the gas cap to "use top tier fuel of no more than 10% ethanol".

Using good gas isn't a new concept.

 

[Ranger850]

That link is to a discussion for the turbo2.0 AWD, and it is prone to self destruct, AND I know "this" discussion was on the "forced induction", but I drive a 2.4 FWD N/A Theta II.
Which ASLO has it's own set of issues, from what I have read, but mine has been trouble free and not disappointing in power output at all. They are in the same engine "family" but are really apples to oranges. Maybe Hyundai got the manuals translation wrong like you said, or maybe i got a 2.0t manual with a 2.4 cover, or maybe the motors are don't give a damn what gas is in the combustion chamber. 87-91 is basically the whole spectrum when it comes to regular common use gasolines. and as long as 87-91 is used the car should perform as expected.
What I think the difference in Ford and Hyundai are the buyers. Most Hyundai owners, who drive the 'turbo' engines, don't know about oil consumption, or regular oil changes, they just wait for a light on the dash to tell them something is wrong. I know this because I was on a Hyundai forum for a while, and you should see the issues people complain about.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Then why did my lawn mower salesman tell me different. Seriously, I've been buying premium for my mowers forever.

It is a easy cop out to get people to buy non ethanol fuel as USUALLY premium fuel is more often non ethanol. And you also have a little engine nobody cares about with minimum maintenance and they are trying to get all the power out of them they can.

I know Echo power equipment wants 89 octane or higher. Very much preferably non-ethanol.

An OEM 4 banger in a Pinto isn't direct injected... or turbo charged. A Model T Ford engine doesn't need top tier fuel either, nor does your lawn mower.

Actually the fuel a Model T was designed around (like 60 octane) is pretty much not available.

Most things from back in the day tolerate modern fuel but since you can't get what they like that is about the best you can hope for. I have a 1946 tractor that really struggles to run on ethanol. But as an "all fuel" it has low compression, low enough that it is a spark ignited engine that can run on diesel. If it separates out straight alcohol doesn't get enough squeeze to go bang

Barring Ford waking up and adding dual injection to the 2.3 like they have most other DI engines I am planning on adding a catch can to our Bronco.

 

[sgtsandman]

That link is to a discussion for the turbo2.0 AWD, and it is prone to self destruct, AND I know "this" discussion was on the "forced induction", but I drive a 2.4 FWD N/A Theta II.
Which ASLO has it's own set of issues, from what I have read, but mine has been trouble free and not disappointing in power output at all. They are in the same engine "family" but are really apples to oranges. Maybe Hyundai got the manuals translation wrong like you said, or maybe i got a 2.0t manual with a 2.4 cover, or maybe the motors are don't give a damn what gas is in the combustion chamber. 87-91 is basically the whole spectrum when it comes to regular common use gasolines. and as long as 87-91 is used the car should perform as expected.
What I think the difference in Ford and Hyundai are the buyers. Most Hyundai owners, who drive the 'turbo' engines, don't know about oil consumption, or regular oil changes, they just wait for a light on the dash to tell them something is wrong. I know this because I was on a Hyundai forum for a while, and you should see the issues people complain about.

Above a certain compression ratio, higher octane fuel is often a good idea in NA engines. I forget where the line is. Somewhere around 10:1.

 

[sgtsandman]

...I know Echo power equipment wants 89 octane or higher. Very much preferably non-ethanol...

Stihl is the same way. As a consequence, I buy 89 for all my power equipment since it’s easier to just mix the fuel out of the 5 gallon can than buy separate fuel just for the Stihl equipment. I’ve seen the prices for a gallon of non-ethanol pre-mixed fuel at the Stihl dealer and my local hardware store. Woof!

My equipment has run just fine for years on E-10 and will keep doing so at those prices.