 "What about the lead additive? Should I be paying for this in each tank of fuel? " |
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After having spent a considerable amount of money in fuel, lead additive, and octane
boost, I thought that testing my theories was in order. I filled the tank with a
mid-grade fuel. There seemed to
be a slight hesitation, and the fuel mileage decreased considerably. So let's try a tank
of "regular". The hesitation was much more pronounced, my gas mileage was in the dumps
and having terrible pre-ignition. Back to the high octane fuel, and the
difference was night and day. I'm happy paying for the premium fuel and being
relegated to a particular chain of filling stations to get it. Now what about the lead additive? Should I be paying for this in each tank of fuel? A little investigation found that leaded fuel engines were manufactured differently than unleaded motors. Where the unleaded motors use hardened steel in certain areas, the leaded engines didn't. Since I was unable to determine if my vehicle was manufactured for use with leaded fuel, I decided that the small cost of lead additive is preferable to the high cost of an engine overhaul. Is my choice of oil adequate? The same manufacturer offers an oil that they claim is engineered for higher mileage engines. I guess 128,000 miles qualifies. This "special" oil is about thirty cents more per quart than the standard oil. I use a quart to almost every tank full of fuel, so I think that small cost is justified. The most important thing in my opinion is frequent (2500 miles!) oil and filter changes. 
Throughout this process I have seen hundreds of other products to add to oil, fuel and
even transmission fluid. This one claims to eliminate smoke, that one claim to increase
fuel mileage, yet another claims to smooth out a rough running engine. I discounted all
these claims and stuck to the methodology described above.continued...
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