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MG TD TF 1500 - Lead Substitute Additive?

Okay,
I am confused as usual. After checking the archive and searching...I still do not know if using a lead additive is good, required, not necessary or bad.

If we should be using it, what brand is best?

Thanks in advance,

best regards,

DaveL
dave lackey

Very few of us are using it... doesn't seem to be doing anything to valve seats... get them changed during a rebuild, but don't panic. I put regular unleaded in every week.....!
gblawson - TD#27667

Gordon,
Sounds kinda like I suspected...using the lead additive, seems to me, at least, would not be in the best interest of clean plugs...I dunno.

Just seems that the car would run longer and cleaner with unleaded petrol. ???
dave lackey

hello, save your cash and the environment at the same time. lead was added as an octane booster not a valve seat lubricant. a lot of folklore surrounds this subject, but "skinned knuckles" magazine did extensive study and testing of fuels when lead was being removed and ALL controlled test results showed NO adverse effects on engine wear with use of unleaded fuels. my own experience is limited to the purchase of a '35 hudson terraplane that came with 3 blocks and heads. 2 of the blocks and heads had only been run on LEADED fuels. (they were removed from service before the lead came out of the gas.) they both showed mild valve seat recession...the SAME as the engine that was in the car and had been run on unleaded fuel. sometimes i wonder if the evidence of valve seat recession was pinned on unleaded fuels when the wear actually occurred with the leaded fuels and was only discovered when an engine was removed for overhaul. regards, tom
tm peterson

Any more details on this?
Paul Wiley

Tom's information correlates with what I have on leaded fuel. I did go with hardened seats on my rebuild, but only because I've seen seat erosion on all sorts of engines in the past, and figured it was cheap insurance to have a more resistent seat.

warmly,
dave

Dave Braun

My problem with lead substitues was measuring it out.
How much for a half tank how much did I put in last time , was the tank full last time . Most additives tell you to dump one bottle per tank. They mean a 20 gal. tank not a 12 gal. tank . So you end up guessing about how much to pour in and winging it on dumping in about half a bottle. It was driving me loony.
After a while I pulled the plugs and they looked like they had been dipped in pancake batter and deep fried.
I stopped the additives and just used high test and I dont beat the snot out of the engine .
After one year I pulled the head and was very happy to see no valve errosion or any other of the horrible things you hear about non-leaded gas use. I put on about 5000 miles last year.
The TD is not a real high compression engine and most likly you are not driving it hard every day so it realy wont bother you to use high-test unleded.
Ride on mate, ride on.
Alan

This thread was discussed between 09/10/2006 and 13/10/2006

MG TD TF 1500 index

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