Filling the gas tank...

Small tips when buying gasoline. 1) Only buy or fill up your vehicle/car during early morning, when the ground temps are still cold. [This applies to Northern and New England States mostly.] The colder the ground around underground storage tanks, the more dense the fuel. When it gets warmer, petrol expands. Buying in the afternoon or at night, therefore, a liter is not exactly a liter. Specific gravity and temp play an important role. 1 degree rise in temp is a big deal; service stations do not have temp compensation at the pumps. 2) Fill when tank is HALF FULL. The more fuel you have in the tank, the less is the air occupying its empty space. Petro evaporates faster than anyone can imagine. 3) If a fuel truck is pumping into the storage tank when you stop, DO NOT fill up--most likely the petro or diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. I got dirt in a tank once, and it ruined the car.

Great suggestions, Jabber. I now recall that there was a tanker truck filling the tanks the last time I bought gas, and all I thought about was how to maneuver the car out of the fueling area, as the truck was so massive and in the way...

Fortunately for me, I have not experienced any damage to the engine as a result.

Your advice about fueling early in the day due to underground temps is right target - and how many of us have ever given that any thought?

With the cost gas going up and up and up, we'll have to conserve
every little bit we can.

Some mistakes can be costly; getting rust in gasoline is one of them! Cheap gas isn't always the best solution.

Prices should begin dropping soon as the rebels who took over said, "go ahead, take the oil." The barrel prices have already begun to drop. I noticed here we have gone down .18 cents.

I guess I missed that information Chatty. I hope it goes down. We're at $349 + here. I'm so tired of the gas companies squeezing us to death on the price of gas. I wish we had regulations back. The prices are all set on speculation. Amazing.

I don't really pay attention to the price until I have to gas up. Last time was a little over 2 weeks ago, and I paid $2.99. My partner filled up this morning at $3.19. That's an increase of $0.20 in 2 weeks!!!

I paid $3.65 per gallon a couple of days ago. Here in Washington State we have high taxes on gasoline.

Mom filled her gas tank today in Merrillville, Indiana and it cost her $4.38 per gallon. While we are there saving those Libian people who wanted Gadaffi overthrown we ought to help ourselves to his oil... It's about time someone paid for all that we do for countries that do NOTHING for us in return...

The highest price I noticed in Florida was $3.55; I think that was in Lakeland. I saw it $3.65 around here somewhere. In this area it has been averaging about $3.43. We'll see how high it
goes. You can imagine what it costs to fill an RV. Geese! Still I'd rather drive than fly, any day!

I'd rather drive than fly too.

Gas here in Galena, IL was @ $3.63 when I checked it yesterday. Premium at $4.00 I believe. I have to fill up the tank today, so I'll find out if it'd gone up again... Seems to be climbing daily.

All prices are climbing around here and they wonder why the
population is moving. Friday, March 25, 2011 headline: "Region
continues to see people flee." The city population declined
by 31,338, recent census data shows. NO KIDDING! And none of
the politicians know why???? When thruway tolls nearly double
in less than 4 weeks time that's crazy! IMO!

They say New York States taxes are the highest in the country, and wonder why nobody wants to live here.

Oh my gosh; just saw gasoline at $3.79 per gallon. What a jump in just a few days. Criminy, it'll be at $4.00 a gallon before
ya know it.

Wow! I have been letting my tank run way down. Guess I need to fill it before we hit $4/gallon. (If I don't fill it soon, I will end up stranded somewhere...)

We don't let our tanks go completely empty. One of our vehicles can be $75. Ridiculous! Thankfully we only drive it three times/week, but the trip is 75 miles round trip.

Here regular is about $3.41, but we only use super unleaded. (DH used to make gas at a refinery and knows that it's the only gas that is best for our cars...90 octane or better, he says).

The prices I'm mentioning are for regular; that's all we use.
Except for the RV or going geocaching, we seldom drive more than
10 miles round trip. On vacation gas averaged $3.43; but yesterday when going to church, I saw signs for $3.79 at several
gas stations. That's quite a jump in less than a week's time.
I generally don't let the tank get below 1/2 full, especially in the wintertime; once in a while, it gets to the one-quarter mark. But not often.

The prices of a barrel of gas to use is now 105.00 per barrel and tonight on Bill O'Reilly, Donald Trump said by mid-summer, unless we do something fast, it will be $150.00 per barrel so imagine what pricesa will be then.

I listened to Donald Trump talk on O'Reilly the last couple nights. His ideas are very captivating. We need a hardnose businessman navigating our national ship.

Gotta wonder if D. Trump will run and if he'll get elected.
What a hoot!

Di,
Super unleaded here is at $4.00 per gallon, now!

NOT good. We fill up at around 1/2 tank so it does not hurt so much. Our Yukon is our market vehicle so we only use it two, to three times/week, thankfully.

Our other car and truck are much better on gas.....Thank God!

Dusted off my bike yesterday and will be using it aqgain to run errands etc., it is a 'gas free' vehicle...Plus good for the old backside and legs...

I drive a Focus. Filled it at 1/2 empty/or full depending how you look at situations. The cost was $26.00. A gallon of gas
around here sells in the range of $4.05 to $4.11 per as of yesterday. The cost of oil went down. Why isn't gas doing the same thing? Gotta wonder!

I have considered dusting off my bike. But it's very hilly here and the highway I'd have to travel to get to the store is narrow with shoulders that are fairly non-existent.

This is actually U.S. Route 20 the longest road in the US which runs from Boston to Newport, Oregon. But we live in the roughly 40 mile area of its coast to coast span which is only single lane each way.

There are plans to improve it, so that it bypasses Galena, but those have been in discussion for 20+ years so I'm not sure they will happen in my lifetime.

In any case, there are loads of semis on the road and I just don't think it is safe to ride a bike on it. So I am left to planning my trips and trying to make each one as efficient as possible.

I live atop a hill and biking is not an option I care to engage
in. Groovy bikes. But she's much younger and has been biking for years.

Anne,
I don't think I'd bike where you live with narrow road shoulders and so many semis. My Focus gets good mileage and it isn't all that small. It's great for me. I only use it for running errands, shopping and church. But the church Groovy likes is 25 miles away.

I forgot to state that my per gallon gas prices are for regular
unleaded [87], not the higher [89 or 92] types.

Prices are going down around here, now. We just filled up WB's gastank in his car and paid $3.60 per gal 4 regular unleaded.
Down the road from where we got our gas, they were selling it
at .39 cents a gal more. But today we went to Erie, Pa. and
a station there was selling gas at $3.77 per gal. We got ours
at the Indiana Reservation. Point is, the price is falling!
Yippie doodle!!!

But prices aren't coming down as fast as they went up! Now are they???

When I check yesterday, the local gas stations are still showing $3.99 for gas. I need to fill up but haven't yet, as I keep thinking maybe tomorrow the prices will drop...

Prices here are down to the low $3.40s; and the state average is around $3.50 something. Arizona seems to have lower gas prices than the rest of the country - don't know why that is!

yonuh,
I don't know why your state has cheaper prices either. I know
when we go RV'ing, we generally find gas prices about 20 cents a gallon lower from Virginia southward. Don't get out West much, so can't comment on your price history. My heart aches about those wildfires you folks are contending with. Prayers and blessings...!