I have never driven a fuel-injected car into Mexico, so I've never really
paid that much attention to it.  However, I do usually bring two things with
me - octane booster and "fuel dry" which I think is basically just some sort
of alcohol that allows the water to mix with the gas and burn.  I also bring
lots of cheese cloth and a good long flexible funnel.

The problems:

1. Low octane fuel if you require higher octane
2. Poorly stored fuel that has water in it
3. Poorly stored fuel that has rust and dirt in it.

On several occasions I have had to buy gas from a guy in the middle of
nowhere where the gas is basically stored in 55 gallon drums fitted with
hand pumps.  In these cases, I ALWAYS use a funnel and cheese cloth (or a
chamois works well but is slower) to strain the fuel.  I also bring lots of
spare in-line fuel filters.

Brent Christensen
'89 GL Syncro Westy
Santa Barbara, CA

-----Original Message-----
From: Davidson [mailto:wdavidson@THEGRID.NET]
Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2000 10:33 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: baja gas, octane, and timing

Kurt,
I am also headed to Baja in April.
I have been reading, and some claim that the actual octane is less than
stated by Pemex. In fact, some recommend taking along octane boosters to add
to the gasoline.
Bill
-----Original Message-----
From: Krusinski, Kurt <kurt.krusinski@ATTWS.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Saturday, March 04, 2000 10:01 AM
Subject: baja gas, octane, and timing

>I'm bring my syncro to Baja for the month of April and have heard that the
>only unleaded gas available is 91 octane.  If this is really the only
octane
>available, it seems like I should tank up on 91 in  the states and get the
>timing & tune redone (I use 87/89 now).  Am I correct?  It seems like I
>would need to adjust the detonation for the van to run smoothly on 91.
>
>Thanks much.
>
>Kurt Krusinski
>425-580-3122
>

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