So what is the different about California fuel?

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While I may have bought my current car while I was living in Oklahoma, I was aware when I bought it that it originated in California; and thus has the California emissions package.

It wasn't until I brought it home and flipped through the owner's manual that I discovered the reference to California fuels. The manual states that cars with the California emissions package were specifically designed to run on California fuel, and using fuel from other states may cause the SES light to illuminate and the emissions system to not function properly.

While I've never had a problem with the car in the almost 13,000 miles I've already put on it since I bought it 6 months ago, I have wondered about this comment in the owners manual. While living in Oklahoma I always used QuikTrip (a top-tier rated fuel), and while traveling I always use quality name brands (Shell, Exxon, Sunoco). Now that I live in Maryland I've been using Chevron, and so far I've had no problems.

So what actually is the difference between the fuel the rest of the US uses and that sold in California?
 
All fuel in Ca is oxygenated with something, likely ethanol now, when your car's OM was printed might have been MTBE.
Fuel around most major metro areas in the rest of the country are likely oxygenated as well now, Not sure of any other differences.
 
There are some differences. I'm not sure how well I understand the differences though. One of the biggest differences is that California enforces the federal standards for fuel better than other states. This is especially true of RVP or Reid Vapor Pressure, a measure of how well the fuel resists vaporization at higher temperatures or altitudes.

To meet the California standards, it is next to impossible to meet 93 octane, so premium fuel in California is 91 octane, not 93. Higher octane than 91 is rare, very expensive, and mostly limited to use in rarely driven high performance cars.

In hot weather, customers returning from Las Vegas, with Nevada fuel, would come into the shop with a complaint of a check engine light that came on climbing the grade out of Vegas coming into California. Checking the code revealed a lean code. Other than that, the car would run fine. The same car, still running on California gas is similar weather would not set the light and lean code. Nevada cars didn't seem to have the problem.

The difference in fuel is enough that when a supplier runs low, he cannot bring fuel from a neighboring state into California. California is an island as far as that is concerned. California uses fuel specifically blended for California. California residents pay about $.20 to $.30 a gallon more for the privilege. Aren't we lucky?
 
Quote:


All fuel in Ca is oxygenated with something, likely ethanol now, when your car's OM was printed might have been MTBE.
Fuel around most major metro areas in the rest of the country are likely oxygenated as well now, Not sure of any other differences.





Our gas is oxygenated only during the winter months. Not all through the calender year.


Durango
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