What fuel did these cars require?

[Raudermaster]

Alright, there's a kid I talk to online that says one of his friends had a Town Car that "required" 93 fuel. He also said it had a switch on the fender that you could choose either Premium or Regular fuel. I tell him the ONLY Panther car that required 93 is the Marauder. I'm not sure if the Continentals needed Premium too as I've never ridden in one but know they also have the DOHC and same with the Mark 8's. He has a '98 GM and is trying to tell me that you could have ordered one with "special" tuning for it to require 93. I told him No sorry!

[FordNut]

Our factory tune required 91 since 93 can't even be obtained in some places. 93 is for aftermarket performance tunes.

[Raudermaster]

Thanks for the correction. But my real question is (probably should have stated it more clearly) is was that an option on the Town Car? How about the "special" crap with GM's?

[Merc220A]

My father has owned towncars and GM for years since 1986...all have required 87 octane...and thats it. The only panther to require 91+ is the Marauder. Your friend is completely wrong!

[Merc220A]

Oh and there is no option....I mean you can put 91+ octane in your towncar or GM...but theres nothing "special" you have to do in order to do that!!! The only upgrade on the GM's were "handling" packages...added dual exhaust and what not. They still required only 87 octane. Your friend is highly mistaken.

[larryo340]

Oh and there is no option....I mean you can put 91+ octane in your towncar or GM...but theres nothing "special" you have to do in order to do that!!! The only upgrade on the GM's were "handling" packages...added dual exhaust and what not. They still required only 87 octane. Your friend is highly mistaken.
^^^^^Ditto +1
When the Continental was redesigned in '95 with the 4.6 it required "Premium Fuel" They had a label inside fuel door, and possibly on the dash cluster face. It used to crack me up working as a service advisor and these people driving Lincolns were complaining :bigcry: about having to use premium fuel. I felt so bad for them :rolleyes: :D

[Raudermaster]

I knew the only one was the MM, I just wanted proof from you guys so I can show him this thread now so he knows I was right calling him an idiot. :)

[Bluerauder]

He also said it had a switch on the fender that you could choose either Premium or Regular fuel.
Yeah, I got a switch on my fender that allows me to pick the price that I want to pay. ;)

[fastblackmerc]

Yeah, I got a switch on my fender that allows me to pick the price that I want to pay. ;)

Where can I get one?

[arejayesss]

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ZOFMor-V1pVAQM:http://www.soundchamberrepairs.com/pictures%2520O-Z/switchCarling-Spdt.jpg (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.soundchamberrepairs.com/pictures%2520O-Z/switchCarling-Spdt.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.soundchamberrepairs.com/electronicsAmp.htm&h=291&w=300&sz=6&hl=en&start=7&tbnid=ZOFMor-V1pVAQM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfender%2Bswitch%2 6gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3De n)

This is a Fender Switch. OH, you weren't talking about guitars, sorry

[ckadiddle]

The 1997 and 2001 Crown Vics I owned ran on any grade, but ran better on mid grade and ran best on premium. A friend here at work has a 98 town car, she uses mid grade and once in a while premium. Here in Orlando mid is 91 and premium is 93 octane usually. I also owned a 2000 mustang GT for several years and it would function on low or mid grade, but ran noticeably better on premium.

Your mileage may vary, but that is my experience with the 4.6L 2V engines here in Orlando. Maybe behavior is climate related? I dunno.

[BlownMerc]

Some of the Town Cars did have the "91+" sticker on the inside of the fuel door, I have prepped them when they came in. Couldn't tell you why some did and some didn't, not sure if certain models did or certain year T/C's did, but I have seen it. Believe it is with the higher horsepower model like the C/V sport with the police interceptor calibration and dual exhaust. No difference in the internals on the engine, just more timing for the higher hp.

Never seen a switch, doesn't exist. But some (not sure if they still do) had the octane shorting bar (looks like the old spout plug on a distributor 5.0L) on the fender apron under the hood, you could remove it to take timing out of the tune for a spark knocking, oil burner. These days it's a programmable parameter when reflashing the PCM with a scan tool. Never see a switch.

[finster101]

I'm pretty sure the shorting bar is used to set base timing only. Not meant to be driven that way.

[BigCars4Ever]

The Town cars had a shorting block on the fenders so they could run on 85 octane. With the block in it was set for 87. Running higher octane in a Town Car usually resulted in stalling at idle when shifting into reverse since ther were no knock sensors untill 2001 I think. This was all documented in the manual.

[RoNiN77]

He also said it had a switch on the fender that you could choose either Premium or Regular fuel.

My '88 T-Bird Turbo had a fuel select switch for 'regular' or 'premium' fuel. If I recall, Ford recommended using premium fuel every third tank or so. If you can see the below pic, the switch is on the dash to the right of the wheel next to the auto ride control.

http://images.autotrader.com/images/2007/10/26/232/986/3196592283.232986259.IM1.06.56 5x421_A.562x421.jpg