unleaded gas additive

There were many strict tests done on older cars, trucks and tractor engines to measure wear with the "new" unleaded gas. Valve seat wear was the big issue - and not just because our cast-iron had gotten cheaper for awhile. Keep in mind that many European countries did not change over to unleaded gasoline until year 2000 - and they did more testing then we did here in the USA and Canada.

Anyone that states it is just hype, post some real evidence or verifiable test data.

I can posts piles of it, all well documented, from all over the world, that shows the increased wear.

The reality is - when unleaded fuel became the law here in the U.S., there were potential wear problems. Then, various additives were put into the unleaded you get at the pump to offset it. Canada has been putting manganese into pump gasoline for many years (MMT. In the USA, various additives have been added to gas to do the same job. It has been proven, over and over, that unleaded gas - without additives - causes premature wear in cast-iron valve seats. The wear is minimal in lightly used engines and much worse in engines worked hard. In an engine used hard, e.g. a farm tractor, some studies show that valve-seat wear can be increased by 40%. So, even with that high number, how many people on this forum would notice? I'll speak for myself here since I have many gas-engine cars and tractors with cast-iron seats. I don't use any of them very hard, all day, every day. So, when the need for the occasional valve job comes up - and seats are worn - I have no idea why - or if it happened sooner than it should of. I do my own valve work, and don't regard it as a big deal either way. Same sort of thing has happened with diesel now. The hydro-treatment needed to remove sulfur from diesel jacks the price up - and - removes natural lubricants. So, we pay more money to remove the sulfur, and then even more yet to add back the lubricants needed on older injection systems. The end result is - the diesel fuel we get at the pump is supposed to be OK to use because of what's been put back into the fuel. With gasoline, it's almost the same, except it is still shown in strict test data that gas engines used hard will wear valve-seats prematurely without special additives -and not all pump blends have it. Keep in mind also, that as time goes on, there will be little concern for the needs of "antique" engines, since all the newer stuff has harder parts. This goes for gas and diesels. In fact, it's even happening to the anti-wear additives in motor oils now.

Here is a piece of a final valve-wear report in the USA.
Report to the President and Congress on the need for leaded gasoline on the farm. Final report
PB-91-210625/XAB Oct 1, 1988

Engines designed for leaded gasoline were tested on low-lead gasoline, unleaded gasoline, and
unleaded gasoline containing non-lead valve-protective additives. Low-lead gasoline were
generally satisfactory for engine performance. Unleaded gasoline was satisfactory for low-speed low-lead operation. Medium-speed and high-speed engines with soft valve seats, and some high-speed truck engines with induction-hardened cast-iron or soft-steel valve seats, will experience excessive valve-seat wear if operated on unleaded gasoline. Non-lead valve-protective additives demonstrated the ability to reduce wear.

They still don't know why or how it works so efficiently at stopping detonation. Estimates are around one drop per 20 gallon tankfull was all that was ever used for regular. Premium then had 1 and one half drop.

Common sense alone dictates that Lead in gasoline was put there not for any anti-wear properties at all. Please consult as many Chemistry books as you need in order to verify any of this, preferably copyrights of the 50s as they will actually have the information on the subject presented in a manner that would be understandable. Out of 10 such books, 5 might have some info and only 3 would spell it out as above. A bit hard to post a link to that now isn't it?

Your wear angle is just too thin to hold any water at all as I know the real and ONLY reason why the lead was put in the gasoline. Lead was also never deposited in the engine in a metalic form - so how could it possibly lubricate anything? Expletive deleted, this concept is beyond the inane, next you'll be telling me that my TV is broadcasting a picture of my living room out to the FBI. I can probably find some web based comments on that one to post... does that really make it so?

Seems you better read some verified test data and get away from comic books and/or Oprah Winfrey.

Many important inventions and advances in medical science came into use by accident - and not by their original intended purpose.

Lead-ethyl as used in gasoline was invented by the same guy that invented Freon - Thomas Midgley. It wasn't invented to be used in gasoline, it was originally intended for use in kerosene motor fuel as an anti-knock agent. He was given the job of coming up with a additive for kerosene that would stop heads from cracking due to severe knocking. He did just that - with the ethyl additive. But, it soon became more popular for gasoline.

Your next statement:

"Tetra-ethyl lead is the most powerful anti-knock agent ever discovered - around 1000 times
more effective than ANY other known substance on the face of the earth." Not true. Overall - it was deemed the most “cost effective” yes. That has
proven not to be true in retrospect, given the environmental damage it has done, such as the lead that is now present in soil along highways.
Many European countries were using an iron additive, but it tended to foul spark-plugs.

Next:

"They still don't know why or how it works so efficiently at stopping detonation. Estimates are
around one drop per 20 gallon tankfull was all that was ever used for regular. Premium then had
1 and one half drop."

Seems "they" is you. Yes it is known exactly how it works. Read the chemical formulas and molecular chains. Average ratio with the original tetra-etyhl additive was 1 part to 1260 parts. That comes to 286 drops of Tetra-ethyl per gallon of gasoline.

Next:

"Lead was also never deposited in the engine in a metalic form - so how could it possibly lubricate anything? . . . this concept is beyond the inane, next you'll be telling me that my TV is broadcasting a picture of my living room out to the FBI."

Well, I can't comment about the FBI and if they think you need to be watched. If so, I hope my tax dollars aren't being wasted on it.

Yes it WAS deposited as a lead-oxide that coats the valve seats. In fact, the additive had to be tweaked many times to cut down on the heavy amounts of lead oxides it deposited. As time went on, the emphasis was to get more deposits out the tailpipe instead.
Gee wiz, how many valve jobs have you done on older cars and tractors? Sounds like not too many.

I don't have elaborate test facilities, but I'm wiling to believe verifed test data from all over the world. It has been proven, over and over, that iron oxides grind up soft valve seats when lead oxides are not there to prevent the wear. By the time unleaded gas became the rule in the USA, there weren't very many gas engines being used in heavy duty use - so it was not a major concern to everyone. Also, many gas engines by that time alreay had hard valve seats - so they were not an issue. I've done hundreds of valve jobs in my life, and seen many soft valve seats get eaten up. I don't have the controlled environment though, to judge what caused what. I was a Deere mechanic for many years and used to curse Deere for NOT using hard seats until the 1980s - because we had a lot of trouble with seat-wear - in gas and diesel engines.

The proven fact is - old soft cast-iron seats wear much faster when run on unleaded gas if used hard - like in heavy duty trucks and farm tractors. Test results from all over the world show the same.

Now, someone with a tractor kept as a collector's item that is rarely used hard - then it doesn't matter much at all.

For someone that does use their gas tractor hard - it would be silly not to spend a little extra money to help prolong the life of the valve-seats. And, that's only if it's still in original condition with soft, cast-in-head seats. Most get updated once a valve job has been done.

Your tractor pre-dates all of this so how in the world would any additive help? You can't get EPA banned, illegal tetra-ethyl lead anyway so your only real option is to use some other kind of pricey octane boosting additive which also is not really needed. Unless you like throwing your money away for no good reason, you should just use clean, fresh unleaded in it and BELIEVE that you are burning the best engineered fuel that was EVER made. This is the truth despite all those who continue to want to hang to the belief in leaded witchcraft, spells, and magic oils/elixirs.

Mister, you had me rolling in the floor after reading this. By the way, has anyone ever pulled the head off of a tractor and noticed wear due to the lack of lead in a 50 year old piece? I've seen more rust damage to equipment and cylinders / heads than anything else due to lack of use.

Scott