I found a backwards gas pump

Somewhere in Kentucky.

I really dislike it when 87 octane is where 93 lives on EVERY OTHER PUMP I'VE EVER USED.

Weekend of no boosting the Miata.

Wire the pump on, disconnect at rail, empty tank.

Reinstall fuel line, refill tank with 93.

Eh, i'm about 250 miles from home, don't have any tools.

I caught it after 6 gallons. So it had 6 gallons of 87 and 6 gallons of 93 in it.

Drove it on the highway for about an hour and a half, no boost, put another 4 gallons of 93 in it.

It's got a very conservative 91 octane tune on it, so it should be fine by now.

Just aggravating because of the tiny turbo, it's pretty much always boosting. Sucked real bad after the initial 87 dump.

I know this might be a novel concept, but you know, I always read the labels to see which button to push.

It's seemed to work for me so far.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Just aggravating because of the tiny turbo, it's pretty much always boosting.

Then you need a bigger turbo.

carguy123 wrote: I know this might be a novel concept, but you know, I always read the labels to see which button to push. It's seemed to work for me so far.

Yeah... i've learned my lesson. Unfortunately, after working a 10 hour day, packing, then battling traffic the entire way on the way to TN, i just wasn't thinking and was kindof going on autopilot by that point.

Ranger50 wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Just aggravating because of the tiny turbo, it's pretty much always boosting.

Then you need a bigger turbo.

This is the REAL answer to life, the universe, and everything.

I thought I read a long, long LONG time ago that adding two DIFFERENT grades of gas, somehow got you a grade that was higher than the highest of the two? Example: adding 87 octane and 93 octane would get you something higher than 93. It was some article in C & D way back in the late '60s / early '70s just as unleaded was being phased in.

And because I almost pumped 93 octane into my "bone" stock Civic, I always double check the buttons on the pumps. Considering how "universal" gas pumps SHOULD be, they always manage to throw you a whammy every now and then.

A local convenience store has just started selling 87 alcohol free gas. Some pumps have three buttons and all are E10. Some pumps have four buttons. The far left button is the good stuff and it has its own hose. But, on some pumps, this is the diesel dispenser. Talk about confusing!

integraguy wrote: I thought I read a long, long LONG time ago that adding two DIFFERENT grades of gas, somehow got you a grade that was higher than the highest of the two? Example: adding 87 octane and 93 octane would get you something higher than 93. It was some article in C & D way back in the late '60s / early '70s just as unleaded was being phased in.

You'll get something between 87 and 93, actually. Some stations only get two grades of gas: 87 and 93, then they use a mix of the two for 89.

(anyone else watch Adam-12 reruns on TV Land just to see stations with 102 octane?)

There's some old Amaco (now BP) around here with older pumps that have 87 in the middle with 89 and 93 on opposite sides, always throws me off and I end up with a few gallons of 93.

I hope you pay more attention when you are driving than you do filling your tank.

integraguy wrote: I thought I read a long, long LONG time ago that adding two DIFFERENT grades of gas, somehow got you a grade that was higher than the highest of the two? Example: adding 87 octane and 93 octane would get you something higher than 93. It was some article in C & D way back in the late '60s / early '70s just as unleaded was being phased in.

Nope, you get an average based on the amount and octane in your tank. 6 gallons of 87 plus 6 gallons of 93 comes out to:

(6 x 87+6 x 93)/12 = 90 octane

TIL: some members of this forum can't read.

every gas station around here has them different- they pretty much all have 3 grades of gas- 87, 89, and 91 octane.. 89 is always in the middle, but the 87 and 91 are in different positions at different stations.

you just learn to read the number on the big freakin yellow button you gotta push to select the gas you want..

are you also one of those people that can't be bothered to take note of which pump you are at, which causes me to have to stand in line behind you inside as you tell the cashier that you were in the "blue car out there" after they ask you which pump you are paying for?

In reply to novaderrik:

You still go in to pay for gas?

T.J. wrote: In reply to novaderrik: You still go in to pay for gas?

yeah... not only is it hard to pay at the pump with cash, but you have to go inside to redeem the 4 cents off per gallon coupon..

I did that at a BP station a few months ago.

Green is a signature brand color for BP. Most stations use green handles on the hoses to indicate diesel.

Diesels don't run too well on regular gasoline.

Hmph. Chucktown had orange pumps for diesel no matter what brand of fuel and they generally were all by themselves at one end of the pump islands. I still got 3-4 people a month who dumped diesel in gas cars and vice versa.

I can't say that I'm aware of which pump is which other than by the sticker. I filled up today with 87, and I still don't know which side it was on.

SVreX wrote: Diesels don't run too well on regular gasoline.

Diesels don't run on kerosene either. Done fixed one Dodge dually to the tune of 14k in repairs after that fiasco....

I was thinking you went to fill up, then when you got back in your car you had less gas than when you started.

SVreX wrote: I did that at a BP station a few months ago. Green is a signature brand color for BP. Most stations use green handles on the hoses to indicate diesel. Diesels don't run too well on regular gasoline.

I got sucked in by that when towing to Newfoundland. Didn't actually put any unleaded in the tank, but I was more than a little pissed after maneuvering the 53' long rig into the little bitty gas station to discover there wasn't actually any diesel on tap.

Yeah, I actually thought that "pump that runs backwards" meant either that it sucked the gas already in the tank back out...but then I thought, nah, if you were anywhere near empty, it wouldn't matter that much.

So then I figured "pump that runs backwards" meant that it rang up the gas in some dollar amount LESS than $0.00. Like some gas pump for rocket scientists where the value of gas was a negative number.

The handles on fuel pumps, by Federal and/or state regs should be, but are not, a different color for diesel. Especially where the pump has 2 nozzles: one for gas and an identical one for diesel. Yeah, I've come close to putting diesel in a Honda.