I have a 40 year old 1500 VW beetle that was running on unleaded petrol for the last 5 years recently I found a pump station still selling "leaded" regular petrol. Would leaded petrol do more good than unleaded for my bug? Thanks for any respond
Is leaded petrol good for engine?
- Thread starter sagaboy
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lead cushions the Valve seats.( unleaded does not cushion the valves at all , they use hardned seats instead) ...but conversely it also causes a huge , and I mean HUGE build up of deposits on the valves and pistons ...especially sense yopu have a carburator...
Back in 1981 I did valve jobs at a machine shop for the summer.... and you could tell at a glance wheather lead or ne lead gas was used .... leaded card went around 70-90000 miles and unleaded when 120-150000 before needing valve jobs ...... wonder how long cars tend to go today ...being as I have 2 cars one with 210,000 and one with 187,000 and both run perfect, with no engine work.
Back in 1981 I did valve jobs at a machine shop for the summer.... and you could tell at a glance wheather lead or ne lead gas was used .... leaded card went around 70-90000 miles and unleaded when 120-150000 before needing valve jobs ...... wonder how long cars tend to go today ...being as I have 2 cars one with 210,000 and one with 187,000 and both run perfect, with no engine work.
I read that it will save your valves, but at the expense of your engine since it harms the oil quality.
Lead eats exhaust pipes, fouls plugs and creates deposits.
These deposits came off rather easily with an 'Italian tune', compared to the much smaller, but incredible hard deposits of modern fuels.
In your unusual situation, you may want to run leaded every 3 tanks or so.
These deposits came off rather easily with an 'Italian tune', compared to the much smaller, but incredible hard deposits of modern fuels.
In your unusual situation, you may want to run leaded every 3 tanks or so.
also not to mention that lead compounds in leaded gas is a carcinogen to all life forms (human, cumulative toxins).
If you want to keep this bug alive and running, consider having your head redone with new stellite valve seats and hardened valves.
If you want to keep this bug alive and running, consider having your head redone with new stellite valve seats and hardened valves.
There a number of valve saver products to use with unleaded fuel.
Leaded fuel has not been available here for some time. Its temporary replacement - Lead replacement fuel LRP, just stop selling it recently.
Do they still make leaded, or does the station just have some in its tank?
Leaded fuel has not been available here for some time. Its temporary replacement - Lead replacement fuel LRP, just stop selling it recently.
Do they still make leaded, or does the station just have some in its tank?
Quest
I understood that it was the aromatic compounds in UNLEADED gasoline that were highly carcinogenic, and that the 'lead' in leaded petrol MAY stunt the intellectual growth in children, but was not carcinogenic?
I understood that it was the aromatic compounds in UNLEADED gasoline that were highly carcinogenic, and that the 'lead' in leaded petrol MAY stunt the intellectual growth in children, but was not carcinogenic?
Man, I knew there was a reason I don't live in Sydney.
yes 2000wrx, benzene and many other aromatics in gas are carcinogens to human beings, amongst many other aromatic fuel additives.
lead (in the form of tetraethyl lead (sorry about spelling)), is a neuro-toxin, not carcinogenic).
lead (in the form of tetraethyl lead (sorry about spelling)), is a neuro-toxin, not carcinogenic).
It surprised me too, unleaded petrol was introduced over here more than 10 years ago and leaded petrol is currently not available at all major branded service station. But, as I have found out--leaded regular 87 oct petrol is still available at our country only local brand (Petronas, sort of semi-government organization)--hummm, strange, with the government policy ban on leaded petrol.
Despite all the problems with lead, both environmental and mechanical, engines that old needed the lead for proper valve lubrication. They were designed for leaded fuels.
The alternatives are to run unleaded and use an additive at every fill, or to redo the valve train (provided the improved parts are available). This was a problem here in the early '80s as regular disappeared with many pre-'74 engines (particularly the muscle cars and engines of that era) still on the road.
I'd skip the leaded fuel and run a lubricating additive, which tends to be less toxic than the lead and just as effective.
The alternatives are to run unleaded and use an additive at every fill, or to redo the valve train (provided the improved parts are available). This was a problem here in the early '80s as regular disappeared with many pre-'74 engines (particularly the muscle cars and engines of that era) still on the road.
I'd skip the leaded fuel and run a lubricating additive, which tends to be less toxic than the lead and just as effective.
Kestas
Staff member
Manufacturers switched to hardened seats earlier than 74. The owners manual for my 71 Cutlass specifically states that the engine is designed to run on unleaded.
I would use it once every 4 or five tankfulls. That will put a little lead on the valve seats. Any more, and the aforementioned problems are probably greater than any incremental benefits.
Whilst some manufactures had hardened valve seats early on there are a number of cars that need a valve seat recession additive up until 1984. This was about the time unleaded fuel was introduced into Australia.
My father has a '84 Holden Camira and it requires a valvesaver additive.
And, it was my understanding that lead also increased the Octane rating on the gas. That was an issue with many high compression cars when unleaded fuel came out here as it was a lower octane rating than the leaded fuel. High octane unleaded was not then available. Standard unleaded is 91 octane, whilst Super (leaded) was 95-96. We now have 95 octane premium unleaded and 98 Octane,= such as Shell Optimax.
There is some talk that the standard unleaded will be dropped and we will only have the 95 & 98 Octane.
My father has a '84 Holden Camira and it requires a valvesaver additive.
And, it was my understanding that lead also increased the Octane rating on the gas. That was an issue with many high compression cars when unleaded fuel came out here as it was a lower octane rating than the leaded fuel. High octane unleaded was not then available. Standard unleaded is 91 octane, whilst Super (leaded) was 95-96. We now have 95 octane premium unleaded and 98 Octane,= such as Shell Optimax.
There is some talk that the standard unleaded will be dropped and we will only have the 95 & 98 Octane.
Don't they have lead substitutes for this sort of thing? Also, do octane rating systems vary by country, eg is my 87 octane gas the same as 87 in Australia?
Australia uses RON (Research Octane Number), the USA uses MON. Personally, I'm not sure what the difference is.
I *think* 87 MON = 91 octane RON, and the USA's 93 octane MON = 98 octane RON.
Losiho,
there's no real correlation between the two.
There's an item called "fuel sensitivity", which is the difference between the two, and it varies with the fuel composition.
Larger (i.e. the difference between the two) is bad.
2,2,4 trimethyl pentane (octane) is 100 on both scales.
Some people use the (R+M)/2, or the average.
there's no real correlation between the two.
There's an item called "fuel sensitivity", which is the difference between the two, and it varies with the fuel composition.
Larger (i.e. the difference between the two) is bad.
2,2,4 trimethyl pentane (octane) is 100 on both scales.
Some people use the (R+M)/2, or the average.
In the USA, to assure uniform posting standards and to give recognition that motor octane and research octane are both important, the Federal Trade Commission in the 1970s promulgated a rule that the octane posted on the pump must be the average of the motor and research octane numbers. This is usually called the (R+M)/2 method.
Before that, the oil companies usually used the research method to advertise, as that method yields the higher number for typical gasoline.
I don't know about now, but back then, there was usually a 10 point difference between motor and research octane for premium fuels, and about 8 to 9 for regular grade fuels. So, as a rule of thumb, for fuels typically available in the USA, to convert research to USA octane, you subtract approximately 4 to 5 points, and to convert USA to research, you add approximately 4 to 5 points.
Before that, the oil companies usually used the research method to advertise, as that method yields the higher number for typical gasoline.
I don't know about now, but back then, there was usually a 10 point difference between motor and research octane for premium fuels, and about 8 to 9 for regular grade fuels. So, as a rule of thumb, for fuels typically available in the USA, to convert research to USA octane, you subtract approximately 4 to 5 points, and to convert USA to research, you add approximately 4 to 5 points.
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