Can I just use unleaded fuel?

[Clyde9]

From: Broswinnie1  (Original Message)    
Sent: 8/2/2003 9:29 PM

Hi, I just bought a 74 Winnebago with a 318, can I just run unleaded in it? the owner didn't say



From: denison    
Sent: 8/2/2003 9:52 PM

As I understand it, running unleaded fuel will result in some increase in the wear of the valves and valve seats. If you were going to be putting 10k miles on it every year, I would advise trying to remember to put in an additive like Bardahl and others make, to replace the effect the tetraethyl lead had, but not to worry about it if you missed a few tankfuls now and then. If you are only going to average 4k miles a year, I think something else in the engine would wear out or die of old age long before you got to need a valve job. I have a 72 with the 413, which was made with leaded gas in mind, but it still had hardened valve seats in the head, and I think the exhaust valves have stellite heads. I have put 40k miles on the RV, it has 90k miles total, and I expect the rings will need replacing before the valves go bad. denison



From: Ir_0008d1    
Sent: 8/3/2003 5:35 PM

We had that problem in England a couple of years ago, when all owners of classic campers (and cars/motorbikes) would be finding themselves with no fuel to buy at the service stations, until someone came up with the idea of adding an additive to our existing fuel. We were using leaded 4 star petrol (gas, as you say in the usa), and our vehicles wouldn't run on unleaded. But the petrol manufacturers gave us another fuel called LRP (or it might have been LRG), I think it meant Liquid Replacement Petrol, not to be confused with a similar sounding abbreviation, that I guess was a kind of leaded 4 star with an additive already in it. I found that my 21 year old Honda motorcycle did run on unleaded but it sputtered a bit. I read that all older vehicles can have their seat valves hardened if they pay for it. Maybe there is a way of doing this, or having it done for Winnebago's?



From: leftyizme    
Sent: 8/3/2003 8:29 PM

Yes, having the valve seats replaced with hardened valve seats is a simple procedure for any machine shop to do. Most shops do it automatically as part of a "head-job" on older heads that haven't already had the valve seats replaced. --lefty



From: denison    
Sent: 8/3/2003 9:32 PM

I have been known to pour a small amount of motor oil into the fuel tank when I fill it up - maybe a half a quart of oil to 20 gallons, to act as a general valve lubricant - when I couldn't find the additive. denison



From: Jhoffa_    
Sent: 3/20/2004 5:34 PM

IMVHO, sure.. Use it and don't worry about it.

The lead lubricates the valve seats and they will suffer more wear as a result of this. No problem, by the time it needs a valve job, swap some later model heads with hardened seats installed if yours doesn't have them already.



From: denisondc    
Sent: 3/16/2006 9:35 AM

I think I am typical. I put in the additive if I am in a good mood, remember to do it, and have some of the additive with me. I use the Bardahl brand. I probably do it 10% of the time. These engines were built with better parts than the engines in the mopar passenger cars got. Heads with induction hardened valve seats, valves with stellite heads. The exhaust valves in my 413 have sodium filled valve stems.
The consensus is that your engine will wear out from being unused (such as corrosion on the piston rings) before it wears out (its valve seats and valves from lack of tetraethyl lead) from use. My engine has 103k miles on it, has never been rebuilt. It uses ~ a qt of oil per 800 miles, and gives a pretty puff of blue smoke each time we do a start with the engine warm. This is probably due to the rubber valve stem seals being over-vulcanized with time.
I have been known to pour half a pint of motor oil into the fuel tanks, to lubricate the valve seats and anything else. Mostly I try to do this when I know the RV is going to sit unused for months.
I think the gasoline stations in N. Va. stopped selling leaded fuel in the 70s. The last time I saw leaded gasoline for sale in the U.S., was in Alpine TX, in 1993, which was also the last time I saw it for less than $1.00 per gallon - $0.99.9.

P.S. My browser isn't Internet Explorer, and the MSN search feature seems to prefer I.E. Instead I use the search feature that every browser has. In Mozilla its in the edit menu, the 'find in page'.