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Dear Josh,
Good p.m. and may this find you well. To offset using low-cost gasoline, you might want to clean the fuel system every 1,500 miles or so. You can use Techron (a Chevron product). Be sure to get pure Techron (black bottle) and not products that say "with Techron", which have diluted Techron. You need full-strength.
Fuel systems need to be cleaned because gasoline is a chemical cocktail. It is a mixed bag of products distilled from crude oil.
All gasolines share basic characteristics, i.e., all 87 Octane fuels will ignite similarly and provide pretty much the same amount of energy. Howdver, some gasolines are richer than others in compounds that "plate" fuel system surfaces (e.g., fuel injector nozzles) with "varnishes" or "waxes".
It is because these compounds are present, that all gasolines have "detergents" added. These are not "detergents" in the laundry sense. These "detergents" keep "waxes" and "varnishes" from building-up on fuel system surfaces. Because crude oils vary a lot, the amount of detergent added may not be sufficient to prevent "wax" or "varnish" build-up. On a fuel injector, these deposits degrade the spray pattern and, in extreme cases, actually can clog an injector.
Higher grades of gasoline - e.g., premium - typically have more detergents in them.
Techron is a concentrated gasoline "detergent". A 12-ounce bottle can be bought at Wal-Mart and auto supply stores. It will treat up to 12 gallons of fuel. It should cost about $5.99. It should be added to the tank before you fill it.
It will remove build-ups that degrade performance. You might want to do two treatments back-to-back, rather than waiting to record 1,500 miles between each one.
As you know, fuel system components are pricey. A $6 bottle of Techron is low-cost preventive maintenance.
Yours,
spook
p.s. I used Techron in an '85GL (240) with 198K. The fuel system components - pumps, injectors, cold start regulator, etc. - are all original. Only the fuel filter has been changed (several times).
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