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<MISC> Unleaded fuel-help!
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Subject: <MISC> Unleaded fuel-help!
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From: "Brendon Whateley" <[email protected]>
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Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1996 15:39:42 -0700
If you use leaded fuel in a car designed for unleaded fuel, you can run into
several problems:
1) You will poison the Catalytic converter, this will happen very quickly and
will require replacement to repair.
2) You will damage the 02 or Lamda sensor(s) which will require replacement.
Running without this sensor will cause engine management problems.
3) Some alloys used in some engines are not compatible with leaded fuel, this
can result in various problems. The severity of the problems depend on the
design. (If I remember correctly, an example is some piston rings can't take
leaded fuel. I would consider broken rings to be a serious problem!)
If you run a car designed for leaded fuel on unleaded you can run into
different problems, the main one being damage to the valve seats. The amount
of damage depends on the design, generally older engines suffer damage quicker.
You end up needing a complete valve job, if you are lucky, else a new head.
Brendon.
'96 M3
'95 MX-5