Honda 90 and 100LL

[ccflyer]

I have access to Phillips 66 100 octane low lead (actually I sell it to general aviation aircraft) @ www.aircapecod.com

Presently I have two 55 gallon drums of fuel as a result of mandated daily testing. In the past I've sold it to bikers and classic car collectors - pre catalytic converter.

Any thoughts on whether it would work well or damage a Honda 90?

Thanks

Phil

[flagold]

We used to use it in our cars (anytime there was a fuel-tank repair we'd get a ton of free gas) until someone tore down an engine and found the oil passages almost completely clogged with lead. 100LL (low lead) is a misnomer, it should say 100 loaded with lead . . . Low compression engines can't get rid of the lead in it effectively (even the aircraft engines have a tough time with it).

[Da Nag]

Purely anectodal and unscientific, but...I was a aircraft fuel jockey back in college. At the time, I was riding a KZ750, and ran 100LL almost exclusively for a couple years.

I've never seen cleaner fuel bowls/filters/jets or spark plugs - the engine ran way better than on pump gas. More power, and far smoother. I'm guessing the folks you have sold to in the past would report similar experiences.

Given the lack of a cat on an outboard, I can't imagine the stuff would harm things, and it would probably run like a dream...but who knows. Might be better to sell the stuff to the racers at $5-6/gallon, and use the proceeds to buy twice as much regular unleaded...

[gljjr]

Flagold,

If your oil passages were clogged with lead then you had a serious problem not related to the fuel.

Phil,

I would run it! That should really make that puppy humm! At the cost of fuel these days I would dearly love to come across 100 gallons of gas free! Plus I would bet that the leaded fuel is much more stable than the junk they sell for cars now a days. 2 weeks is about all I can go without it plugging up the jets on my little Honda 7.5

[flagold]

Wasn't my engine.

A lot of us burn car gas in aviation to get away from the lead fouling problems.

Certainly not telling anyone what to do. It's your engine.

Lead content in fuels:

http://www.autofuelstc.com/autofuelstc/pa/LeadD-4814.html

[ccflyer]

After doing my due diligence I'm going to try some 100 LL.

Here's the plan - run the tanks near empty and then load up with 25 gallons of 100LL - run for 4-5 hours and get a sense of performance - check the plugs before and after and go from there.

BTW: I was chatting with a local marina owner who was telling me about the woes of the folks with fiberglass tanks and gasoline mixed with ethenol. He thought they might be better off buring aviation fuel without ethenol than putting in marine fuel which has it - at least until they can swap out the tanks. Of course here on Cape Cod you'd pay a whopping $1 @ gallon more for avgas

[Larry H]

Hi guys,

My two cents, and I may be wrong but...

100 gals of 100LL contains 200 grams of lead, and burning it in an outboard puts that 200 grams into the water.

Does anyone know what harm that might do to the aquatic critters or to us if you boat on a drinking water source?

Right or wrong, our govm't has been trying to get the lead out of our environment for many years now.

[rogerbum]

While I agree with you on the desire to reduce lead, 200gms is about 7oz which is a similar to the amount of lead in a single pyramid or banana weight used in fishing around here. That's a lot less lead than I lose to the ocean bottom in a given year.

If the lead is going into a fixed body of water like a small fresh water lake, it's a bigger concern than if it goes into the ocean. That's why most places no longer permit lead shot for hunting. Some states have also made people switch to steel for fishing weights but that's not yet happen in most places. I wouldn't mind that since it would increase the availabilty of steel weights around here.