That can be mitigated by the periodic use of a good fuel system cleaner like Techron, and any "top tier" gasoline brand should have enough detergents in any grade to not require additives unless you're doing a remedial clean up.
NB: I know that "top tier" is probably more marketing BS and I have no issues using e.g. Sunoco fuel in my car even though it is not "top tier" but I didn't want to start another discussion of what is a "good brand" or not with the inevitable sidebar "it all comes from the same refinery anyway." Long story short, I feel confident buying gasoline from any station that is a major national brand.
I didn't initially get that from his question though, so I missed the subtleties involved in the question.
His original question was (cleaned up): Which is the most economical: (a) to use an additive for gasoline for small engines (b) to use standard gasoline with alcohol added (c) or to use premium fuels with no alcohol added
Out here, as elsewhere, there is no option for no alcohol, so the distinction between higher and lower AKI indexes is meaningless (from that perspective).
People are stupid. Shell marketing knows that. So they sow FUD with the "detergent" question. Shell marketing is *not* stupid!
I once saw a statistic that only 5% of the cars out there have a compression ratio such that they need the higher octane (aka "premium") gasoline to prevent knocking (piezo-electric knock sensors aside).
So, as you said, if 95% of the cars out there were getting insufficient detergents, you'd think we'd know this by now.
PS: Yes, I do know that when fuel injection first became popular, the government had to mandate a certain detergent level for all gasolines; but that was decades ago.
I certainly do believe that, was just pointing out that Techron is pretty much the most universally well regarded of fuel system cleaners and is in fact effective.
I also agree that it is likely not necessary unless there's a known issue with fuel injectors. I do use it in my vehicles as one is a BMW with the N54 engine and already had one of its second set of fuel injectors replaced recently, and the other, well, just because I'm a little on the anal retentive side. A treatment before every oil change should be more than sufficient for any but the most anal retentive.
Yup, there was a big discussion about whether you needed the ridiculously priced "Ring Free" but a quick look at the MSDS showed it was basically Techron or any number of other magic potions
The reason "premium" was mentioned is that in MANY cases, the only ethanol free fuel you can buy IS premium. In Canada no Shell premium fuel has ethanol added. They sell a small enough percentage of premium that they can meet the ethanol content regulations completely by adding 10% or less to the low octane fuel, which when mixed with premium for the mid-grade yields a 5% ethanol blend.
As for lawn equipment, air cooled engines have a tendancy to run HOT - which makes even low compression engines succeptible to detonation - so running premium in lawn equipment has long been recommended.
When grass dust half plugs the cooling fins, lawn mowers run even hotter than normal.
Polyether amines are not present in most gasolines. They are a component of the additive package in Chevron gasolines, and they are a very effective fuel system and combustion chamber cleaner. Chevron Techron was the first product marketed with concentrated PEA - many companies now have their own version.
And just because Techron is a brand name (not a trademark) does not make my recommendation any less legitimate - all "techron" contains some level of PEA -
Nowhere did I intimate Techron was a chemical. It is a brand name fuel conditioner that actually works. If I said I use PEA nobody would have a clue what it is or where to get it.
Googling, I find that Chevron gasoline has 400 ppm polyetheramine.
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Googling some more, we find that all top-tier gasolines meet a certain cleanliness standard; this standard does not require PEA - the manufacturers can meet the standard with *any* detergent package that works (and apparently many work as it's just soap for gas):
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Googling for whether all gasolines sold in the US have polyetheramine detergents, and knowing that all those gasolines have detergents, we find this slide set from Chevron:
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Which intimates succinimides, and not polyetheramines, nor Polyisobutylene amines, are the most common detergents used in gasoline to meet the federal detergent standards.
In the same slide set, they say there is a demand for differentiation via additives, which means that if detergent 1 and detergent 2 work, if you can promote detergent 1 (even though it may be no better than detergent 2), then you've accomplished that goal of differentiation (hence, as we all know from Eco 101, you can charge more to those who fall for the trick).
So, I'd say you are correct that probably not all gasolines have PEA, but, all gasolines have detergents, and one detergent may be as good as another - but even if they're the same, Chevron marketing will try to differentiate their soap from the other guys' soap - so that they can charge more to the sap who falls for the switcheroo.
BTW, the slide set intimates that California emission standards force manufacturers to improve their fuel - and - well - I do live in California - so - it may be that all gasoline sold in CA is "top tier" with respect to detergents; but I don't know that for a fact.
I stand corrected by clare in fact, but not in substance.
All gasolines have detergents; and, many detergents work just as well as others - but most gasolines apparently use succinimides for detergents, while some use polyetheramines (and others use polyisobutylene amines).
So, I thank clare for bringing this error to my attention, and, I'll revise that statement above to say that all gasolines meet the Federal standard for detergents, and all gasolines sold in California meet California standards for detergents, but they use different detergents to meet those standards.
I agree that anything that makes an engine run with higher compression, higher heat, or advanced timing (further than spec), will increase the need for a fuel that resists detonation better.
Of course, the real solution is to clean the piston heads of carbon deposits; ensure the cooling fins aren't blocked; and make sure the timing is to spec - but - if these things are off - I do agree that an engine can knock.
And knocking, if it gets bad, can ruin engine journals, among other things.
The important thing is, do they work? Seems as though they do from my experience. I cannot think of a fuel related problems in the past 30+ years.
My car dealer though, tries to sell injector cleaning every year at $159. If I followed his advice, I'd have pissed away at least $4500 over the years and only achieved in making the dealer more profitable. That is why I don't use the dealer for service.
I agree with you, based on my personal experience.
All gasolines sold in my state have the three ingredients that are sold by the Techron marketing team as an additive package (i.e., detergent, alcohol, & aromatics).
To me, adding *more* of the same, is not necessarily a good thing.
It's clear, to me, that "Techron" (which indicates some level of PEA detergents) is merely a marketing "differentiation" created solely to garner more money from the consumer.
All gasolines have detergents. Detergents are cheap. PEA is cheap. Techron is not.
The difference between PEA and other detergents that work as a standard fuel detergent, is PEA is the only one that is effective at REMOVING deposits when used as an additive. The other detergents used in tier 1 gasolines help PREVENT deposits. PEA, as used in Techron and a number of other additives is one of the only fuel detergents found to be very effective at REMOVING deposits - not only in the fuel system, but both before the intake valve and inside the combustion chamber.
MMO and Sea Foam and several other lesser products are fairly good at cleaning the fuel system, and have a reasonable effect on existing deposits - helping loosen them up and get them out - but nothing close to the PEA additives.
Some additives that are added to the fuel in distribution work to some extent to remove deposits as well, but are unsuitable as customer installed additives.
Around here quite a few dealers have been recommending premium - and when I worked for an Ariens dealer back in the late sixties we recommended premium on the mowers - which also required popping the heads off to remove lead deposits every year or so. Prevented taking pistons out when (not if) the fins got plugged on a hot day.
Unleaded fuel solved the deposit problem, by and large. Some of the newer engines are less prone to plugging the fins and shrouds due to better housing design - but then just when they more or less solve that problem, they up the Compression Ratio with the OHV engines, and the fixed jet smog carbs run the engine on the lean side - particularly with ethanol fuel - so the octane requirements go up again - making premium fuel , particularly if it is ethanol free like Canadian Shell Ultra - a sensible option.
He may make the claim but it makes no sense. AFAIK one effect of adding alcohol to gas is to raise it's octane value. So it seems far more likely to me that if there was going to be a gas without alcohol in it, it would be the regular, not the premium.
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