Abrasive effect of Unleaded Fuel

[rey_rya]

I read an article regarding the effect of unleaded gasoline in the engine particularly in the part that comes contact with the fuel (valves, valve seats etc). mabilis daw makagasgas(makasira) sa mga mentioned parts.Kaya nga hardened ang mga bagong labas ng valve components ngayon. May suggestion pa nga na if you have an engine running in a leaded gas for some years, you can use unleaded gas once in a while to decarbonized the engine......... Please need your inputs on this ...thanks.

[Picard]

Leaded gas? ediba ilang years nang wala yun? If your car runs on unleaded gasoline, we don't have any choice but to use unleaded gasoline.

[rey_rya]

Leaded gas? ediba ilang years nang wala yun? If your car runs on unleaded gasoline, we don't have any choice but to use unleaded gasoline.

Wala na bang leaded gas sa Phils? I believed ung premium is the leaded gas (di ko na masyadong alam ang mga klase ng gasoline dyan) Anyway, what Im trying to emphasize is the effect of the unleaded gas on the engine lalo kung old model na ung engine.

[uwak18]

Dba lahat unleaded na beacause of the Clean air act. Octane rating nalang at yung additives nalang. Pero hindi ako sure.

[tr1ck5h07]

Premium gasoline is also unleaded. The big 3 (Petron, Caltex, and Shell) do not (and should not) have lead in their gasoline anymore.

[Picard]

Wala na bang leaded gas sa Phils? I believed ung premium is the leaded gas (di ko na masyadong alam ang mga klase ng gasoline dyan) Anyway, what Im trying to emphasize is the effect of the unleaded gas on the engine lalo kung old model na ung engine.

Wala na pong leaded gasoline dito sa Pilipinas. It's illegal to sell leaded gas here. "Premium" is just an descriptive word for unleaded gasoline nowadays (Premium unleaded); it means it is a higher octane unleaded gasoline.

[theveed]

Actually, Premium or mid-tier fuels sold sa mga gas stations have LEAD SUBSTITUTES but are still unleaded fuels, mainly marketed to CARB or older engine cars.

Octane is pretty much the same

[Galactus]

Wala na pong leaded gasoline dito sa Pilipinas. It's illegal to sell leaded gas here. "Premium" is just an descriptive word for unleaded gasoline nowadays (Premium unleaded); it means it is a higher octane unleaded gasoline.

Not true. In the case of Shell, their Premium & Unleaded have the same octane rating (93). I would surmise that the difference between the 2 would be the greater(?) amount of additives and detergents in their Premium gasoline (to justify the higher cost, perhaps?)

[Alpha_One]

I read an article regarding the effect of unleaded gasoline in the engine particularly in the part that comes contact with the fuel (valves, valve seats etc). mabilis daw makagasgas(makasira) sa mga mentioned parts.Kaya nga hardened ang mga bagong labas ng valve components ngayon. May suggestion pa nga na if you have an engine running in a leaded gas for some years, you can use unleaded gas once in a while to decarbonized the engine......... Please need your inputs on this ...thanks.

This is only relevant on really old engines, like the 70's or older sort. *All* modern engines are designed to run on the unleaded stuff. I think even the old engines can have the seats hardened to take unleaded fuel, I'm not sure though.

[mbeige]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaded_gasoline#Lead

Lead
The mixture known as gasoline, when used in high compression internal combustion engines, has a tendency to ignite early (pre-ignition or detonation) causing a damaging "engine knocking" (also called "pinging" or "pinking") noise. Early research into this effect was led by A.H. Gibson and Harry Ricardo in England and Thomas Midgley and Thomas Boyd in the United States. The discovery that lead additives modified this behavior led to the widespread adoption of the practice in the 1920s and therefore more powerful higher compression engines. The most popular additive was tetra-ethyl lead. However, with the discovery of the environmental and health damage caused by the lead, and the incompatibility of lead with catalytic converters found on virtually all automobiles since 1975, this practice began to wane in the 1980s. Most countries are phasing out leaded fuel; different additives have replaced the lead compounds. The most popular additives include aromatic hydrocarbons, ethers and alcohol (usually ethanol or methanol).
In the U.S., where lead was blended with gasoline—primarily to boost octane levels—since the early 1920s, standards to phase out leaded gasoline were first implemented in 1973. In 1995, leaded fuel accounted for only 0.6 % of total gasoline sales and less than 2,000 tons of lead per year. From January 1, 1996, the Clean Air Act banned the sale of leaded fuel for use in on-road vehicles. Possession and use of leaded gasoline in a regular on-road vehicle now carries a maximum $10,000 fine in the United States. However, fuel containing lead may continue to be sold for off-road uses, including aircraft, racing cars, farm equipment, and marine engines until 2008. The ban on leaded gasoline led to thousands of tons of lead not being released in the air by automobiles, and resulted in lowering levels of lead in people's bloodstreams.
A side effect of the lead additives was protection of the valve seats from erosion. Many classic cars' engines have needed modification to use lead-free fuels since leaded fuels became unavailable. However, "Lead substitute" products are also produced and can sometimes be found at auto parts stores.
Gasoline, as delivered at the pump, also contains additives to reduce internal engine carbon buildups, improve combustion, and to allow easier starting in cold climates.
In most of South America, Africa, and some parts of Asia and the Middle East, leaded gasoline is common.

[Alpha_One]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaded_gasoline#Lead

Wow, so ethanol is comparable to leaded fuel in valve seat protection?

[mbeige]

Can't answer, I just posted that link for reference...

[ptk675]

lead in gasoline serves as a lubricant but afaik this is only a problem with really old engines (maybe circa 70s and older) because all modern engines have hardened valves, valve seats etc to cope with unleaded fuel. unleaded fuel has other lubricating components in place of lead anyway.

[recklus]

you don't have to worry, unleaded is perfectly fine, aircraft engines use them since mas mababa carbon deposits. anyway, i had an instructor in the aviation industry, he said kahit na sabihin nila unleaded yan it still has very small amounts of lead (assuming he's right), he even points out that aircraft piston engines commonly use 100LL fuel, LL means low lead, di raw matanggal lead completely. hehe i believe him naman, instructor ko eh,

[OTEP]

Unleaded fuel is not really abrasive.

It's just that leaded fuel has more inherent lubricating properties.

All newer gasoline engines 70's and up are designed to use unleaded fuel.