After reading about the potential problems with using Shell Fuelsave petrol (and I presume diesel) caused by the additional lubricating agents added to it what effect does using Redex have on car engines?

like all addetives…i never seen any change what so ever. they claim this that and the other.just let the engine do what it does. fuels have got cleaner, they went too clean once and it caused problems.
if its a turbo’d car and its recommended you use high octain, then use that regardless of price, if its a standard car just use whatever you have been using.

engines are mechanical they will break down at some point if they are not serviced regular or tuned to a spec they was not designed for. but look after a car and it will serve you well without addetives.

It didn’t fail within a few miles of fuelling up. It failed barely 500 miles after using Fuelsave unleaded.

Going to and from Coventry for me is a 160 mile round trip, which its done successfully every weekend, since June. I’ve done around 7500 miles in 5 months. I’m kind of anal about using an old car for high mileage, so I’m always checking the state of tune, compression figures mixture and so forth. Its rare, if ever, its off its best.

Two weeks ago, I was out of fuel on both tanks and needed fuel early on a Sunday morning. The only place open was selling fuelsaver unleaded, so I put that in, and headed down the motorway. The car ran awful… no power and a really harsh ‘flat’ engine note as if it were very lean.

I put a tankful of regular unleaded into it as soon as I got chance, and checked it over when I got home. The plugs had sandy deposits on them and there was (and still is) a varnish like residue/deposit on the pistons. Compression figures were still good across the six cylinders (170psi within +/-2psi) and I have the compression figures from each time I do the oil and filter; they haven’t altered much in a year, even after taking it to Le Mans and back.

I took it down the motorway last weekend, and on the way back it started surging, then developed a constant misfire. At motorway speeds you could barely feel it but on pulling off the motorway, it was down one cylinder.

Got home, checked, and no compression on no6. Got the spark plug out, its wet with oil, and on shining a light down inside the cylinder, theres a 2p piece sized hole in the piston crown.

2.8 Jag engines have an unusually short stroke, against the bore size, causing the piston to linger around top dead centre too long. As a result the pistons retain more heat than the bigger 3.4 and 4.2. This was the cause of a spate of engine failures in the 70’s… which was found to be due to carbon deposits (poor fuel, gentle town driving) getting overheated after motorway use and building up to a temperature that would cause the piston to fail.

Jaguar couldn’t replicate it on their test engines, as they were giving them a thrashing. I don’t drive gently… and I KNOW my engine was good. With the hills around here in Derbyshire, you know pretty quickly if its sick.

If that fuel intentionally put a deposit on the piston, then the next harsh use or motorway trip was always doomed to failure.

Rich, i kinda figure your in the motor trade or revolve around those corridors. but even though i only moved 34 mile further south from my middleton, manchester home i found things more expensive down in congleton. i still use the ONLY engine center i trust, give them a call, parts and gaskets are very resonable, and steve will sorce any part other companies struggle to find.
oldham engine center 01616249003.
i have to go there tomorrow to drop a head off. and back again tues to collect it. your in derby if they have what you need i could collect for you.

talked myself out of an extra couple of hundred, i quoted too low to fix a car, i do it every time! ****head!

Gooday All

I shouldn’t bring up the dreadful word “Spitfire” because some people think that is the only decent aeroplane Britian produced EVER. I think they made at least one other?

This is a technical question and I thought would be a good Spitfire vs Mustang debate, there is more to this question than first meets the eye.

cheers

i wouldn’t have any with flat tyres, the best plane to land with a flat tyre would be one of these…..

you just need a puddle long and deep enough.
😆