When i bought the car (last wednesday) I was given a bottle of lead replacement additive, and told to use it. which i did when i filled up. So is this necessary?? It would surprise me if the engine didn't have hardened valve seats to be honest...?! also, with the engine being a relatively low compression (9.5:1?) certainly under 10:1, is 98 ron fuel necessary? i filled up with standard 95 for the trip home and noticed no ill effects.
Your 84 qv uses unleaded fuel min 91 Ron, do not add lead additives. You should read the manual, but as far as I know none uses lead additives, my 88 uses premium unleaded 95 Ron. Sounds like the QV was designed to run on regular unleaded. Search this Ferrari site for your manual download: http://www.ferraridatabase.com/The_Downloads/Manuals_Owners.htm best
Peter, as mentioned, check your owners manual. In addition, does your car have a sticker that states "Unleaded Gasoline Only"? If not, then it's possible that your car was made for leaded fuel. The reason that I say this... in 1984 the U.S. Air Force assigned me to Camp New Amsterdam in the Netherlands. To prepare and prior to shipment, I had to remove the catalytic converters on my U.S. spec Triumph TR8 since no-lead was unavailable in most of Europe at the time.
Sorry for the slow reply guys, and thansk for your input. I didnt get an owners manual with the car unfortunately, i have downloaded one but it doesnt specify, only that it should be 98+ ron. My filler cap/flap says nothing either! I'm going to give my local specialist a call this weekend and see if they can shead any light on this one.
Hi, I believe your 84QV uses 91 RON which is regular unleaded. Attached is the PDF download for the US version, but I believe the Euro ver is the same, see page #20. http://www.ferraridatabase.com/The_Downloads/The%20Documents/Owners%20Manual%20Mondial%20QV%201984%20US.pdf best, Mike
As originally written, the Euro, Swiss and Australian QVs are different. The U.S. manual is the only one that states "Use Unleaded Fuel Only" (inside the manual's front cover). Also, in the Lubricants and Liquids section, none except the U.S. version mentions unleaded fuel anywhere. However, it would be interesting to hear if Peter's car (UK QV) has had the valve seats replaced/upgraded for the use of unleaded fuel. Or is a fuel additive still required instead. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Wade, Good find, how can the same engine be recommended to use different fuel? Makes you wonder sometimes if theres really a difference.
There are more than sixty old threads yielded just by 'lead additive' many of which include Ferrari's official advice !
I guess that was "back in the day"... before they really knew any different. Good point! Using effective keywords always helps!
Thanks guys, and sorry to drag up an old subject! According to everything I have read, the car is fine on std unleaded without additives, as i suspected, the engine was designed with hardened valve seats and liners since the early 70's. It would have been a stupid move NOT to fit hardened seats in an aluminium head anyway TBH. I will, however run some injector cleaner through it on the next fill.
