The savings motorists are experiencing by filling their tanks with fishing boat fuel may well eventually backfire, as mechanics are warning that prolonged use of regular fuel will cause engines to malfunction.
The sale of regular gasoline, which is used by fishermen, has been increasing since Government raised the price of super at the pumps from $3.97 per litre to $4.97 in the 2019 Budget.
Motorists have been forming long queues at fuel stations in San Fernando, Carapichaima and Chaguanas to fill their tanks with the low-grade fuel recently. Motorists with the standard 45-litre tanks are recording up to $107 in savings by switching from super gasoline to regular.
They said with the cost of living increasing, they had to find ways to reduce their expenditure. But a pump attendant said he has not seen any luxury vehicles switching their fuel from premium gasoline to super or regular.
However, BMW motor services and technical manager Hugo Lockhart says while some vehicles were designed to accommodate regular gasoline, the newer generation of vehicles are not. For instance, Mitsubishi vehicles with gas engines require fuel with an octane level of 91 RON, which is one RON less than the quality of super gasoline. Regular gasoline has a level of 87 RON while premium is 95 RON.
“My advice to drivers is to try to use the approved fuel that the manufacturer recommended because engines are designed to work with a specific grade of fuel for a reason. The performance will be less if you use a different fuel and you might not get the benefit you are hoping and you risk damaging your engine components,” Lockhart said.
“This can backfire. Whatever you save now, at the end you might have to spend more to fix your car.”
Lockhart explained that regular gas has more sedimental particles than super and premium, which can clog and damage a vehicle’s fuel injectors. When this happens, the required amount of fuel will not be supplied to the combustion chamber, resulting in the vehicle misfiring or getting a “hard start” upon ignition. Besides having to spend money to clean or replace the nozzles, the vehicle’s fuel filter could also be blocked with the sediments, requiring the owner to change it.
It gets worse, as Lockhart said engine pinking or engine knocking is a symptom of using low octane fuel.
“When you have a low octane fuel this will cause engine pinking, meaning when you press for gas there will be a knocking in the engine because the octane is lower than what it was designed for.
“Also, because of that engine knocking and low octane, the engine temperature will rise above normal to a point that if the fuel is very bad you may damage your pistons. They will rupture, your links will work at a high temperature and cut short the life of your engine. Your most important parts of an engine are the pistons, the crankshaft and the connecting rods.”
The same effects would apply to a motorist who put super gasoline in a BMW. The BMW is equipped with a knocking sensor to alert drivers that there is a problem, he said. There is no set timeframe for how long you can use regular gasoline, as Lockhart said it depends on the vehicle model.
Octane boosters, alcohol and kerosene have been touted to increase performance when using lower grade fuel. But Lockhart said octane boosters can damage some vehicles.
In the case of a BMW, it can damage the oxygen sensor. For other vehicles, the cost of using the booster would be equivalent to just using the specified super or premium gasoline.
He said mixing gas would not work either as it would still be of a lower quality than what is required of the vehicles. And while he has personally used kerosene before, he said it is a highly volatile chemical that raises engine temperatures to the point where it can burn the piston rings.
There are also environmental factors at play and Lockhart said motorists should not want to exhaust extra levels of Nitrogen dioxide (NOx). He said NOx is something that many countries are trying to eliminate from the environment.
Nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide are referred to together as oxides of nitrogen (NOx). It is formed in engines through a reaction of nitrogen and oxygen during combustion. The presence of NOx is significant in areas of high vehicle traffic. NOx gases react to form smog and acid rain as well as being central to the formation of fine particles and ground-level ozone, both of which are associated with adverse health effects. According to the Australian Department of the Environment and Energy, inhaling high levels of NOx can lead to respiratory problems.