Need advice on an effective octane booster.

[R18Civic]

Looking for input. I have year old gas in my vehicle and driving it resulted in horrible idle vibration that smoothed out in the mid rpm range but threw codes at high rpm. I only have a 1/4 tank of 93 (1 yr old) and need a good octane booster to get me a about 15 miles yo my preferred gas station to dilute it with fresh gas. Walmart stopped carrying NOS for some reason which I actually watched via scanner drop my KR from 5-7 down 1ish.

Aside from chancing it with hardware store chemicals is there any other proven octane booster that will raise the gas by atleast 2-3 full points?

 

[Garak]

Remember that a lot of products that advertise "points" are advertising decimal points of an octane rating, which isn't exactly terribly feasible. If I were in your position and really concerned about it, I'd drive gently to the station, or bring the gas to the car rather than the other way around.

 

[Gasbuggy]

Gas Can???

 

[spk2000]

Try E-85 gas. Much higher octane you can blend a small amount and very cheaply raise octane. My Grand Marquis really likes premium fuel runs much smoother and more power you can feel especially climbing hills or under hard acceleration. Otherwise regular fuel cause slight octane ping / knock.

 

[R18Civic]

Looks like I'm gonna need to vacate the lawn mower gas can. No e85 for 30+ miles

 

[Snagglefoot]

Walmart.com still sells NOS Octane booster as well as STP Octane booster as well as other brands.

I'm wondering however, if just some fresh gas will solve your problem.

 

[kschachn]

The octane rating didn't degrade in a year and even if it did it wouldn't cause idle vibration. Instead of looking for a cure in a bottle, do what others have suggested and get 5 gallons of fresh gas and put that in there to get you to the gas station.

What codes did you get?

 

[spasm3]

fresh gas. Octane chemicals are xylene or toluene, and you would need a gallon or so.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted by spasm3
fresh gas. Octane chemicals are xylene or toluene, and you would need a gallon or so.


Yup, and you can get it at the paint store. Toluene is ~122.

 

[CT8]

I doubt the problem is not enough octane.

 

[Zee09]

I'd put Star Tron in it instead.
I treated 5 year old gas with it before.

 

[eljefino]

Why can't you dilute what you have with 5 gallons from a can, though? Or drive slowly to a closer gas station you don't like as well?

 

[Audios]

Id blend a few gallons of 93 in, then drive easy until you fill it. Cheaper, easier than driving all over looking for it, and gets the car warm too.

 

[andyd]

OK, 4-5 gallons of yr old gas in VA. Cheap and easy is 2 cans of dry gas. The situation is perfect to create enough condensation to affect drive-abilty.

 

[dave1251]

I would just put in a couple of gallons of fresh gas drive around for a good 30 minutes and then refill with some fresh gas at the pump.

 

[R18Civic]

Pretty sure it's gas related. Didn't pull codes but under moderate to heavy acceleration I was getting a flashing CEL and my plugs which have 40k~ on them went from normal to tan on the prongs only, electrodes are normal.

I've witnessed a car that belongs to a friend go to [censored] due to sitting for a year. Left it to idle for about a half hour and it evened out.

I've already grabbed Techron concentrate to get rid of any varnish or deposits. I'll fill it up with 5 gallons of 93 and go from there.

 

[RDY4WAR]

Your problem is water. A year of sitting will leave a bit of condensation in the tank with a fuel that's hygroscopic. A percentage of the fuel trying to burn in the engine is actually water, causing your misfire issues. You could put 4 bottles of NOS in there and not make a difference. You need fresh gas to dilute out the water.

 

[Surestick]

Originally Posted by RDY4WAR
Your problem is water. A year of sitting will leave a bit of condensation in the tank with a fuel that's hygroscopic. A percentage of the fuel trying to burn in the engine is actually water, causing your misfire issues. You could put 4 bottles of NOS in there and not make a difference. You need fresh gas to dilute out the water.


+1 It's not an octane issue, you have old gas in there. Filling up with fresh gas, especially if it's E10 should help as the ethanol will likely absorb any water that has condensed.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted by Hemispheres
Pretty sure it's gas related. Didn't pull codes but under moderate to heavy acceleration I was getting a flashing CEL and my plugs which have 40k~ on them went from normal to tan on the prongs only, electrodes are normal. .

Odd, I've never seen a flashing CEL, either it is on or it is off.

 

[Rmay635703]

Originally Posted by kschachn
Originally Posted by Hemispheres
Pretty sure it's gas related. Didn't pull codes but under moderate to heavy acceleration I was getting a flashing CEL and my plugs which have 40k~ on them went from normal to tan on the prongs only, electrodes are normal. .

Odd, I've never seen a flashing CEL, either it is on or it is off.


Flashing cel means engine damage is occurring