Driveability issues this Spring

[dadsc6]

My son is an engineer for an OEM new vehicle manufacturer and their latest concern is customer complaints this spring/ summer due to winter fuel. Apparently the fuel distributors are required to switch to summer fuel by a certain date as the weather warms but this year they have been allowed to extend that deadline. Due to the Covid-19 and a low demand for fuel there is a hugh backlog of winter fuel in the system. As I understand it winter fuel vaporizes easier for winter starting but using it in warmer weather can cause check engine lights, hesitation, stumble and vapor lock issues.
The vehicle manufacturers can not do anything about it and the problem will disappear as soon as the summer fuel makes its way to the pumps
If we have issues this spring be patient and don’t drive yourself crazy trying to fix something that will go away

 

[Black 03 Z06]

Interesting information dadsc6, thank you.

One other thing to consider is gas gets stale over the winter so try to avoid WOT until you get some fresh gas in the beast. They have been sitting a long time now.

 

[Late Life Crisis]

My son is an engineer for an OEM new vehicle manufacturer and their latest concern is customer complaints this spring/ summer due to winter fuel. Apparently the fuel distributors are required to switch to summer fuel by a certain date as the weather warms but this year they have been allowed to extend that deadline. Due to the Covid-19 and a low demand for fuel there is a hugh backlog of winter fuel in the system. As I understand it winter fuel vaporizes easier for winter starting but using it in warmer weather can cause check engine lights, hesitation, stumble and vapor lock issues.
The vehicle manufacturers can not do anything about it and the problem will disappear as soon as the summer fuel makes its way to the pumps
If we have issues this spring be patient and don’t drive yourself crazy trying to fix something that will go away

According to Dan McTeague (gaspricewizard on Twitter) the summer formulated gasoline is already in the station tanks, it was required on or about 10 April, I believe, in Ontario. Of course, that caused a bump in the pump prices by about .05 or so per litre (you probably noticed that 2 or 3 weeks ago, gas was around the 0.72/litre mark, then it jumped to mid .80's (around .84/litre or .85/litre) even though the price for oil was still spiraling downwards. About half of that jump was due to summer fuel switchover. The rest of the bump in prices was due to the "Carbon Tax" on 1 April (April Fool!!!!), plus the additional HST on both increase factors. It was still 84.9 in my area (central York Region about 50 Km north of downtown Toronto) last night, haven't looked at it today. (that price is the "regular" grade, none of the stations in my area post 91+ Octane pricing except Costco).

But, if you're located in a part of Canada which is finally seeing some warmer days in this highly unusual (understatement for many reasons) Spring of 2020, then it is very possible that driveability issues could occur with a tank full of older/Winter fuel.

LLC