socal85tam

iTrader: (4)

Will a 5 gallon can of 114 octane leaded fuel mixed with 7 gal of 91 unleaded fuel, damage my oxygen sensor?

Russ-So Cal

It won't help it. I'm not sure how much lead an o2 sensor can take before it quits. There are certainly other things you coulld use besides leaded fuel to raise your octane for racing.

Dyno Don

iTrader: (7)

V6#20

I run it every once in a while anytime I take the car out onto a track. Last time was when we all autoX'ed. I ran into the infeild and put about 8 gallons of 100 oct leaded racing fuel for the high BTU power it exerts over the crappy pump gas oxygenated fuels. Racing fuel is also oxygenated, however its overall makeup consists of a higher BTU burn energy even though the higher octane is not needed and burns slower. It also burns at a cooler temp while producing more power. You can actually have a more powerful combustion that is cooler cylinder temps.

socal85tam

iTrader: (4)

How are you guys doing it?

Dyno Don

iTrader: (7)

100 unleaded at the pump..... 76 Station at 4th St and Hammer Ave in Corona

Generic station at Chapman Ave & Batavia in Orange

socal85tam

iTrader: (4)

Russ, what other things you use to raise the octane for racing besides 100 unleaded gas or those little bottles of octane booster that are painting my combustion chambers and spark plugs orange. Is there any other better fuel additive?

Russ-So Cal

I don't race, so the only time I use anything is when I go for a smog test. I would find the discoloration preferable to taking out an o2 sensor. Don runs 100 octane unleaded as he posted. I think he has also used toulene, but I don't know the % of the mixture.

cali92RS

Hey Gabe,
Locally, there are some speed shops in Torrance and Hermosa Beach that carry high octance gas. Their names escape me right now, but there are local places.

BretD 88GTA

The MMT could potentially take out an O2 sensor too since it does more than just leave an orange discoloration. It actually leaves a residue that coats everything and builds-up.

Kevin has some pictures of the inside of one of his engines after running octane booster. It's pretty messy.

I used to run 104+ in my '69 El Camino and the spark plugs would get loaded up with the gunk. IIRC, Moroso used to make an octane booster that didn't contain MMT. Came in a gallon bottle and you added only like 8oz. at each fill-up. I used to get it at PAW.

V6#20

Here is a great article I found proving that higher octane fuels do not always burn slower.

MTBE and alcohol kills perfomance of the fuel. Thats why some of the racing gas will make the car eun faster regardless if the car needs the octane or not because they have better burn characteristics than pump gas.

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/72498/

Xylene and toulene are normal crude oil derivitives from the refining process of oil that are readded back into fuel to make gasoline and the % of xylene and/or toulene is what makes gasloine octane ratings based on how much or little is added.

You can buy 100% pure Xylene at home depot by the gallon in the paint department. However, when added to pump gas, you still have the normal % of additves and ethanol in pumpgas that is greatly reduced or non-existant in most racing fuels

Most importantly what the article shows is that it is important to tune your car to a specific brand of fuel regardless of octane ratings being equal. You can have one 100oct fuel that runs great at 34* and another that falls on its face at 34* and runs better at 31* becasue it has fasster burn charateristics. So tune it to one specific fuel and continue to buy that same stuff when racing so you know you are getting the optimum timeing setting out of your motor with that paticular 100 oct fuel for example.

BrandenCali

I have used 100- 115 octane and it made no damage to the heated o2 sensor.. That would be AC And Bosch.. But then I must consider over time 115 could cause problems.. That's why I have 2 sensors..

socal85tam

iTrader: (4)

I guess I'll look for a local place to buy unleaded high octane fuel next time I take the car to the track, so far the results of this weekend at the track was a best run of 8.52 sec 1/8 mi with the new chip by Kevin, and the 2800 vigilante converter. My previous best run was 8.89 sec.
Thanks for all the info.

1BADDAM

Yep, but some are better than others. GM and Bosch O2's both go pretty quick from my experience.

Denso O2's last the best to leaded gas of the non-heated type.

I would run about 40-50 gallons of 110-112 leaded before they would either get real lazy or be flat dead.

alacran

Thread bump. searching for proper o2 sensor with leaded 110 gas and this thread confirmed what i was looking. Denso single wire will handle the lead. PN 234-1001.

Nick

Parrydise7

iTrader: (1)

Keep in mind that running leaded gas in an off-highway vehicle is fine. It is against the law when it is used in an on-road vehicle. Some guys buy high octane unleaded aviation gas and add that to their cars. Unfortunately, since you are not paying road use taxes on that av gas that is also against the law.

In addition to the gas station near Don, there is a 76 gas station in Mission Viejo, just off the 5 freeway that used to (and presumably still does) sell unleaded racing gas. Take mucho dinero with you. The stuff isn't cheap.

ringo234

Leaded gas degrades the catalytic converter over time, which is why modern cars cannot take this type of fuel.

Guest

Yep, accualy fairly quickly. That and also running a rich fuel mixture.

1BADDAM

This is why you run special cats like the one below.