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Is it safe to add a small amount of straight ethanol to your car for an octane boost?
Wiki User
∙ 16y ago
Yes, a small amount of ethanol is the main ingredient in fuel line de-icers. The alcohol mixes with any water that might have condensed in the fuel system, and keeps the water from freezing. If the water happens to get picked up and pumped into the injectors or carb, the alcohol will burn and the engine won't have serious problems.
But...
you need to understand what octane means.
Octane doesn't necessarily mean that the engine will run stronger, it just slightly slows the rate of the explosion inside the cylinder. If the engine is pinging a little, higher octane can help; but octane won't necessarily BY ITSELF increase power. In fact, there is slightly less power (energy) per gallon in ethanol than there is in gasoline. A higher compression engine needs higher octane fuel simply because the combustion process is so much faster when the compression goes up.
Wiki User
∙ 16y ago
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Do turbo charger and super charger require higher octane fuel?
Yes, how high depends on the amount of boost and if the system has an intercooler or meth injection.
Can you use octane boost on a 1996 Geo Metro?
yes
Can you use octane boost in lawn mower?
No reason to use it. It does not increase power output. Mowers are designed to run on regular octane gas, and do not need higher octane numbers.
What can i do if my truck stalls after i put in octane boost in the tank?
put more in or get a new car
Can you put a moth ball in your gas tank?
Yes I was told it can boost you octane level.
How do you stop a Ford Focus from pinging?
Run a tank of high octane through it or add a bottle of octane boost, I did this 4 months ago and have been able to run 87 octane in it and the ping has not returned yet.
What can cause a 98 Altima's engine to sound like a diesel?
Low octane fuel. Run a tank of premium through it or add a bottle of octane boost and it will be fine for a while.
Why does your jeep Cherokee make a funny noise and knockin sound when pulling away?
the engine is knockinq due to low octane fuel. try a tank of higher octane or add some octane boost to what you now have and it should be good for a while.
Is spark knock or ping a result of a defective onboard computer?
Maybe but most times it is due to cheap gas with low octane. Try some octane boost or a tank of Premium.
What is the octane rating of petrol?
Octane rating is a measure of how resistant the fuel is to causing 'knocking' or pre-detonation in petrol(gasoline) engines. It is measured relative to a hydrocarbon which is rated at 100, and determined by testing in a test engine. There are two methods of testing though, which give results called RON or MON. In Europe RON is quoted, and regular petrol is about 92, though usually pumps give 95 RON fuel. In the US a mean of RON and MON is used and for the same fuel the figure is about 5 points lower, so 90 would be the same as 95 in Europe.
Does a Cadillac deville use regular?
If you are refering to regular gas, it's not recommended. Some people use it as well as myself due to the fact of gas prices. What I do is add a gas octane boost to compansate for the lower octane fuel.
What are the effects of octane rating?
Simple, If you engine requires 91 octane, and you put 87 in it, you will experience a degradation of engine performance, due to the lower octane having faster burn properties. If your engine requires 87 octane and you put high octane (90-91 octane) fuel into it, you will NOT see a performance boost, and may even see a slight decline in performance. What 99% of all people don't know is that High Octane fuel actually burns more slowly, than lower octane fuel. This property, allows higher compression prior to detonation, hence more performance at combustion.
