Whats the best fuel for my 83 Toyo Sunrader

[AbleThought]

Hey all, had a mechanic tell me that if i started using high octain gas it would keep everything clean in my carborator and motor and give my truck a little more power.

He also recomended dumping in some good carborator cleaner once a month.

what are you guys doing?

what kind of fuel do you use?

what about ethenal? should i avoid a station that uses 10% ethinal in there fuel?

more power sounds quite tempting but i was always under the impression that engins are designed to burn one type of fuel...

[Bob C]

First, read your owners manual.  I believe that it will tell you to use good, clean, 87 octane gasoline.  Next, use good, clean, 87 octane gasoline.  Using higher octane will not give you more power.  The only time you would need higher octane is if you boost the compression either by adding a turbo or getting the head milled.

I add Sea Foam to my tank when I put the RV into storage. 

 

 

[zero]

2 hours ago, AbleThought said:

Hey all, had a mechanic tell me that if i started using high octain gas it would keep everything clean in my carborator and motor and give my truck a little more power.

He also recomended dumping in some good carborator cleaner once a month.

 

I think your "mechanic" doesn't know what the heck he/she is talking about.  There is nothing intrinsic to high-octane fuel that burns cleaner then low-octane. It just burns slower. Absolutely no gain in using it unless your engine has a pinging problem and proper ignition timing cannot fix.  If you drive in high altitudes, high-test is even worse.  Same goes for carb-cleaner. Gasoline at the pump already has all the detergent in it that's needed.  The best gas is the lowest octane gas you rig will burn and not ping.  Also, pure gasoline is always better then the slop most places sell now with 10% ethanol. But - in many areas - there is no choice.
Not a big deal if driving a lot.  If parked, ethanol seems to degrade faster then gasoline, so use a good stablizer when parked long-term.

Note - I've rebuilt many a carburetor with over 100K miles and I never yet found internal parts to be plugged or excessively dirty from normal usage. 

[jjrbus]

This comes up fairly often,  "Joe down at the shop says"   Study after study after study says use the octane called for in the owners manual.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0210-paying-premium-high-octane-gasoline            This is from the Federal Trade commission,  if you google which octane to use, you will find hundreds of reliable sources saying use what the owners manual calls for.

Then I know someone that swears he gets 12% better mileage on premium,  well regular is now $2.08 and premium is $2.48.  What is that, quick,,,  20% more for premium? Still a lose lose, situation.

Now when Joe down at the shop tells me something I just smile and say really, I'll have to try that.

[AbleThought]

you are all just confirming what i thought to be true.. use what is says in the owners manual... doy. okay nobody thinks carb cleaner is a good idea either huh? 

[zero]

Carb cleaner for what?  The inside of the carb or the outside?  I ask  because there are all sorts of gasoline additives you put into your fuel tank to keep things "clean."   As if they do not stay clean anyway?   And then there is the external carb cleaner like Gumout that you spray into the air intake while racing the engine.   Accomplishes nothing useful I know of except for making your wallet a little lighter and making some of the parts you can see look a little brighter.  I have probably rebuilt hundreds of carburetors in my life and cannot say I've found too many (if any) that suffered from "dirty parts" that were used properly.  Carbs often need rebuilds when they get warped, or metal parts wear out, or rubber parts break or harden, gaskets dry out, etc.    Also when they sit with bad rotten gas in them. 

[Maineah]

There is more heat energy in 87 than 91 even if you use ethanol it to has energy value and anti knock properties yes not as much as gasoline but it can only effect your mileage because of that by maybe 3%. Pretty much any thing you dump in your tank as an additive is snake oil.