Hello, I own a 1984 512 BBi not federalized. My question is if i use no ethanol fuel is it still beneficial to add lead in it and if yes, what is the best brand for lead additive product? Thank you so much, please if you can email your answer at [email protected] Best Albert
Supposedly the lead in older fuels provided a buffer between exhaust valves and their seats. The thought was that a hot exhaust valve would have microscopic spots that would actually weld themselves to the face of the seat. When the valve pulled away from the seat those teensy tiny welds would break, over time leaving a rough surface that would cause valve recession. The lead in the exhaust gasses was said to prevent this from happening. How important is it? Who knows. I just add the lead substitute for peace of mind. I use Redline, as it's concentrated and seams to go farther.
If you have a car that is designed to run on unleaded why use a lead substitute. A car designed to run on unleaded should have hardened valve seats so the extra precaution is probably just a waste of money.
It's fairly important on cars that do not have hardened exhaust seats and haven't had lead pounded into them for a lot of miles - ie old, low mileage muscle cars are known to pound their exhaust valve seats in and some older VW's have the issue as well. I doubt it'd be an issue on a 512BB or any other aluminum headed engine as they have seat inserts that should be fairly hard. That said, I have no idea on the metallurgy of them and Ferrari are known to not always use the right material for the job...
Can you buy lead additive any more? I've never seen it, but then again I've never looked either. It certainly doesn't seem like a bad idea to run leaded gas at least occasionally for cars built in that era given the valve seat concern. I've seen "lead substitute" additives, but have no idea if they have the same beneficial benefits on valves/seats.
It's available but not necessarily the same stuff that was originally blended into the gasoline. I've heard complaints of sticking valves from using lead-substitute additives
There is some good info here: Lead fuel additive According to a poster on that thread, the TEL (Lead) has some issues itself in addition to being highly toxic. It is still available from one manufacturer, but will soon be shut down. The discussion suggests Redline lead substitute helps the valve issue. I'd be interested in hearing more about issues with lead substitute additives -- they were sounding pretty good to me after reading that AACA thread.
There's a good discussion of Redline on Fchat here (http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/vintage-thru-365-gtc4-sponsored-redline-restorations/376678-lead-substitute.html) that suggests that Redline is beneficial for valves but recommends using half the amount Redline specifies.
lead -tetra-ethyl lead-has one function in gasoline as an additive, from a chemistry perspective: it is an ANTI-DETONANT. period if you have pre-ignition, pinging under load...that is what its for... it has no capacity for increasing the BTU f the fuel-ergo, your cars engine will not "runn better and burn hotter, and make more power" 2nd law of thermodynamics: there is NO free lunch Whart leads intent is, is to make sure there is a controlled flame front, as opposed to an "explosion"-detonation. The forceses involved on engine parts-pistons, rings, etc, is a 20-30X difference with pinging! The lubrication of valve seats is an unquantifiable, secondary, unintended consequence, and mostly an old wives tale-speaking from the perspective of the true nature of whats going on iside your engine. Don't waste your time and money on voodoo in a can...better spent on a competant mechanical practitioner....
I don't care about cost -- any additive is about 0.000001% of the cost of maintaining a Ferrari so it is a non-issue. I also don't care about anti-detonation. I do care about the lubrication properties and eliminating the potential for "mini-welds" that lead and substitutes are reported to prevent because that seems important. I (and I suspect the OP) am/are not considering additives in lieu of a mechanic - I have zero mechanical issues but I share the OP's desire to understand the best way to treat the engine so that it runs its best and is operating under the most favorable circumstances for how it was built. Whether the lubrication benefit of lead was intended or not isn't really relevant, the important point is whether lead actually was a lubricant and whether it is beneficial to try to duplicate that today in older engines.
Actually, the second law is: "You can't win, you can't break even, and you're not allowed out of the game"
