Kenny

Any ideas why this happens?? I dont recall this happening to any of our other new cars... Car is a late 99.5 A6 Avant with 6k miles..

muhammadc

Bad gas... moisture?

Kenny

ironically after using better quality, more expensive premium gas, our fuel gauge has miraculously began to function properly the last month of so.. Can it be possible that stinky cheaper gas contributes to the fuel gauge problem??

muhammadc

Could be... who knows. But they seem to be weird like that regardless of the gas

Mitchman

I've used premium gas since day one and my fuel sending unit had to be replaced anyway.

Kenny

If you notice, some premium gas brands are much cheaper than others... not all premium gas is the same quality.

BobT(nolonger)A6

Not sure about that one. Went to a seminar with a manager of a gasoline refinery of a major oil company (don't remember which one offhand). He said 'gas is gas, brand doesn't matter, it really is all the same'. Went on to say that the only differences he could identify at the consumer's level are things like cleanliness and moisture level, which depend on the quality and age of the retailer's tanks, etc.

Bollinger

And used to deal with stations in Ohio for them. Now she trades distillates (gas, etc.). Almost all gas is the same except for any additives they add to it. They trade it freely. A very few companies have their own "recipe" which they can use because they make their own gas. All the others just take basically what they get.

Almost all the gas sold in Northern CA is made at Tosco refinery and is identical before the additives are added.

The additives don't differ all that much either.

My grandfather was a V.P. for Sohio (Standard Oil of Ohio) and told me the the same thing.

uwg

Yep, when we had that big discussion with sky-rocketing gas prices last summer, some oil reps came on TV telling us that between Chicago and St. Louis, local requirements call for nine different recipes for gas. Multiplied by the three grades, that makes 27 types of gas distributed over a 300 mile stretch of Route 66. Surely there can't be a refinery for each of them?

With that said, I suppose the only thing we'd have to look for when filling up is a gas station that looks the newest, assuming that their tanks are the cleanest? But I love my speed-pass...

Personally, I've given up on driving around town to find the cheapest gasoline, saving between 25 and 50 cents on a 22-gal tank of gas. If I could find a station selling 94 octane gas, I'd become a regular there...

Kenny

The fact when I use more expensive premium gas such as Amoco, Exxon/Mobil or other known reputable companies particularly on my older BMW, my car's engine runs better, and when I use less expensive premium gas such as Getty , Sunoco, etc, my car starts having knocks and pinging noises, and slight hesitation. I listen to reputable mechanics and many tell me the same thing... They know their cars.