I only have half a tank, is it okay to add a Octane Booster? My car sounds like it's misfiring slightly at idle and i was wondering if i accidently filled up with low octane gas. Thanks -Clayton T.

 

Octane booster doesn't do as much as people commonly think.

They tell you it adds '1 point' but they dont' tell you 1 point is .1 octane by the pump number. So if you have 87, it would become 87.1. It would be a lot faster and cheaper to take a nice easy drive to the Sunoco and top off with 94.

Dave

 

Thanks Dgeesaman.

 

Accidentally putting in 87 isn't going to make your car mis-fire at idle. In fact, the fuel will ignite EASIER.

 

Pop goes the apex seal... (which is to say why would you want to fill it up with regular on purpose? Not that you did... but if it wouldn't cause a missfire at idle, it would cause other problems, would it not?)

If you can siphon out of an FD, I'd buy a siphon and drain the tank most of the way, then fill it up with premium (you'd have to have some gas to get to the fill station, I assume), if you're that worried.

But I assume the FD has some sort of anti-siphoning protection.

 

toluene is an active component of pump gas and is used to boost octane levels. ive used 2 gallons in with 18 gallons of gas and was pleased and surprised with the results. i believe that each gallon bumped the octane by a point. smoother idling, quicker response, more power. as for contraindications, nothing apparent for the few times ive used it. i found out about this from a friend who told me about an article on the internet about using toluene as an octane booster. check this link out for more info.
http://patriot.net/~jonroq/Tech/octane2.html

chuck

 

I've used Toluene, and it cost me ~$40-50 for a 5 gallon drum from a paint warehouse. I've read that it's 110 octane, so you'd just have to average it out with whichever gas & amt you put in. Keep in mind that it has no lubricative properties, so what I did was add MMO (which technically lowers octane).

I've seen a few threads where ppl have siphoned out gas when their g/f's filled up with 87. I don't remember reading the outcome, so i'm assuming it's possible if it were to happen. Even if you didn't, I'd think that staying off all boost would be fine (doesn't take long given the mpg of the FD).

 

There is a drain plug on the bottom of the gas tank. Use it. Also, octane booster is crap. If your FD is having problems at idle, you may want to replace your plugs and wires.