Topic: What did you do to your car today?

[Triple Bob]

Washed them

Sharp looking vehicle.

Thanks. 150K km on the clock so far.

Yea...looks clean and well cared for!   

Thanks. The exterior has a few little scrapes here and there, but the interior is immaculate. We'll keep it for another couple of years for sure.

[rrocket]

Washed them

Sharp looking vehicle.

Thanks. 150K km on the clock so far.

Yea...looks clean and well cared for!   

Thanks. The exterior has a few little scrapes here and there, but the interior is immaculate. We'll keep it for another couple of years for sure.

And I'm guessing those would likely buff out...

[Triple Bob]

Washed them

Sharp looking vehicle.

Thanks. 150K km on the clock so far.

Yea...looks clean and well cared for!   

Thanks. The exterior has a few little scrapes here and there, but the interior is immaculate. We'll keep it for another couple of years for sure.

And I'm guessing those would likely buff out...

Some will, some won't. It will be part-exed as is.

[BWII]

So...with 91 octane now containing ethanol...(from what I understand anyway) and winter coming and time to take the insurance back off the car...do I "store" it with a full tank of anything, or seeing as I only have about 90 km 'til empty, drive it 'til it's almost dry and then park it as empty as possible? 

Last year it sat outside all winter but I had premium in it.  In the end it probably doesn't matter as it's not like it'll be sitting for 2 yrs, just the next 6 months or so.  Probably cheaper now than next summer the way things are going ...and at least it'd have an emergency tank full of gas if it was needed.  Just not sure which one is better for it.  If it matters at all.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Got my winter wheels figured out.  I had my mind set on OEM alloys instead of the steelies (or multi-fit alloys) the dealership was providing.  I had to drive out to Warren, MB to pick them up from an auto recycler - he was in the process of moving all his wheels from his yard/shop to his house/yard.  These ones are from a 2010-11 Mazda3. 



They were still wrapped in shitty rubber, but he told me if I drove to his shop 15 minutes down the road in Woodlands, his guy would remove the tires for me.  So I did.  Then I stopped by a car wash and gave them a decent scrub before dropping them off at the car dealer, who will remove the Blizzaks from the steelies and re-install them on these alloys.  That adventure basically took me an entire afternoon and almost a half tank of gas.

Two of the wheels were missing the center caps - the frustrating part is there are two styles of Mazda centre caps - deep tabs and shallow tabs.  Amazon has a large selection of Mazda center caps, but they're all shallow tabs.  Ebay had the deep ones, but they were like $27 ea.  I never figured a Mazda dealer would be competitive, but I ended up calling my local Mazda dealer, and it turns out they are a reasonable $13ea for OEM caps.  So I ordered two. 

The car goes in on Saturday to have the wheels switched over - yay, I get a break from doing them myself this fall 

[Seafoam]

So...with 91 octane now containing ethanol...(from what I understand anyway) and winter coming and time to take the insurance back off the car...do I "store" it with a full tank of anything, or seeing as I only have about 90 km 'til empty, drive it 'til it's almost dry and then park it as empty as possible? 

Last year it sat outside all winter but I had premium in it.  In the end it probably doesn't matter as it's not like it'll be sitting for 2 yrs, just the next 6 months or so.  Probably cheaper now than next summer the way things are going ...and at least it'd have an emergency tank full of gas if it was needed.  Just not sure which one is better for it.  If it matters at all.

I wouldn't leave it empty. Fill it it up put some stabil in it. You don't want  moisture to develop in a not full tank if it sits for long periods.
This is what I do with the cars I store.

[tortoise]

I was going to say, leaving it empty is asking for a ton of condensation to build up.

(Side note, had that happen to our family boat in the fall.  The boat backfired most of the 16 mile boat ride when we needed to power up or around the waves.  Not fun.  Adding some stabilzer fixed it for the trip home)

Can you find a station that doesn't have ethanol in their premium gas?  If not, there are some stabilizers available that will help with the ethanol.  Stabil Marine is one of them.

[Bubba]

A few years ago, I contacted Red River Co-op about the ethanol in their gas.

The breakdown is as follows.
Regular - 10%
Mid-grade - 5%
Premium - 0%

[BWII]

If I could only go to the US to fill up...but I'd need a valid Covid test before I come back...from a 10 minute trip to get gas, could take as long as 3 days.    Got my vaccine card, YTF is that not enough?  Sometimes even I have to say these rules are stupid AF. 

Makes sense about condensation - I knew I wasn't thinking of something. Thanks...

[BWII]

A few years ago, I contacted Red River Co-op about the ethanol in their gas.

The breakdown is as follows.
Regular - 10%
Mid-grade - 5%
Premium - 0%

I thought that changed this year - E10 in everything.

[Bubba]

A few years ago, I contacted Red River Co-op about the ethanol in their gas.

The breakdown is as follows.
Regular - 10%
Mid-grade - 5%
Premium - 0%

I thought that changed this year - E10 in everything.

I may have to contact them again for any updates.

[PJungnitsch]

Shell still says 0% ethanol in premium right on the pump, as far as I know

[Blueprint]

Shell still says 0% ethanol in premium right on the pump, as far as I know

Costco too, at least here in QC.

[Ex-airbalancer]

If I could only go to the US to fill up...but I'd need a valid Covid test before I come back...from a 10 minute trip to get gas, could take as long as 3 days.    Got my vaccine card, YTF is that not enough?  Sometimes even I have to say these rules are stupid AF. 

Makes sense about condensation - I knew I wasn't thinking of something. Thanks...

You work in insurance, you should be use to stupid rules 

[Firm]

Shell still says 0% ethanol in premium right on the pump, as far as I know

Costco too, at least here in QC.

Canadian Tire here too, and the gap from 87 to 91 is the tightest, locally at least (Costco might be an exception, I don't use them).

But yeah, always store a car with a full tank and some stabilizer....I usually buy one of the big 1L bottles when they go on sale and it's typically enough to do all the cars I store + my lawn equipment.

[Blueprint]

Shell still says 0% ethanol in premium right on the pump, as far as I know

Costco too, at least here in QC.

Canadian Tire here too, and the gap from 87 to 91 is the tightest, locally at least (Costco might be an exception, I don't use them).

But yeah, always store a car with a full tank and some stabilizer....I usually buy one of the big 1L bottles when they go on sale and it's typically enough to do all the cars I store + my lawn equipment.

My lawn stuff is all battery-powered now, only have the snowblower left in the gas-powered tools category. The Triumph did not go anywhere since the early summer tune-up *sigh* so tank still full and with a proper dose of stabil from last year. This stuff stays good (I guess that's the concept) ?

[Triple Bob]

Shell still says 0% ethanol in premium right on the pump, as far as I know

Costco too, at least here in QC.

Canadian Tire here too, and the gap from 87 to 91 is the tightest, locally at least (Costco might be an exception, I don't use them).

But yeah, always store a car with a full tank and some stabilizer....I usually buy one of the big 1L bottles when they go on sale and it's typically enough to do all the cars I store + my lawn equipment.

I thought if you do a full tank of premium, you pretty much don't need stabilizer any more?

[BWII]

If I could only go to the US to fill up...but I'd need a valid Covid test before I come back...from a 10 minute trip to get gas, could take as long as 3 days.    Got my vaccine card, YTF is that not enough?  Sometimes even I have to say these rules are stupid AF. 

Makes sense about condensation - I knew I wasn't thinking of something. Thanks...

You work in insurance, you should be use to stupid rules 

  You do make me laugh AB...you do make me laugh.   

Nice burn - and you're right. Stupid rules everywhere.

Shell still says 0% ethanol in premium right on the pump, as far as I know

Costco too, at least here in QC.

Only Co-op and DOMO within 90 km of here. Might be a Petro Can - do they still make Petro Canada?

I thought fuel stabilizers were kinda like snake oil.  More BS than factual reality.

I thought if you do a full tank of premium, you pretty much don't need stabilizer any more?

My impression as well.

[Gurgie]

Shell still says 0% ethanol in premium right on the pump, as far as I know

Costco too, at least here in QC.

Canadian Tire here too, and the gap from 87 to 91 is the tightest, locally at least (Costco might be an exception, I don't use them).

But yeah, always store a car with a full tank and some stabilizer....I usually buy one of the big 1L bottles when they go on sale and it's typically enough to do all the cars I store + my lawn equipment.

I thought if you do a full tank of premium, you pretty much don't need stabilizer any more?

I've always done a full tank of premium plus stabilizer for my car, bikes, boat... never had an issue in the spring with any of them. The stabilizer is in there to help prevent the degradation and oxidization of the fuel over the winter months.

[PJungnitsch]

The way I understand it the larger the amount of gas the less likely it goes bad. So a full tank on a car is unlikely to cause problems, but the lines, pump, etc might be a an issue. Was more of an issue back in the carb float bowl days, and with chain saws and other small equipment

Never heard of stabilizer hurting anything though