A lot of research went into the production of this web-site! I contacted petrol companies, the additive companies, and NRMA etc to get information and advice. Many I spoke to by phone, others I sent emails. This page is a summary of specific comments and advice I was given by the technical sections of these companies. You will find some of the comments contradicting each other (in one instance even from the same company!), but I'm just telling you what they told me! |
NRMA I have a lot of respect for the "Technical Help" section of the NRMA. I have had reason to ask their advice on a few occassions in the past, and always found them to be friendly, helpful, and the advice given down-to-earth and practical. So they were one of the first places I contacted. I first telephoned them and spoke to one of their technical assistants, and later emailed them. The phone enquiry was on general matters concerning LRP and additives, and produced the usual friendly, open, practical comment and advice. The email enquiry was more specifically to do with the safety of using Unleaded in a car without a catalytic converter. The emailed reply I got to this could almost have been taken from a petrol-company press-release, but was still informative. The person I spoke to on the first enquiry said that they had received quite a number of complaints about LRP. The problems reported were the ones quoted on earlier pages; rough-running, difficult starting, sooting-up of spark plugs, increased engine temperature, pinging etc. However he had not had reports of fumes or petrol smells, but reasoned that this could be caused by higher engine temperature, resulting in greater evaporative emissions. He also said, although hastening to point out that this was a personal opinion and that he had no specific proof, that he suspected some LRP was not 96 octane as the petrol companies claimed. He said that he had a car running on LRP that now experienced some pinging that was not evident when it was running on Super. When I asked about using additives, he said that in his opinion, using Premium Unleaded and an over-the-counter additive, such as Valvemaster, would certainly produce a much better fuel than LRP. The point was also made that for vehicles with low-compression engines, normal Unleaded could be used, as these engines would not require the higher octane-rating of Premium Unleaded. The email enquiry, as I mentioned, was mainly in regard to potential health issues using Unleaded (which is claimed to have higher amounts of harmful chemicals than the old Leaded Super) in older vehicles not fitted with a catalytic converter. The reply I received stated that the levels of benzene (which is used to raise the octane) was "essentially the same in leaded and unleaded" because we used a lower-octane unleaded - 91, instead of the 95 octane form of unleaded used in Europe. When Premium Unleaded was introduced locally, the amount of benzene was increased, from 2% in normal Unleaded, to around 3% in Premium Unleaded. However this was still well below the Australian Standard limit of 5%. The reply also stated that the additives used to produce LRP were an "adequate substitute for lead", and that these additives had been "extensively tested for their impacts on health and the environment, and found to be acceptable". Using an over-the-counter additive was optional, but should not be necessary unless the vehicle was being used under "very arduous conditions, such as towing heavy loads continuously at high speeds for long periods". An interesting point mentioned was that unleaded was the preferred fuel for 2-stroke engines as it leaves less deposits in the engine that cause corrosion. There was also evidence to suggest that cylinder bore and piston-ring wear was less using unleaded than when using leaded. By the time I received this reply, I had already begun using the Unleaded-and-additive mix, partly on the recommendation of the first person I spoke to; and am happy that I took this advice. CALTEX Caltex was the next place I called; mainly because I have been using Caltex fuel. (This is not out of any particular preference for that brand, just because that is the closest service-station!). The Technical Rep there was the first to tell me that the additives used in LRP differed from state to state. He told me that in NSW Caltex used manganese. We didn't discuss the reported problems people had experienced with LRP, although he said that manganese had been found to burn cleaner than phosphor. He told me that Caltex's Premium Unleaded was 95 octane. He said that they would probably move to the higher octane of, for example, Shell's Optimax, as the market demanded, but at present there was no specific demand to increase the octane rating of their Premium Unleaded. Significantly, perhaps, it was Caltex Premium Unleaded that I first used when I changed to using Premium Unleaded and Flashlube. (Although the addition of a chemical like Flashlube would possibly raise the octane rating slightly). SHELL I sent an email to the Technical Advice section of Shell, and received a phone call the following morning from a rep who was most helpful, and spent quite a while talking to me. He said that the rusty-orange colour of the spark plugs was caused by manganese. He said that Shell's LRP was based on their Premium Unleaded (their "normal" 96 octane Premium Unleaded, not the new Optimax) with the addition of Valvemaster. To keep costs down, the detergents that are added to all Unleaded petrol were removed. Interestingly, when I later spoke to another Technical rep, I was told that LRP was not based on Premium Unleaded, that it was really "a different product". I was also told that the additives used varied from state to state, and that in NSW manganese was the additive in their LRP. I'm only guessing, but this apparent contradiction could be the result of Shell drawing supplies from other companies. For example, if they were to draw their supplies from Caltex in NSW, then the additive would be manganese, and not the phosphor-based Valvemaster that Shell themselves use in their own refineries. A local Shell service-station proprietor told me that Valvemaster was introduced as an over-the-counter item in Shell service stations when the higher-octane Optimax was introduced, thereby giving people with older cars the option of using a higher-octane fuel than the 96-octane LRP. The first rep was telling me about an additive used in the U.S. called MTBE wich had become "an environmental nightmare" because if it leaked into the ground (which is what had happened in U.S.) it made it's way into town water supplies, making the water undrinkable. MTBE wasn't used in Australia, although he said it could be present in cheap imported petrol. He said that the petrol companies were trying to pressure authorities into ensuring that this additive was not present in these imported fuels. When I asked about the additives used in Unleaded, and the dangers of using this fuel in a vehicle without a catalytic converter, he said that while these additives were in greater concentrations in unleaded than in the old super, only benzene was identified as being carcinogenic, and that was still well below the limits set by the local health authorities. BP The next petrol company I spoke to was BP. Interestingly, this was the only place where the technical rep I spoke to was a woman! Anyway, she was very helpful, and was the first to explain how the petrol companies shared their resources; drawing from each other's supplies in different states. She said that BP used phosphor in their LRP, however it varied from state to state because of this sharing of supplies. She said they preferred not to use manganese, as there was a suspicion that it was a factor in Parkinson's desease. This, she hastened to add, was not proven, but it was enough for them to prefer to use a phosphor based LRP wherever they could, even if it was more expensive for them to do so. She said that phosphor had been known to cause sooting of the spark plugs. She said that in order of preference, the additives they would use for their LRP would be potassium (she didn't say if that was used anywhere by them), phosphor, and manganese. She also said that there are no significant differences in Unleaded petrol produced by the different companies. She explained that there could be slight variations in detergents or additives, but nothing like the differences that existed in LRP. FLASHLUBE I contacted the technical sections of both Flashlube and Valvemaster on a number of occassions; in the course of finding out about the products, and what they were claimed to do, etc. And these details have been written out on the previous page, so I won't repeat them again here. On this page I will just mention a couple of other things they had to say that weren't listed in the general product description I gave previously. I mentioned how this product was originally developed for use in LPG conversions. Well, it is still being used for that, however they said that market is declining, and they see their business moving more into the lead-replacement market. They are also exporting the product now, and this they see as another area of growth for their business. They said that they had heard many reports of problems with LRP, and naturally enough, considered that their product, mixed with Unleaded or Premium Unleaded (depending on the needs of the engine) would result in a car running much better than on LRP. Some emphasis was also given to the cleaning and cooling properties of the product, with the claim that engines would tend to run a little cooler with Flashlube. It also helps to clean carburettors and fuel injection systems especially. (Although Unleaded has a significant amount of detergent anyway). The ratio of 1ml per litre they say is sufficient, and there is no need to over-dose. However no harm will be done if you do. Flashlube can also be used in cars fitted with a catalytic conveter, without causing any harm to the converter. They say that there can be benefits in running it in later model cars running unleaded as it does provide extra protection and lubrication. But it is not required, of course. As Flashlube is potassium-based, I asked them about the claim that potassium causes valves to stick at very low operating temperatures. (See quote from Valvemaster below. The theory behind this was that at very low temperatures, potassium could tend to solidify around the valve-stems). Their chemist said that they had not heard of this happening. And potassium had been used as an additive in Europe for many years without problem. In fact, Flashlube had been credited by some users as having freed sticking valves, due to it's lubrication properties. VALVEMASTER Valvemaster also consider that LRP is not an especially good product. On their web-site they say: "It is not formulated for conditions of high speed, high-load driving". That's what everyone else says too, of course! They confirmed that Shell's LRP uses their product. They don't have anything to do with the production of the petrol itself, or what other additives are used, of course, but they did say that their product was used at the recommended ratio in Shell's LRP. As mentioned previously, they say that the product has been extensively tested by both them and Shell. Tests have been conducted here in Australia, as well as in Britain. One of the tests, conducted by Shell, involved taking plain unleaded petrol, with no additives, and alternately testing the fuel with various additives. These tests showed lead to be the most effective additive, followed by phosphor (which is the base-chemical of Valvemaster) and then potassium. Valvemaster also performed their own tests which involved running an engine for long hours at high speed. This too was done using plain petrol, and then trying different additives; with the same sort of results. They said that potassium had a known problem with causing sticking valves at low temperatures. As I understand it, this is because it solidifies around the valves, thereby causing them to stick. They claimed that sodium caused corrosion of the valves. I asked them about the problems reported with plug-fouling using phosphor. They acknowledged that "reports of widespread plug-fouling" had occurred in Western Australia early in 2000, however they claimed that "the general petrol company consensus is that the fouling was due to the poor driveability index of the fuel, not the additive". I presume that means that they reckon it was the petrol that was crook, not the phosphor additive! Another technical advisor said that it seemed to also be a product of local driving conditions; all short-distance driving would tend to cause this. I wouldn't have thought that driving conditions in Western Australia involved all short distances, but I suppose if you live in Perth and never go out of the city...? The exact recommended ratio seemed to be a bit vague, with several figures being quoted in the description of it's use and effectiveness. However the syringe that is sold over the counter contains 10ml, and this is sufficient for 20 litres of fuel. I was told to use that as a guide. I have to say that in talking to them, you get a definite impression that they are a very professional organisation, producing a high-quality product! That's not to say that other companies aren't, (and I'm still using Flashlube), but it's just that impression came across quite strongly whenever I was talking to them. |
Okay, now you've read all this, click on the old car here for the last page, "Who Wrote This". Here I will tell you who I am, and a little of my background, as well as acknowledging at least some of the sources of all this information. |
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