I am new to this site. Can anyone tell me if the use of 87 octane would cause the check engine light to come on due to the engine misfiring? I have read on this site that lower octane fuel can cause misfires. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

 

It might as I believe the manual states you should use at least 89 or higher octane? It might even say "use premium" which would indicate 91 or above.

 

using 87 octane will not cause the ses light to come on- but in the long run it may not be good for the vq which can cause some of the sensors to malfunction, thus making the ses light go on- it is recommended to use 91 -93 octane for better performance, but if gas prices are out of your budget and you need to use 87 or even 89 , this will not cause the ses light to come on! i have known some max owners who have used nothin but 87/89 octance and have not had any problems, but they notice a big difference (in a good way) in performance when using 91/93 octane! good luck

 

Ideally the car wants 91. Using 87 is acceptable, though you'll suffer some loss of mpg and power (whether it's noticeable in our cars I can't rightly say). The knock sensors should take care of anything that would turn on the check engine light. Of course, if there are some problems with those, or carbon deposits, or other things I honestly don't know about, then it could cause excess predetonation and I'd not be surprised if a CEL could come on from using 87, which can be cured by 91. If the engine is fully up to spec and in perfect running order, however, the light shouldn't come on with 87.

 

If the manual has a min octane requirement of 89-91, then the ecu won't be programmed to accomodate 87. Thus the engine will most likely ping on 87. If that happens, the KS will be working alot and will be relied on way to much. I'm not sure the ecu's ign retard program was designed to constantly handle pinging all the time. So sure, I could see crap gas cause a cel.

 

I tried using 87 octane for about a week, the performance sucked and my car was pinging and knocking. yeah premium fuel may be a little more pricey, but it is better for your car in the long run. I would say, stick with premium, and only if you have to, use 89 oct. but nothing less than that.