Hi All,

I have a 2.8 V6 engine from a Granada with a carburettor. My question is, will I be able to use it on unleaded petrol?

I also have a 2.4 V6 injection from a 1988 Granada, is this okay on unleaded?

just my 2p:

i imagine they'd be ok on super plus to keep the octane level up. you can get additives or change the valve seats if they rely on the lead content to cushion the wear.

i have a 2.4 and the manual for the car it came from - will take a look later tonight if I can remember

atb

steve

Technically speaking if its got a Leaded head with soft exhaust valves and seats you cant use unleaded petrol as you will get valve seat regression. ie they pit and wear out fast. Same goes for LPG and leaded heads (No Lead in LPG).
However, I have a 1970 Landrover, and have done a lot of miles on std unleaded petrol and even a lot of 2stroke (left overs from the boat / holiday). So far its been OK, and I have done this for 4 years now. (about 5K miles)
A mate of mine had a LPG conversion on his Petrol Landrover, and was going to change the head to unleaded. I said wait and see, it may last 2 months or 2 years.
The LPG company said the same! ie Wait untill the valves get bad then do the work. His lasted 40,000 miles of daily going to work (40 mile round trip) and a lot of heavy off roading. It was still going strong on a leaded head when he sold it.

So my view is dont worry, and get the heads modified when they start to give problems. I have saved my £300 for 4 years now.

Dont let them get so bad you damage the engine through valve failure etc. But get some use out of them.
You will have to adjust the timing a little.

Official advice is to use the right heads / valves etc for unleaded petrol.

Best Regards

Geoff

WHEN I WAS GETTING MY HEAD DONE THE GUY SAID IT WOULD RUN OK FOR 20-30K MILES WITH OUT WORKING THE VALVES,BUT WHEN I GET A CHANCE TO PUT LEADED IN I DO IT.

hi, just reading my 'autodata' book:

firstly, the 1988 2.8i V6 engine from ford granada - it can be used on unleaded fuel but with leaded every 4th tankful. therefore, i would duggest the use of an additive for valve seat recession. running on 95 octane fuel, you will need to retard the ignition timing 9 degrees / 850 BTDC without vacumn - red wire to earth = 3degrees retard, blue wire to earth = 6degrees retard, do not earth together. yellow wire to earth raises idle speed by 50-75 rpm.

You can also use super unleaded with no need to reset the timing. the alternative to this is to use unleaded 95 with octane boosting. again, it shows to use leaded every 4th tankful.

BUT

V6 engines that can use unleaded continuously have a letter (D or E) stamped on the centre of the cylinder head exhaust flange.

the 2.4i, if it came from a granada / scorpio 85-89 can be run on unleaded or super unleaded continuously so valve seats are fine, but if on unleaded 95 you will need to reset the ignition - 8 degrees / 850 BTDC without vacumn. on this engine, red wire to earth = 4 degrees retardation.

on the 2.4 engine with module part numbers 86GB-12A650_DB and 88BB-12A650-JA the idle speed is set at 875 rpm. if the yellow wire is earthed the idle speed will be reduced by 75rpm.

hope this helps (i can't tell you any more as i have no experience of these engines)

2.4 = No problem.

2.3 On a carb = problem.

The 2.3 may last if you keep the reves down... But ultimatly without using VSR preventative adetives the valves seats will go..

The 2.4 heads will not fit.

The 2.3 Inlet won't fit the 2.4

So it's either go to the expense of having the heads done, or put an adetive in..

You should work out how many miles your intending to do and then factor the costs..

TT

the manual for the 87 range of granada says that all engines fitted to it - which are listed as 1.8, 2.0, 2.4 , 2.8 and 2.9 litres, run on unleaded.


atb

steve

[Edited on 1/9/04 by stephen_gusterson]

Thanks for all the replies, very interesting! I'll continue to join the 2.8 up to the manual gearbox then run it with an additive, If and when it wares out I'll put something else in.

As with the Pinto engines, I suspect that EFIs will run on unleaded but Carb engines have a problem.

Steve, were you going to update your website again?

Oh look what I just found Running Ford engines on unleaded



[Edited on 2/9/04 by GuyA]

sometime I will... perhaps adding stuff about my upholstering and trimming experiences!

Was there something in particular?

A lot of my more recent exploits had been making up doors, locks etc, internal trim, and isnt that relevant for locost enthusiasts!

atb

steve