Lead replacement - What a stink

BeardyGit

I'm using the castrol LRP additive in the Range Rover....my God, what a pong!

Is this the norm? I used to like the smell of leaded petrol but this stuff would give anyone a headache.

Any way to negate it? Do different brands of additive work the same way without the bang? I can smell it off all my clothes, skin, hair after just a couple of minutes running the V8, outdoors.

Ta for any pointers from ye petrol heads - I've always had vintage Diesels before this one

Gil

Spit62500

Are you worried about valve seat recession or just looking for an octane boost? As the V8 is all alloy (and an American design originally) it should have hardened valve seats anyway so recession shouldn't be an issue. I've also got an idea that the engine was detuned for the Range Rover (135 bhp vs 155?) and so may have a lower compression ratio than the saloon V8s and therefore less of a need for the high octane stuff?

Just wondering - not sure myself. I agree that it stinks...

I use Castrol Valvemaster Plus and hadn't noticed any change in the exhaust smell - the plugs change colour slightly but that's about it. Are you using more then the recommended amount or is the V8 just burning it up faster? (I remember that my Dad's P6 and SD1 V8s had single figure fuel consumption on winter trips of four miles or less). He splashed out on a Kenlowe preheater that paid for itself in a short time

BeardyGit

Good points there about the V8 - Hadn't fully considered it, just kept running it the way the previous owners had....but you're making lots of sense there.

I'm an apartment dweller at the moment, but will be moving out of the city in a few weeks and will once again have a garage to facilitate keeping the RaRo on a battery 'keeper' for one thing, and a pre-heater for sure before the next winter.

milod

I used to use the Castrol lead additive/octane booster in my bmw2002tii but 'her-indoors' went green on every trip and developed a thumping headache. Stopped using it, problem solved!

I figure I'll take the risk of valve recession - you don't want a bird with a headache...

Seriously though, a few mechanics/enthusiasts have told me that it's not essential on the alloy cylinder head in my car, so I use super unleaded when I can get it.

BeardyGit

Thanks very much for the reply lads. I'm going to let the current fill run out and then I'll just redo the timing and run her on super unleaded....

It's exactly that - The whole 'green' look and the bursting headache isn't worth the hassle. Thankfully, she's well able to pass me my spanners and get her hands dirty from time to time

Ta,

Gil

Esel

Used Valvemaster Plus (Lead Replacement + Octane Booster) for many thousands of miles without any smell.

101sean

The V8 definitely doesn't need additives and will run very well on ordinary unleaded. It's worth having it tuned by someone who knows V8s, had it done when I fitted rebuilt SUs to my 101, money well spent. It's tuned for plain unleaded but goes even better on higher octane fuel (at 12mpg :eek:)