Hey guys,

I realised that my brand new tC was hesitant to start about 1.5 weeks after I bought it. Looked on the fourm and it seem like lots of people are having such problem. When I turn the key, the engine would try to turn over, hesistate to turn RPM barely jiggles, and then it would turn over and would look fine.

I remembered that I got a new tank of gas- cheveron supereme.

This weekend, I filled it up with regular like it's suppose to take, and guess what, the starting problem is gone ever since. I'll try plus and see what it does.

 

yeah, you shouldn't run premium in a car designed to only run on 87 octane

i had the problem 2 times, within the first month of owning it. i never ran premium though

 

i don't understand why would it make any starting problems using super, i have been using super after a week of owning it, also in the manual it said 87 and higher, i also called the dealership and they said its ok to use super, o well to each to his own i guess.

 

i use 89 octane..cuz i always use it hhaha

 

Higher octane gas is harder to get lit when cold and will cause starting hesitations like the above poster encountered. Cold weather will aggrivate this problem. The car was designed to function on 87 so why use super?

 

scott17: i know what you mean but in the manual it said you can use 87 and up so i use super cuz i feel the car drives smoother with super i had like 5 people drive my car with super and regular and they also said they noticed the diffrence, i dont wanna argue with anyone about this and i also get better mileage with super thats the reson i switched to super cuz when i used regular for the first week it was gone like nothing.

 

well, it makes sense. The lower the octane, the more spontaneous it would ignite. The higher the octane, the more energy stored, and the longer it would burn. In that case with proper timing, higher octane gas would generate more energy.

It is the same case with black gun powder and smokeless powder... the black stuff has a lower "octane rating".

In my case, yeah, it did felt better with the supreme after the paused ignition. But for the sake of the my wallet and the health of the car, I'll see if i can settle with plus.

peace

 

All gasoline has the same BTU rating (save for a particular brand of engineered fuel that actually has more but is very expensive and has been outlawed in most racing organizations) so the "energy available" is identical. The only thing higher octane does is allow higher compression and advanced timing. Since timing and compression are not readily adjustable in our case, higher octane does nothing to improve anything. The car will probably run more efficiently on 87 octane. Running super will hurt nothing but your wallet, so do whatever makes you happy.

 

I also have this problem with cold start but i dont think it has anything to do wit the gas i use. Ima try going with racing spark plugs.

 

^^ So you are going to replace probably the BEST plugs you could possibly run (the stock iridiums) with "race" plugs???? Dont waste your time.

Most people I have seen complain that the car has to crank over a few times rather than just firing up on the first crank. This is typical to many cars, and every toyota I have ever driven. My 4Runner takes a good 3 - 4 cranks every time. There is nothing wrong with it.

 

Too many people think that running Higher Ocane in a car designed for 87 is going to make more power. It is not good for the car.. and not good for your wallet.
I wish I could run regular again... But unfortunately I can not.

Also, listen to Scott and Engifineer, they know what they are talking about.
Too many people think they get gains with super... Also, about the better gas mileage... I am willing to bet that the better gas mileage is not worth the extra amount you pay. Just think you should do a mileage cound and then see if you actually are saving any money.

 

i agree with you fully, every toyota i have ever driven has been like this...

 

Thanks engifineer for the tip. I honestly didnt know that many toyota's did this but i will def take it into consideration.