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Don't know if was actual bad gas or just some freak occurrence (twice) happening to my Fit. The evidence is anecdotal but I thought I'd post it anyway and see if anyone else has had an issue with dirty gas.
About 6 months ago I stop at a Shell station to fill up. It's the first time I've used Shell since I bought the Fit. Anyway, I fill up and after about 1/2 hour of driving, I notice the engine is starting to sputter off and on while driving at highway speed. So I pulled over and see that I now have a very rough idle. Thinking it's just bad gas, I keep driving. It persists until I ran the tank down to nearly empty and refill with Chevron gas. After I fill up with a new tank, the rough idle/sputtering stops and I'm back to a smooth running Fit again.
Last week I'm running low on gas and I pull into a Shell station. I remember the "bad" tank of gas I got the last time I was at a Shell station but since this was a different station and I'm really low on gas, I figured it'll be ok. So I fill up with 87 octane again and lo and behold, 10 minutes down the road, the same issues crop up - random sputtering and a rough idle. And as before, the symptoms disappeared once I ran the tank out and filled up with new gas - Mobil this time.
It may not have been dirty gas both times but it sure seems like it. I would think Shell's gas is just as good as any other. Has anybody else had suspected gas quality issues and with Shell 87 in particular??
Your suspicion that it could be "dirty gas" would be better supported if it didn't happen after filling up at two separate and different Shell Stations. With nearly 1/2 a year time-frame between the two fill ups.
I very rarely fill up at a Shell Station, maybe once or twice in YEARS. I have no memory of having a problem after using Shell gas. But, I can't speak to the possible quality or problems because my usage of Shell gas is so very limited.
I do think Shell is a "Top Tier" gasoline retailer. People debate the value of that designation. But that put's Shell in the retailing company of all the other top gasoline sellers.
It's frustrating, and a strange happening but I have to almost conclude...simply a random coincidence.
Pure curiosity would have me wanting to find a 3rd Shell Station and try again.
Otherwise? Gas is gas. I would find it hard to believe two Shell Stations would both have "dirty gas" 6 months apart.
There's always the possibilities that some Shell station owners in that area may have been buying under the table unbranded gas from time to time at a cheap price to make a quick buck, without Shell's knowledge. I don't know if that's possible or even likely but it would explain getting bad gas at more than one station over a period of time.
Because of Winn Dixie reward points, I've used Shell almost exclusively for over two years from several different stations. I can report no difference from the times I use gas from any other Top Tier company;the car works fine on all of them. Could it be unique to where you are?
long time ago i got a bad tank at shell on another car which caused my car to go into limp mode. but the station mustve gotten a lot of complaints because they shut down to replace the underground tank a month or so later.
perhaps shell station owners are skimping on maintenance until major complaints..
Shell and Texaco had a joint venture marketing and selling fuel in some parts of the US. Then Texaco became part of Chevron, and Shell purchased most of the Texaco stations that had been part of the joint venture. But they did not merge, and they are not the same thing; although some Texaco-branded stations are controlled by Shell.
Shell and Texaco had a joint venture marketing and selling fuel in some parts of the US. Then Texaco became part of Chevron, and Shell purchased most of the Texaco stations that had been part of the joint venture. But they did not merge, and they are not the same thing; although some Texaco-branded stations are controlled by Shell.
That makes sense, because at least in my area, the local Texaco station advertises having "Techron" as an additive. Techron is a Chevron product.
"Gasoline is sold at over one hundred thousand retail outlets across the nation, and many are unbranded dealers that may sell gasoline produced by different companies. Branded stations may not necessarily sell gasoline produced by its own refineries. Gasoline from different refineries is often combined for shipment through pipelines, and different companies that own service stations in the same area may purchase gasoline at the same bulk storage and distribution terminal.
The only difference between the gasoline at one company’s fueling stations and the gasoline sold by another company is the small amount of additives that some companies put in the gasoline before it gets to their fueling stations."
Shell and Texaco had a joint venture marketing and selling fuel in some parts of the US. Then Texaco became part of Chevron, and Shell purchased most of the Texaco stations that had been part of the joint venture. But they did not merge, and they are not the same thing; although some Texaco-branded stations are controlled by Shell.
At the local level we only have 3 gasoline tank farms and all the stations in town are serviced by them. ARCO/Tesoro, Chevron/Texaco,Shell and Standard Oil..
04-01-2017 | 11:29 AM
