Not sure if this is the right area of the forum, but here goes:

Owners manual of my 1999 F150 with 5.4L V8 advises I use regular unleaded gasoline.

It implies in the manual that the higher gas or 'premium' gas at higher octane is not advised or nessesary.

Which should I be filling up with? Will it make a difference anyway?

Thanks!
Scott

 

boy this is a can of worms! probably why there are no replies!

stick with regular only (good quality of course) anything higher can cause long term issues like carbon build up and/or hide a more serious problem.

you will only need a higher octane if you get a chip


this is just my .02

do whatever you want, just enjoy the truck and be safe.

 

Ford says 87.

 

Good old regular 87 octane is all that is necessary. Higher octane fuel can sometimes cause carbon build up issues. If you are using higher octane gas to hide a pinging problem, you are really only using a bandaid to cover the underlying problem up.

Car and Driver did a test a little while back on several vehicles to see if there was a difference is using different octane fuels. In general, if a vehicle called for regular, there was little to no benefit to running higher octane. If the vehicle called for higher octane fuel, there was a definite increase in power when using the correct octane fuel.

If you chip your truck to take advantage of the higher octane fuel, then a higher octane fuel makes sense.

 

As always, thanks guys.

In truth I'm a bit relieved. I'll be saving myself about 20+ cents per gallon.

 

I do not know about anyone else but when my wife puts lower octane in my truck I can feel a difference. I really notice this on my ninja motorcycle. As for carbon build up got me. as for seat of the pants I can tell a difference. IMHO

Disclaimer:
I do not have any DYNO sheets or computer programs to back up this claim


ps. no chip yet

 

F-150's only have a 9.0:1 compression ratio, so they call for low octane gas. Before I got the chip, I stepped up to 89 octane just to see if I noticed any difference. The truck actually ran worse. It was sluggish and seemed to get worse mileage. This is just my experience, though; it's still not worth the extra $0.10-$0.20 more per gallon.

-Flea

 

Using a higher octane-rating, does that mean your engine has more power/is stronger?

I can only get 95 or higher.
That means i have a carbon built up issue.
How many miles does it take, do you think, you start noticing this?

I drive short distances and tow/haul a lot.

 

I'm not sure, but I think octane is rated differently in Europe than here. I could be wrong...

 

Yeah, I know.
93 US equals 95 Europe.

 

F150Europe,

You'll just have to call Mike Troyer and get yourself a chip..

 

I have thought about that.
But would I benefit from it with all the heavy duty towing/hauling I do.
Also too many $$$$$$$$$$$ before the chip is here.

If it's the solution to the rough idle I have, I will buy one immediately.

 

Maybe your rough idle is related to using too high an octane fuel............Hmmmmm......as far as benefits......if more horsepower and better shifting are beneficial to heavy duty towing...it just may be a help.. here is Mikes' contact info that I stole out of his sig file in another post ...or maybe you should post a question over in the computer chips section.....just an idea...not pushing Mike or chips.....


Mike Troyer
Performance Products, Inc.
National Distributor of Superchips
(540) 862-9515
Email: MikePerformance@cs.com

 

I used both 87 and 93 before I got my chip. I got better mileage with the premium fuel but it really came out about the same as regular if you take the increased price in account. I remember in the past someone had written that the computers in the truck could detect the higher octane fuel (I don't know how) and would adjust the engine to some degree to take advantage of the higher octane. I never knew if this was true or not but I do know the premium fuel did give better mpg for my truck.