I have an old Johnson V4, 90 HP. The year is about 1975.
I don't know what its like in other countries, I'm in Australia....

I currently fill my tank with Leaded (or LRP-lead replacement) petrol plus
50:1 mix of 2 stoke oil.

It seems that the petrol stations are going to stop selling Leaded and LRP
petrol shortly (some already have) so I'm a little worried about how I'm
going to get petrol for my boat.
I've heard about additives that can be put in to Unleaded Petrol for cars,
but does the same apply for 2 stroke engines???
In another place where I raised these questions, some people were saying
that I can use Premium Unleaded and it has a higher Octane level....
But i'm still a bit unclear about this and I'm trying to get as many peoples
opinions as possible... maybe people who have already made the
conversion????
Other people have mentioned things like the engine would need to be
modified??

Any help greatly appreciated...
Thanks!

On Sun, 7 Nov 2004 22:54:47 +1100, "GC"
wrote:

I have an old Johnson V4, 90 HP. The year is about 1975.
I don't know what its like in other countries, I'm in Australia....

I currently fill my tank with Leaded (or LRP-lead replacement) petrol plus
50:1 mix of 2 stoke oil.

It seems that the petrol stations are going to stop selling Leaded and LRP
petrol shortly (some already have) so I'm a little worried about how I'm
going to get petrol for my boat.
I've heard about additives that can be put in to Unleaded Petrol for cars,
but does the same apply for 2 stroke engines???
In another place where I raised these questions, some people were saying
that I can use Premium Unleaded and it has a higher Octane level....
But i'm still a bit unclear about this and I'm trying to get as many peoples
opinions as possible... maybe people who have already made the
conversion????
Other people have mentioned things like the engine would need to be
modified??

Increasing the octane reading is one solution and seems to work. I
have two antique cars, one high performance and one pickup truck and
use the following with great success.

http://www.redlineoil.com/products_f...p?productID=64

I jack the octane up mid-grade and add in this stuff - in my 54 year
old pickup, you'd never know it was unleaded gas. With the Corvette,
it's premium anyway, but this helps keep the odd noises down in the
engine compartment. :)

I believe it's available in Europe and it might be available in
Australia. You can try and call these people and find out where the
product is stocked.

Red Line Oils PTY Ltd.
Osborne Park, Australia, 89-446-4455

Good luck.

All the best,

Tom
--------------

"What the hell's the deal with this newsgroup...
is there a computer terminal in the day room of
some looney bin somewhere?"

Bilgeman - circa 2004

GC wrote:
I have an old Johnson V4, 90 HP. The year is about 1975.
I don't know what its like in other countries, I'm in Australia....

I currently fill my tank with Leaded (or LRP-lead replacement) petrol plus
50:1 mix of 2 stoke oil.

It seems that the petrol stations are going to stop selling Leaded and LRP
petrol shortly (some already have) so I'm a little worried about how I'm
going to get petrol for my boat.
I've heard about additives that can be put in to Unleaded Petrol for cars,
but does the same apply for 2 stroke engines???
In another place where I raised these questions, some people were saying
that I can use Premium Unleaded and it has a higher Octane level....
But i'm still a bit unclear about this and I'm trying to get as many peoples
opinions as possible... maybe people who have already made the
conversion????
Other people have mentioned things like the engine would need to be
modified??

Any help greatly appreciated...
Thanks!



From the Chevron Oil Company web site:
http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/fuel...etin/unld-gas/

"In general, two-stroke cycle will operate without problems on unleaded
gasoline. These engines do not have valves, and most will actually
benefit from using unleaded gasoline because of reductions in spark plug
and combustion chamber deposits. Lead is not required to provide
lubrication for pistons or piston rings, as is sometimes claimed."

It appears that as long as the minimum octane rating is met unleaded
fuels will work in any 2-stroke engine. You don't need engine
modifications or fuel additives.

So you think I would be safe using Premium Unleaded (the highest octane
petrol available in AUST) plus my standard mixture of Two Stroke oil?
Would I have to drain out my existing tank completly before mixing the
leaded petrol with the Unleaded?
Thanks

Also sorry to be abrupt but the same thing happened when I did another post
elsewhere... people started telling me about their old car engines running
fine on Unleaded, I was hoping I would only get boat related answers in this
newsgroup
Thanks everyone for replying anyway


"John Wentworth" wrote in message
...
GC wrote:
I have an old Johnson V4, 90 HP. The year is about 1975.
I don't know what its like in other countries, I'm in Australia....

I currently fill my tank with Leaded (or LRP-lead replacement) petrol
plus
50:1 mix of 2 stoke oil.

It seems that the petrol stations are going to stop selling Leaded and
LRP
petrol shortly (some already have) so I'm a little worried about how I'm
going to get petrol for my boat.
I've heard about additives that can be put in to Unleaded Petrol for
cars,
but does the same apply for 2 stroke engines???
In another place where I raised these questions, some people were saying
that I can use Premium Unleaded and it has a higher Octane level....
But i'm still a bit unclear about this and I'm trying to get as many
peoples
opinions as possible... maybe people who have already made the
conversion????
Other people have mentioned things like the engine would need to be
modified??

Any help greatly appreciated...
Thanks!



From the Chevron Oil Company web site:
http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/fuel...etin/unld-gas/

"In general, two-stroke cycle will operate without problems on unleaded
gasoline. These engines do not have valves, and most will actually
benefit from using unleaded gasoline because of reductions in spark plug
and combustion chamber deposits. Lead is not required to provide
lubrication for pistons or piston rings, as is sometimes claimed."

It appears that as long as the minimum octane rating is met unleaded
fuels will work in any 2-stroke engine. You don't need engine
modifications or fuel additives.

On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 18:52:06 +1100, "GC"
wrote:

So you think I would be safe using Premium Unleaded (the highest octane
petrol available in AUST) plus my standard mixture of Two Stroke oil?
Would I have to drain out my existing tank completly before mixing the
leaded petrol with the Unleaded?

Yes - for that old an engine, you shouldn't have a problem. You might
want to use a good premium 2 stroke oil.

Also sorry to be abrupt but the same thing happened when I did another post
elsewhere... people started telling me about their old car engines running
fine on Unleaded, I was hoping I would only get boat related answers in this
newsgroup

Well, some of us have significant experience in that area and it does
relate in a few ways. The question was about additives and that's
some of the answers you received. The fact that the answer related to
Redline was more than appropriate.

TTFN,

Tom

"Bodies are for hookers and fat people."
Bender - "Futurama"

Lead is there to protect the valve seats in 4 stroke engines.
2 strokes don't require lead, so unleaded is fine, probably have to retard
the ignition slightly.

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 18:52:06 +1100, "GC"
wrote:

So you think I would be safe using Premium Unleaded (the highest octane
petrol available in AUST) plus my standard mixture of Two Stroke oil?
Would I have to drain out my existing tank completly before mixing the
leaded petrol with the Unleaded?

Yes - for that old an engine, you shouldn't have a problem. You might
want to use a good premium 2 stroke oil.

Also sorry to be abrupt but the same thing happened when I did another
post
elsewhere... people started telling me about their old car engines running
fine on Unleaded, I was hoping I would only get boat related answers in
this
newsgroup

Well, some of us have significant experience in that area and it does
relate in a few ways. The question was about additives and that's
some of the answers you received. The fact that the answer related to
Redline was more than appropriate.

TTFN,

Tom

"Bodies are for hookers and fat people."
Bender - "Futurama"

GC wrote:
So you think I would be safe using Premium Unleaded (the highest octane
petrol available in AUST) plus my standard mixture of Two Stroke oil?
Would I have to drain out my existing tank completly before mixing the
leaded petrol with the Unleaded?

I have been using unleaded regular fuel in an old Evinrude outboard for
many years, when leaded regular was no longer available I simply added
unleaded to the tank. No problems.
There is no harm in using premium unleaded, but does your motor need
that octane rating?

"John Wentworth" wrote in message
...

There is no harm in using premium unleaded, but does your motor need
that octane rating?

There is a possible harm in using premium. The additional additives in the
premium can cause more deposits as compared to regular unleaded. You should
only use fuel with the octane rating recommended by the manufacturer, leaded
or not. Using fuel with an octane rating higher than required in a 2 stroke
will also reduce the horsepower of the motor.

Premium causing more deposits. Never heard that one. I have run premium in
all my outboards for years. Never had an engine problem w/ carbs gumming up
or anything and all my engines are very clean.
While true that running more octane than required will not produce more hp,
it does not hurt the engine. It will also help from the point of view of
storage and octane loss due to storage.

--
Tony
my boats and cars at http://t.thomas.home.mchsi.com
"SamW" wrote in message
news:eENjd.3058$mL1.1139@trnddc08...

"John Wentworth" wrote in message
...

There is no harm in using premium unleaded, but does your motor need
that octane rating?

There is a possible harm in using premium. The additional additives in the
premium can cause more deposits as compared to regular unleaded. You
should
only use fuel with the octane rating recommended by the manufacturer,
leaded
or not. Using fuel with an octane rating higher than required in a 2
stroke
will also reduce the horsepower of the motor.

Depends on the compression.
All the manufacturers recommended using premium fuel when leaded went away
to help prevent detonation.

--
Tony
my boats and cars at http://t.thomas.home.mchsi.com
"John Wentworth" wrote in message
...
GC wrote:
So you think I would be safe using Premium Unleaded (the highest octane
petrol available in AUST) plus my standard mixture of Two Stroke oil?
Would I have to drain out my existing tank completly before mixing the
leaded petrol with the Unleaded?

I have been using unleaded regular fuel in an old Evinrude outboard for
many years, when leaded regular was no longer available I simply added
unleaded to the tank. No problems.
There is no harm in using premium unleaded, but does your motor need that
octane rating?