Is it fine to run 103 leaded octane on our cars? I somewhat figured that it would mess up the O2 sensors but the higher octane could compensate for it. There is also some 112 octane around here that's leaded as well but if the 103 octane is good, then the 112 will be too.

 

you'll need colder plugs, i.e, 11's....

it will kill cat, o2 sensor, etc

 

You don't have 100 unleaded there? It's good on the oxygen sensor and the cat!

 

I only planning on running it through one tank... if that. I also have a high-flow cat, no stockers.


And littlemilla, I think the 103 may be unleaded but I'm positive the 112 is leaded.

 

if yea REALY wanted you could run some VP racing race gas. the AMA banned leaded gas this year so motocross racers in the states run high end unleadd race gas

its like $20 a gallon though

 

You should be fine if you only use leaded gas occasionally.

 

should i be scared of what is going on?

 

No need to worry yet josh.

 

Go the paint store and buy some toulene

 

i accidentally got leaded gas before. i felt like it hurt the performance of my car, but hey what do i know. dont quote me on that, but to answer your question you will be okay running leaded once.

 

I hate to rain on your parade. But here's how I see it.

I did research on the effects of lead in gasoline back in college. In fact, I had a massive grant from the NSF to find out exactly what happens. Here's the scoop.

Lead in gasoline is actually a chemical called tetraethyl lead. It's a metalorganic compound that is added to reduce the likelihood of engine knocking or as I recall predetonation. It was considered acceptable at the time because we all know what happens with detonation.

The problem is that when tetraethyl lead is burned in your engine, it is emitted as elemental lead. When that lead goes into the atmosphere, it undergoes a chemical reaction with carbon dioxide and falls to the earth as lead carbonate. That compound finds its way to the street, sidewalk, dirt, front yards, household dust and just about everywhere else - including your dinner.

Now what happens when you ingest some of that? It basically goes into your blood and does a number on your blood-brain barrier. There is a technical term but I'll just shorten it to say that your blood capillaries hemorage and parts of your brain start to die off. It's worse in little kids, actually. Environmental lead is still believed to be causing significant learning difficulties in inner city youth. Now, what does that translate to? Yes, inner city crime, violence and what have you. You and I pay for it ultimately with higher taxes.

I for one can't ethically excuse running leaded gas under any circumstances. There are better technological answers. One, get your engine, fuel system, etc fixed. These cars can run 500 hp on unleaded if you use your head. That is, if you still have a functioning head after breathing in all that lead.

By the way, if you think lead carbonate fallout is toxic, open up any chemical handbook and lookup the LD50 statistic for tetraethyl lead. You would be safer off burning mustard gas for gasoline.

 

****!. never really knew what the lead poisoning done to my brain.

i live in a house that was tore apart when we moved in. the paint was stripped sink everything was gutted. It was a really old hosue and had lead paint . after everything happend and what not, i was told that the air in the house was jam packed with lead paint dust in the air and when i was growing my body injested so much and yeah messed me up. had to go to the SPECAIL class in school and have dificulty with spelling and pretty much all english skills :S.

so your saying the lead that was in the air killed parts of my brain ???

 

Sorry, I'm not an M.D. I can't say for certain whether one individual would suffer the effects of lead poisoning from living in a house with significant levels of airborne lead dust. In general terms, that can happen. The only way to be certain would be to have a test for lead in your hair, blood or bone. But the problem with looking at adults or older teenagers for that matter is that lead is rather effectively excreted. You can't go back 10 or 15 years and evaluate whether you suffered lead poisoning as a 5 year old, to my knowledge (things may have advanced, it's been 30 years since I did my study). Children are far more at risk because lead changes the blood chemistry that ultimately sets off the brain hemoraging. Typically, growing children ingest lead dust by eating food with their unwashed hands after playing in the dirt in their yard or on the floor in dirty apartments. Some actually eat lead paint chips, a well known condition called Pica. As I recall, children who suffer from high levels of lead in the blood or hair are treated with a process called chelation, where a chemical is administered that causes lead to adhere to and be excrerted safely. I suspect if you were placed in a special ed class at the time, your blood lead levels were pretty closely evaluated - hopefully.

 

Bigmack is going braindead.... Guess you'll have to render that FD to me

 

wow... Is there a chance that since it was 30 years since your study that it may be ineffectively matched with today's leaded gasolines? I really hate to hear this kind of stuff... I sure hope its not the same still.

 

Nope. Tetraethyl lead has always been and will always be tetraethyl lead. There's no formulation changes that will alter its toxicity-- but on the other hand, nor its so far unparalleled ability to supress detonation. Regardless, there's a reason why the world (and a growing list of world championship racing organizations) is phasing out its use in automotive fuel.

Unless you're running 17+ psi boost with serious ignition curves, you'd be better off running some of the quality unleaded racing fuels available.

 

propaganda!

on a serious note, very informative. i would like to think all exhaust is bad anyways.

 

just wondering how you "accidentally" put leaded gas in your car. from what ive been TOLD, not seen is the leaded and unleaded gas nozzles are different sizes. the leaded is bigger then the unleaded so you cant fit the nozzle into your gas tank cause it wouldnt fit. they did that so people wouldnt accidentally use leaded gas in their cars. thats what ive been told

 

^^^ if its aviation gas in a jerry can he coudl ahve put it in his car

 

at the racetrack over here, theres a 76 station inside and one side is leaded and the other was unleaded. i didnt want to wait in line so i went on the otherside.

 

man... **** leaded.. after i read that.. damn im against that **** now.. air planes run off it dont they?... **** airplanes!.. lol goign in a jet from now on.. clean burning alcohol.. lol

 

I think a rather important lesson was missed in this, that of scale. The effects Mazdanikon99 mentions, toxic psychosis, are the result of prolonged exposure, lead accumulates in neural tissue causing progressive dementia. The point being, that a random little racer running a tank of leaded gas will have no statistical impact on anyone if handled properly. The problem was a function of widespread use by almost every car in that era.

I have to confess I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I saw the attempt to link it with inner city crime and violence. That's the most laughable theory I've seen in a long time. It's about as funny as global warming and the egg so many people have on their faces over it, after finding it's actually a function of solar emission variance and gamma radiation stimulating cloud formation. Man has no impact on climate outside of local regions such as acid rain or direct small scale events like seeding clouds. If you want to look for a cause of inner city crime and violence look to the entitlement mentality and the culture those groups create for themselves.

A more interesting note on the dementia caused by lead is a term we've all heard that comes from it, Crackpot. It originates from a century ago in England where the lower classes commonly used cheap coated lead pots for boiling water etc. With age or damage the pot's coating formed cracks exposing the lead core and invariably polluting their personal water intended for ingestion to high levels of lead. The effect of this exposure was a psychosis which exhibited the symptoms we now call a crackpot. Pretty interesting I always thought. I'll leave it at that for the inner city youth ROFL. I didn't see anyone mention the carcinogenic threat of leaded gas, that's the real thing to be concerned about, not toxic psychosis associated with significant exposure to lead.


Kevin T. Wyum