Old Petrol - Octane Reduction

[scathing]

What is a trickle charger? is it like a charger that knows when the batt is full and dosent overcharge?

From Wiki:

Trickle charging, also called float charging, means charging a battery at a similar rate as it is self-discharging, thus maintaining a full capacity battery.

So basically, yeah.

Autospeed even has an article on how to make a trickle charger out of spare parts you might have lying around the house.

I only drive my car on the weekends, but due to all the stupid alarms and gizmos in the car it drains my battery out in about 3-4 days. This means if I don't fill my car up on a Tuesday, it won't start on Saturday after I parked it up on Sunday night. I can't use a trickle charger as I live in an apartment and I don't have mains power near where I park my car. When I do drive my car, I'll drive it for around half an hour to ensure the battery is fully charged by the time I stop.

I picked up a Jumpstarter from Supercheap, that plugs into mains power to

Edited September 9, 2008 by scathing

[R31Nismoid]

^ really? Mine had been sitting for just over a month, with roughly a quarter tank of fuel. When it came off the road, it was running sweet, with no issues from idle to redline at any throttle. I got it back on the road the other day and went for a drive, and it pinged at 3500rpm in third, at only about 5psi of boost. Nothing has been changed except for the fuel is a month and a half old.

If your car has been sitting for any length of time with the same fuel, I wouldn't be using boost until you can put fresh stuff in. Sure it *might* not be a problem, but better than finding out the hard way with a hole in the block after a big hit of detonation.

How long do you think the fuel sits in the storage tanks for @ the refinery?

If Shell can claim their fuel to not drop octane if stored correctly for 3-6 months, then one month wont be a problem at all.

A big company like that simply couldn't claim something that's EASILY tested and checked if it wasnt true

Its on their website somewhere

[Duncan]

lol I've done plenty of testing of fuel sitting around, generally 6 months per rebuild. never had a problem with it.

[Johnny]

Thanks for that Alan, interesting read.

after last night talking in this thread i thought id go for a drive to waste some old fuel and top up with some new juice. I took my jump starter with me but thought by the time ive done a few laps of plenty road that my battery would have recieved enough charge to simply restart my car......oh i was wrong.

After all the bloody planning of not having to be embarrased ..... there i was in the middle of the pumps with people all around and me bending over tryna plug the jumpstarter.

-Johnny

[MP_R33]

haha unlucky.

Its just an interesting question everyone i seem to ask has a different answer to it.

I meen from what i have heard in some cases it's ok to boost with a month old fuel and have no dramas.

In other cases people are like it isnt good to and it would be better to drain the tank or top it up etc..

Why cant there be one answer goddamit hahaha

[Johnny]

haha unlucky.

Its just an interesting question everyone i seem to ask has a different answer to it.

I meen from what i have heard in some cases it's ok to boost with a month old fuel and have no dramas.

In other cases people are like it isnt good to and it would be better to drain the tank or top it up etc..

Why cant there be one answer goddamit hahaha

I dont think there really is only one right answer. I mean YES carbon based fuels will breakdown over time and the reason why fuels have higher octane ratings is due to how complex their structures are. Temperature, time etc are all catalysts which breaks the bonds between the hydrocarbons

Like haemorrhoid said, how long does the fuel sit at the refinary before you pump it and what environment has it been exposed to.

by the way ross, thats a nicely maintained car u have there! is it midnight purple?

Im a paranoid person so im gonna be cautious and find a way to prevent possible detonation by either adding an octane booster or some race fuel.

If my tank has old petrol i will watch my knock sensor on the hand controller and get to a fuel station asap to top up the tank.

[MP_R33]

thanks for the kind words johnny, i do my best . Your one looks immaculate aswell oh and yer its midnight purple.

Like you i guess i get quite paranoid as i dont drive the car much, in all honesty a tank usually takes me 4 weeks or so to go through so, i worried about boosting it as it might not be healthy and the last thing i want to do is damage my car..

So im just looking for whats reccomended i guess.

Edited September 9, 2008 by MP_R33

[MP_R33]

done some research and i think octane booster is probably the best way to go. Is there any specific ones or are they all the same thing?

[Iron Chef]

How long do you think the fuel sits in the storage tanks for @ the refinery?

If Shell can claim their fuel to not drop octane if stored correctly for 3-6 months, then one month wont be a problem at all.

A big company like that simply couldn't claim something that's EASILY tested and checked if it wasnt true

Its on their website somewhere

A claim isn't a guarantee

A mate had his engine crap itself on stale fuel, and luckily for him, he was a studying a Science degree at uni, specialising in fuels. He took a sample from the car and tested what was supposed to be 95 (back in the days when it was the only premium around...) in the lab - it had an octane rating somewhere in the low 80s...

He took his data to the fuel company, who, despite protesting that they don't have to legally guarantee the octane rating of any fuel that comes out any pump, still paid for his engine rebuild rather than risk taking it to court.

[R31Nismoid]

^ are your tests going to be as flawed as all the rest so far? And that's a serious question because no use testing if there isn't even anything decent to go off.

[MP_R33]

ease up boys

[Johnny]

Hey Ross,

I managed to buy the octane booster today; its a 'Wynns race formula octane booster' which cost about 20dollars and treats 40-60 litres.

I ran my car today and reached a peak of around 15-21 knocks to which i persisted to add the product to around 20litres of fuel (V-power)

After the addition my knocks only reached 13-15 constantly over many 2nd and 3rd gear full boost loads.

To me its not a real indication that the product is any good but i still have about half a bottle left and i will wait for a hotter day; around 27-30ish degrees to re-do the test.

Now road noise is a big factor in the knocking as the tuner, last wednesday who i instructed to get as low as possible said that he couldnt get them any lower even with retarding the ignition and perfect AFR so he is 100% certain that its all ambient noises.

Hope you enjoy the read.

[CARSICK]

^^^ Nice to see that u r putting all those chemistry qualifications of your to good wk

Seriously, have ya put the Ph.D. on hold?

Careful about da Toluene. it'll fry ya brain - carcinogenic 2.

ya know about dat eh

[Johnny]

^^^ Nice to see that u r putting all those chemistry qualifications of your to good wk

Seriously, have ya put the Ph.D. on hold?

Careful about da Toluene. it'll fry ya brain - carcinogenic 2.

ya know about dat eh

??? Your not Terry's son are you??? If so its nice to meet you.

I didnt study much organic chemistry, only medical science. Ph.D.....gimme a couple of years.

I will be careful with the toluene, Ive been exposed to some agents similar and have lost some of my eyesight; thats not a joke.

[GTR-N1]

Good Morning! Rise and shine!

Half a cup of toluene on your sultana bran - and you'll have to operate SAU Forums with wireless on the toot!

Nah, my dear son is God_speed. Great sense of humour tho'. Better than mine! Eccentric old bastard I am!

[Johnny]

Good Morning! Rise and shine!

Half a cup of toluene on your sultana bran - and you'll have to operate SAU Forums with wireless on the toot!

Nah, my dear son is God_speed. Great sense of humour tho'. Better than mine! Eccentric old bastard I am!

Goodmorning Tez, long time since i touched base with ya!

Ive got some great new pics of my car, check em out mate!

New pics

By the way, what do you think of the octane boosters, the toluene etc?

[Iron Chef]

^ are your tests going to be as flawed as all the rest so far? And that's a serious question because no use testing if there isn't even anything decent to go off.

Was that directed at me? Because I have no idea what you're talking about...

[MP_R33]

The GT-R looks immaculate Johnny hahaha!

I'm also interested in what Terry has to say.

At this point in time if you dont drive your car much and are worried about old fuel the ways i have heard to treat this is:

Octane Boosters (mixed opinions)

Race fuel (It's not cheap hahaha)

After undertaking some research i dont think there is a definite answer as people have gone on to say they have left fuel in there car for 6 months and they haven't had a single problem others dont think its a good idea to leave it untouched for 1 month lead alone 6 months.

I guess this kind of topic is sort of like the "should i warm my car up" topic, as it has alot of mixed opinions on it which is very confusing haha.

But like i said through a bit of research i myself dont believe its healthy to run 1 month old fuel in a car and boost around everywhere. I'm not saying it will cause damage because it might not. I just would rather not as i am very anal about my car lol.

So yer i mean i have heard about race fuel and octane boosters etc. Has any one got any actual evidence or is it just an educated guess?

BTW Johnny I'm looking forward to seeing your results for the octane boosters

[MP_R33]

Was that directed at me? Because I have no idea what you're talking about...

Oh yer that wasn't directed at you hahah

[Iron Chef]

lol I thought I might've snuck a post in between the one you were replying to...