So if there is no "Super", and many people are having problems with Lead Replacement Petrol, what else can we do? Well, we can mix our own "lead replacement petrol"! Now, I know what you are thinking: "Can we come up with a better fuel by mixing it ourselves than the petrol companies have done?" Well, according to the experiences of people who have tried, including myself, and according to recommendations from organisations even like the NRMA, the answer is "Yes"! And remember, after LRP is phased out, around the end of 2004, we will have to mix up our own brew anyway! Now, you don't need a degree in chemical science to do this; mixing your own lead replacement petrol is as simple as buying an appropriate additive and adding the required amount each time you put petrol in. But before we look at the actual additives , we should look at what petrol you should use. WHICH PETROL? You have a choice of two (well, three actually); normal Unleaded, or Premium Unleaded. Which one you choose will depend mostly on the compression ratio of your engine. The general recommendation is if your compression-ratio is below 9:1, then normal Unleaded should be okay. Personally, I'd lower that to around 8.5:1. Anything above that and I think you will be wanting the higher octane of Premium Unleaded. For some people, this will be the main reason for changing to this "mix-your-own" approach; it can provide a fuel with a higher octane-rating than LRP. Here's how the ratings go. LRP is 96. Normal Unleaded is 91. Premium Unleaded was originally 95 or 96, but the newer higher-octane products, like Shell's Optimax, are 98. The old leaded Super used to be 97, but then it was lowered to 96 before being phased out. If you are going for a high-octane mix, check with the petrol company to see what octane rating their Premium Unleaded is; as some brands of petrol still use 96 octane Premium Unleaded. WHAT ADDITIVES ARE THERE? Well, if you go into your local Auto Accessories shop, you will probably see a whole shelf-full of different additives. But be careful when you choose; you need one that is specifically designed to be a replacement for lead, not just an "upper-cylinder lubricant". But even when you are looking at "lead replacement" products, there is still a few available to choose from. However, I will look at two specifically. Both of these products are highly regarded in the industry, and have a well-proven track-record. |
FLASHLUBE Valve-Saver Flashlube has been around for a long time. It was first introduced as an additive for cars converting to LPG. (LPG doesn't have lead either, of course, so also requires an additive to prevent VSR). Flashlube describe their Valve-Saver as "a combination of high-tech lead substitute additives designed to provide proven protection to the upper cylinder area." They claim that it protects valves and valve-seats from metal-to-metal contact as well as cleaning and protecting the upper-cylinder area. They claim that the product has been extensively tested, and on their web-site they show a graph of an engine tested for VSR running petrol without Flashlube, and then with Flashlube. They claim that it meets international standard ADR37 for both exhaust emission and fuel consumption. It apparently also won a prize on the "Great Australian Science Show". The product was up-dated in 1999, and now claims to be equal to lead as a preventative for VSR. (The original product was rated at 80% protection compared to lead). Flashlube is Potassium based, but has a total of 5 chemicals in it's formula. What impressed me about this product, is that it is not a new player in the market. It has been around for a long time, so it is well tried and tested. If it didn't work, it wouldn't still be sold! I had a personal recommendation and also found some recommendations from people who had used it, or knew someone who had used it, on a couple of internet sites. This is the product that I am now using (see the section below "But Do They Work?"). I had decided to try either this product or Valvemaster (see below), but went with Flashlube because initially I had trouble buying Valvemaster. (As it turns out, it is probably easier to find than Flashlube!). It is available in several forms. You can buy a kit which consists of a container and an injector system to inject it directly into the inlet manifold, or you can buy it in several different sized containers and just add it to your tank when you fill up. I bought it in a 1-litre bottle (which is enough for 1,000 litres of petrol), and carry a small bottle in the glovebox that holds enough for a tankful. Cost works out at about 1c per litre. If you use normal Unleaded, this actually makes it cheaper than LRP (which is about 3c per litre more than Unleaded). If you need Premium Unleaded, this does make it a bit more expensive, with the price of Premium Unleaded running at around 4c per litre more than LRP. But hey, if it works better, then it's worth it isn't it? After all, it's only a couple of dollars extra for a whole tank-full! It is available from Auto Accessories stores; but not all keep it, so you might have to shop around to find a place that stocks it. You can also buy direct from their web-site. Their web-site is: www.flashlube.com.au You can phone them on: 03 9329 8200 VALVE MASTER Valvemaster is not a new product either. According to their web-site, it was originally developed in the U.S. as a carburettor detergent, and used extensively during the 1960's and 1970's for this purpose. Then it was found to have the capability of acting as a preventative against VSR in cars using unleaded petrol. They claim that independant tests (which they have sent me a copy of) prove that Valvemaster is the most effective additive available. The tests show it being tested against other additives based on Potassium and Sodium etc. However it was not specifically tested against Flashlube, or indeed any other specific brand of additive. One series of these tests was conducted by Shell, who not only endorsed the product, but now use it themselves. Interestingly (especially in light of Flashlube's claims), they don't claim it to be equal to lead in VSR protection, but "the next-best protection to lead". They also claim that Valvemaster has had several years of successful use in North America, and New Zealand, and is the only VSR protection additive to have been registered by the US Environment Protection Agency. They say that it has passed Australian Standard AS4430.2 for lead substitutes. They also claim that Valvemaster keeps carburettors clean (of course!) and helps protect fuel tanks and the fuel system gainst corroson. Valvemaster is a phosphor-based product. It conatins 80% phosphate and 20% kerosene. As mentioned above, I had decided to use one of these two products, and initially tried to buy Valvemaster. However after calling three Auto Accessories shops and being told that they "hadn't heard of it", I decided to buy Flashlube. I then found out that Valvemaster is sold at service stations; although not all keep it, so again, you might have to shop around a bit. But most, if not all, Shell stations will have it, and you will find it in others as well. Mostly it is sold in a syringe-type applicator that treats "up to 20 litres" (that seems a bit vague, but that's what it says!). If you can get it in a larger bottle it will be cheaper, and you can also be more precise in how much you add; although that isn't critical. Cost works out at around 1c per litre; or probably a bit less if you buy it in a larger bottle. Their web-site is: www.valvemaster.com.au Or phone them on 1800 001066 Something else to consider: Valvemaster is what Shell use to make their LRP. So, if you own an older vehicle that doesn't require high-octane fuel, and you are presently using a phosphor-based LRP, you might end up with basically the same thing by using normal Unleaded and adding Valvemaster. (Although Unleaded has a detergent additive that LRP doesn't have). |
BUT DO THEY WORK? Well, from the tests that have been done, you would have to say yes, they must work! Remember, these products have both been around for a long time, and have gained wide-spread recognition and endorsement, so again, they must work otherwise they wouldn't still be on the market! But there is nothing like personal experience to prove the point! So I will give you just two examples; one being my own experiences, and one being the account by a member of an historic vehicle club, which is really what got me started on seriously investigating this whole matter! ONE EXAMPLE I am a member of a classic motorcycle club, and a member of a similar historic vehicles club related his own experiences with LRP. He also did some investigation of the issue of LRP and the alternatives of over-the-counter additives, and his experiences and findings were published in our club's newsletter. He owns an historic motorcycle (a 1944 Indian), and was "very concerned" with the way it was running on LRP. He found it was running rough, and abnormally hot, and was difficult to start when it was hot. After investigating alternate additives, in particular Flashlube, he was convinced that it was a safe and effective product, and so changed to using normal Unleaded and Flashlube. Since making this change, he reports that his machine runs the same as it did on the old leaded Super. |
MY OWN EXPERIENCES I have already explained the problems I was having on the previous page. And I have also mentioned above how I decided to use one of these additives, and ended up using Flashlube. So what happened with my vehicles? The car was the first to change. I had intended running it as low as possible on fuel, so I wouldn't be mixing the two, then change to Premium Unleaded and Flashlube. However a slightly inaccurate fuel gauge resulted in me running out of petrol totally! Luckily, I wasn't far from home, and a phone call to my daughter soon had a container of Premium Unleaded delivered to the car. I then went to my usual service station and put in some more Premium Unleaded and Flashlube. The difference was apparent almost immediately! My wife, who has a much keener sense of smell and, as I mentioned, dislikes the smell of petrol, was in the car at the time and one of the first things we noticed was the smell of petrol had all but gone! The car had gone from, in my wife's words, "stinking of petrol" to "hardly smell it at all!" It also felt better to drive; it was more responsive, and ran smoother. The idle was back to the pre-LRP smoothness too. And after it was home and parked, I noticed less heat coming from around the motor. This was a good comparison of the two fuels, as it ran on LRP and then on Premium Unleaded with Flashlube both on the same day, under the same conditions, and even using the same brand of petrol from the same service station! We even had occassion to travel the exact same route with each fuel; once with LRP and twice with the new mixture. So it was, as I said, an ideal test of the two fuels under exactly the same conditions. Since then it has been driven around town, on expressways, in hilly country, and the smoother running, and lack of fumes and smell, have been further confirmed. I have also noticed, even on the temperature gauge, that it seems to be running cooler. Now I did say that the apparent higher running temperature didn't show on the gauge, but what I have noticed is that under conditions where the engine temperature might be expected to drop, such as coming down a mountain pass etc, the temperature gauge now drops a bit, where before it would stay the same. The bike was next. I drained the petrol tank and then added some Premium Unleaded from a container, before going to the service station and filling up with Premium Unleaded; and adding the appropriate amount of Flashlube. Again, the change was apparent immediately. The bike felt to be running smoother, and was noticeably more responsive, and revved out more freely than it had been. And even after a reasonable distance, the hot fumey smell hasn't occurred. Since then it has been ridden on rural back-roads, and expressways, and is definitely more free-revving and responsive than it was when running on LRP. It is back to the way it felt on Super again! So, from my own experience I can definitely say that both the car and motorbike run better on a mixture of Premium Unleaded and Flashlube than they did on the manganese-based LRP I had been using. Only time will tell if the VSR protection is as good as it is claimed, but as I've said before, when you consider the amount of cars, such as taxis etc, that have LPG conversions and use this product, then I think we can feel fairly confident of it's abilities in this area too. |
THERE ARE OTHER PRODUCTS AVAILABLE I want to emphasise that the two products I have described above are not the only ones available. Nor am I particularly recommending one over the other; I am only relating what I have found out about these products, and my experiences with the one that I have used. Other lead-replacement products that you might like to check out are produced by Lucas and Moreys. Both of these are quite well known in the industry, but I haven't checked any details on these. |
Click on the old car again to go to the next page, and find out "What Do They Say?" See what the petrol companies, and NRMA, etc have to say about this whole lead-replacement issue and the products |
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WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES ? |
