Unleaded Fuel Conversion

In message , Rob Dixon writes

Its normally just fitting the head with hardened valve seats. I say "just" but this will probably cost more to do than the car is worth. The ignition timing may also have to be altered a couple of degrees but that's no big deal.

I would suggest running it on unleaded now. It could be a good few years before the valve seats wear out (if they do at all) and if the car is still a go'er at that stage a second hand head from a scrappy would be cheaper than having replacement seats in your existing head.

I used to run an E reg Escort on unleaded no problem - every fourth refill I filled with leaded.

If you're thinking about fuel 'catalysts' that use tin pellets or whatever, and either go in the fuel line or in the petrol tank, don't even think of wasting your money - they are a con, and have been prosecuted by the trading standards people - but still crop up under different names.

See how it runs on unleaded. If it pinks, retard the ignition a couple of degrees at a time until it stops pinking. Then just drive it normally. If it does suffer, a valve will burn out, but the car won't stop dead - just run badly. Then you can decide whether it's worth spending the several hundred pounds needed to convert the engine properly.

Alternately, you can get fuel additives in bottles from the likes of Halfords that replace the lead.

I know with older Cavaliers it's just a case of retrding or advancing the timing slightly.

If the car is H reg you can use unleaded. H reg is 1990-91 registered, and all new cars sold in the UK from 1/4/1988 had to be unleaded compatible. The most you need to do is retard the ignition slightly, or use super unleaded.

Are you sure it _needs_ to run on leaded petrol?

I had an H reg one, and it was unleaded only.

Of course, you could be talking not about a 1990/1991 H reg, but a 1970(?) one!

Pete.

My old Escort ('88 F) ran fine on unleaded, that was all it had ever had in it since new. I got shot of it at 150K. The guy who bought it is a friend of my dads, and its still going strong, but he did drop a diesel lump in it.

sQuick..

I was going to say my old H reg Escort (1991) ran on unleaded...

Donna

If it's a 90/91 H reg, no probs, alloy head will already have hardened valve seats, you MAY have to retard the ignition, but if it's a 1970 H reg, you'll need a converted head try ......

you could use an additive such as Millers VSP follow the "Classic" and "Fuel treatment" links

Although not the same vehice, I had an 89G Rover 216 some years back. The manual states that either leaded or unleaded can be used on this vehicle as long as there is no catalytic converter.

I used leaded once and the car ran OK if a little jumpy, but since unleaded was cheaper I stuck with that.

CD.

Nah, it'll run just fine on unleaded.

There's no need to buy expensive leaded petrol, it'll run on unleaded.

If its a 1.3 then it will definitely run on unleaded with no work required, as it will be an HCS engine, with hardened valve seats, and a knock sensor to automatically advance/retard the ignition timing according to the octane rating of the fuel being used.

/John (former owner of a G Plate 1990 1.3 Escort)

Any H reg Escort mark 4 or early mark 5 can use unleaded all the time. In the case of a mark 4 with regualr distrubutor igntiion you will need to retard the timing slightly *if* it pinks on unleaded.

Tim..

Since there's some confusion here about which H-Reg, can you give the approximate year of manufacture?

It's just that leaded petrol is virtually unobtainable, and has been for years.

There is no knock sensor on the pre Endura-E (i.e. Ford Ka era) HCS engines.

Tim..

There was on my 1990 Escort. (carb + breakerless dual coil ignition), and there was no other way of fiddling with the ignition timing.

/john

Yes there is- you can earth out the service connector (by the EDIS unit) to get -2 or -4 or -6 degrees advance if you get pinking.

Tim..