Actually yesterday . . . WOW, what a mess!

I have owned Volvo's for most of my adult life, and am a firm believer in Preventive Maintenance. I generally clean the throttle body every 15-20k, and the flame trap about twice as often. So, I know what the insides of these things are supposed to look like.

I almost did not clean the TB, because I had just cleaned it a few months back, but I figured what the heck, I would spend some quality time with my car, so I pulled the TB. Man was it DIRTY! I was really surprized at how quickly the crud had gathered this time; much worse than usual.

Then I got into the flame trap and associated lines. Again, WHAT A MESS! Honestly, for those of you who remember galvanized house plumbing, that's about what the lines looked like inside. I am talking old rusty looking (reddish brown in color) crud build-up which had almost blocked even the main line going to the breather box. The trap itself was DOA. Most times, I can clean the trap and reuse it, but certainly not this time -- thankfully I had a spare on hand.

So the question is -- what's the deal? Has anyone else had a similar experience recently? The only thing I can think of is that I have changed the brand gasoline I use basically because the place I generally get gas sold to Shell, so I have gone from Conoco to Shell (use middle grade from each). I remember years back, Shell sucked and my Volvo's at the time did not like it, but Shell is now a top tier gas, so I would not think that would be an issue. Anyway, I am pretty much convinced except for the rot gut products (i.e. Racetrack, etc.), most gasolines these days are essentially the same.

Sorry for the rambling post -- I am just trying to figure what the heck is up with the nasty insides of my car . . .