So I Ran Out of Gas Today on the 5 North - Wrong Fuel Grade

[teacozy]

So, I ran out of gas today on the 5 NB near Aliso. After the initial break-in period, my truck has been averaging 16-17 mpg on 91 octane. This is mixed use, highway and city driving.

Whenever, I filled up the tank, I would reset the trip odometer and measure how long I can go until the low fuel light comes on and the needle is exactly on the "E" empty marker, not past it. When I fill up at this point it usually fills up to 23 gallons and total miles driven is right around 360 miles. Hence, theoretically, I would still have 3 gallons left in the tank and could drive approx. another 48 miles before the truck goes bone dry.

Even though Toyota states that 87 octane is fine and that 91 is not required, I notice that I get better gas mileage with 91. The last time I filled up, it was out of necessity and not choice, was an Arco in Huntington Beach.

Today the vehicle trip odometer was at 350 miles and I was headed for the Costco Gas off of Alton in Irvine, about another 4 miles from El Toro. Just before I pass the offramp for Aliso, the engine stalls and I lose power.

What's interesting, is that the engine is still running and I can see the tach reading about 1500 rpms. So the vehicle is maintaining power steering and brakes, however when I press on the throttle, no go. I coast through the intersection and end up on the side of the road off of Aliso and then the vehicle shuts down completely. Across the street is another Damn Arco!

I manage to get 3 day laborers who were chillin' out at the bus stop to push the Tundra over to the Arco. Let me tell you our truck is not light. They were really struggling to push the Tundra and these were big muscular guys. I paid them each $5 and thanked them for their help and put in $20 worth of Arco gas, just enough to get me to the Costco to fill up the rest.

The only time my total miles per tank dropped below 350 miles was during break in period and the few time after that when I put in regular 87. After that I have been using exclusively 91 octane Costco or the local Shell near my home. Thus, I have a suspicion that the Arco in Huntington Beach, either by mistake or on purpose put 87 octane in their 91 octane storage tank. This truck is pretty sensitive to octane rating and unfortunately I found out the hard way that the local gas station mixed fuel grades.

Yes, I know, it's bad to run the vehicle so low without at least a quarter tank of gas, etc. I just thought I'd share my experience with other Tundra owners so they know what to expect when they run out of gas. I don't know if it is a safety measure built in, but for about a half mile the vehicle was able to coast and I had fully functional power brakes and power steering.

[Sirfoil]

The gas is the same when it arrives to the station, the only thing that changes the octane is the additive they put in after they fill the storage tank up.

Other than the "gallon" (not sure of the exact amount) of additive/detergent they add at the station it's the same gas coming from the same place delivered by the same truck weather is be Arco, Costco, or Chevron. It's all the same.

I learned this from talking to gas delivery trucker, he was at a mom and pop station at the time and his next delivery was to a shell station. He showed me the additive when I asked what octane he was carrying and said this is what changes the octane. Also by being behind a delivery truck that just finished filling up Safeway and watched him stop at Chevron.

So maybe they got the incorrect mixture at the Arco and you had too high of an octane and it was not burning or maybe Costco give you a lower octane and it burns better.

Remember the higher the octane the harder it is to ignite.

[Art64]

Originally Posted by teacozy

So, I ran out of gas today on the 5 NB near Aliso. After the initial break-in period, my truck has been averaging 16-17 mpg on 91 octane. This is mixed use, highway and city driving.

Whenever, I filled up the tank, I would reset the trip odometer and measure how long I can go until the low fuel light comes on and the needle is exactly on the "E" empty marker, not past it. When I fill up at this point it usually fills up to 23 gallons and total miles driven is right around 360 miles. Hence, theoretically, I would still have 3 gallons left in the tank and could drive approx. another 48 miles before the truck goes bone dry.

Even though Toyota states that 87 octane is fine and that 91 is not required, I notice that I get better gas mileage with 91. The last time I filled up, it was out of necessity and not choice, was an Arco in Huntington Beach.

Today the vehicle trip odometer was at 350 miles and I was headed for the Costco Gas off of Alton in Irvine, about another 4 miles from El Toro. Just before I pass the offramp for Aliso, the engine stalls and I lose power.

What's interesting, is that the engine is still running and I can see the tach reading about 1500 rpms. So the vehicle is maintaining power steering and brakes, however when I press on the throttle, no go. I coast through the intersection and end up on the side of the road off of Aliso and then the vehicle shuts down completely. Across the street is another Damn Arco!

I manage to get 3 day laborers who were chillin' out at the bus stop to push the Tundra over to the Arco. Let me tell you our truck is not light. They were really struggling to push the Tundra and these were big muscular guys. I paid them each $5 and thanked them for their help and put in $20 worth of Arco gas, just enough to get me to the Costco to fill up the rest.

The only time my total miles per tank dropped below 350 miles was during break in period and the few time after that when I put in regular 87. After that I have been using exclusively 91 octane Costco or the local Shell near my home. Thus, I have a suspicion that the Arco in Huntington Beach, either by mistake or on purpose put 87 octane in their 91 octane storage tank. This truck is pretty sensitive to octane rating and unfortunately I found out the hard way that the local gas station mixed fuel grades.

Yes, I know, it's bad to run the vehicle so low without at least a quarter tank of gas, etc. I just thought I'd share my experience with other Tundra owners so they know what to expect when they run out of gas. I don't know if it is a safety measure built in, but for about a half mile the vehicle was able to coast and I had fully functional power brakes and power steering.

Since the price of gas went a little bit down, I put 91 octane in mine just to see the effect. It seems like I'm getting more mileage on the truck particularly in city driving. More responsive engine too and less downshifting. I used Unocal 76 and Shell. I need to do this a bit more just to confirm it. I try to stay away from Cosco, Arco and other cheap brand gas. It makes a big diffeence here in So Cal. Our engines are high compression and respond well to octane changes. In other states, it may be a different story. But one thing I would never do is to run out of gas or risk running out of gas on the Tundra. It just looks bad on the truck and on the driver.

[jhann42]

I'm in the gas station business. Gas comes through the pipelines from the refiner to a tank farm. Different brands use the same pipe line. Tank farms will have different tanks for different brands. However, each of these brands will sell product to other brands or non-branded stations. The main difference between the gas you get from one gas station to another is the additive package which is added at the tank farm when the gas is loaded into the delivery truck. Drivers don't deal with the additives. These additives are what makes the difference between "top-tier" and "discount" gas. The only proprietary gas that I know of is BP's (Amoco) premium. A delivery truck should not deliver product to more than one brand with the same load. Octane is not the product of additives but refining. It comes through the pipe line with the proper octane.

[LeeinAZ]

I learned this from talking to gas delivery trucker, he was at a mom and pop station at the time and his next delivery was to a shell station. He showed me the additive when I asked what octane he was carrying and said this is what changes the octane. Also by being behind a delivery truck that just finished filling up Safeway and watched him stop at Chevron.

As a former driver I can assure you that statement is BS. Where do these people come from??

[Sirfoil]

That might be how it works where you live but in OR and AZ what I have seen is diffrent than what you said.

1. drivers not adding the additive (I saw it)
2. Delivery truck only delivering to one brand (saw and was told)

Originally Posted by jhann42

I'm in the gas station business. Gas comes through the pipelines from the refiner to a tank farm. Different brands use the same pipe line. Tank farms will have different tanks for different brands. However, each of these brands will sell product to other brands or non-branded stations. The main difference between the gas you get from one gas station to another is the additive package which is added at the tank farm when the gas is loaded into the delivery truck. Drivers don't deal with the additives. These additives are what makes the difference between "top-tier" and "discount" gas. The only proprietary gas that I know of is BP's (Amoco) premium. A delivery truck should not deliver product to more than one brand with the same load. Octane is not the product of additives but refining. It comes through the pipe line with the proper octane.

[mxsjw]

Originally Posted by Sirfoil

Remember the higher the octane the harder it is to ignite.

This statement is incorrect.

Octane rating - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Higher octane has less tendancy to self detonate from compression.

[LeeinAZ]

That guy is just full of accurate, up to date information. Boy, do I fell dumb cause I spent 32 years in the business and didn't know that.

[L R H]

Originally Posted by Sirfoil

That might be how it works where you live but in OR and AZ what I have seen is diffrent than what you said.

1. drivers not adding the additive (I saw it)
2. Delivery truck only delivering to one brand (saw and was told)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
The only thing I have ever seen drivers add to the fuel is the red dye for off road untaxed diesel, and it is sometimes added at the rack prior to delivery. I have heard one person state that SOMETIMES, the Chevron Techtron additive is added at time of delivery due to the fuel truck getting the fuel at a different depot than normal.

[teacozy]

Well, the Tundra is alive and well with 91 octane from Costco. I think when I am done with this tankful, i will go back to Shell and use Shell exclusively for the month of July and see if there is any difference. I've always had a consistant product from Shell and Chevron. The only problem is that the nearest Chevron to me is about 4 miles away and the Shell is about 1/8 a mile away.

[iamnid]

yeah... i've always had consistent product from all gas stations... you see, I fill up my tank, and my vehicle runs on it.

[MilesToGo]

There are about a half dozen different gas stations near me, BP, Shell, and off brands. I go to the one that has the cheapest price. Thus far i've noticed absolutely no difference in the performance of my truck between brands. BTW, i run 87 octane all the time. Contrary to what some people believe, higher octane does not equal better mileage. Some vehicles require higher octane to prevent pinging (detonation). Octane has nothing to do with mileage. If you are getting better mileage with higher octane then you are either driving the vehicle differently or there is some other variable that is off.

[Stripped Honda]

burning a 91 in a engine that requires 87 isnt better for the engine because it can cause carbon build up so i will keep pouring 87 in my truck i have never had fuel injection problems or carbon build up problems

[los211]

I have always used the cheapest lowest grade fuel I can find and have never had any issues with engine performance. I also have run higher octane fuels with no noticable gain in performance or mileage. My wifes cousin swears his car gained 5-10 horsepower buy going with 91 octane in a pontiac grand am with a 4 cylinder. I am a mechanic and refuse to even acknowlegde that type of statement. Also in California fuel only comes from a few refineries instate and does not import fuel from other states. We have to pay more for the special California only gas. That being said each tank farm that supplies ALL of the states gas stations adds the required additives to the fuel just before they load the tanker or during the loading process. So in California anyway the gas comes from the same place and the only difference is the additive for a particular "brand" and the different octane ratings. Plain and simple that is just my .02 cents.

[LeeinAZ]

That being said each tank farm that supplies ALL of the states gas stations adds the required additives to the fuel just before they load the tanker or during the loading process. So in California anyway the gas comes from the same place and the only difference is the additive for a particular "brand" and the different octane ratings.

Whatever...............