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  #1  
Old 12-10-2003, 09:26 PM
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1989 300te...what octane?

My mechanic, who just did a new head on my 1989 300te says to use Regular...is this ok?

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Old 12-10-2003, 09:38 PM
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Your car techically calls for premium fuel. If your head had to be shaved the compression will also rise as a result, thus even more reason to use premium fuel.

This topic has been discussed many times, with many pros and cons.

Some buy mid-grade fuel of good quality.

Whatever you do, be sure to keep a window open under acceleration and listen for pinging. The tell tale sign of pre-ignition.

I have found that after using mid-grades etc, the cars all run better with premium.

Haasman
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Old 12-11-2003, 12:18 PM
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Wink

Agree with Haasman 100%.
The head in my car was done years ago, compression due to shaving at around 200 psi on all cylinders. Bad idea to use 87 octane at that compression. Can probably run Diesel
Do a compression test, and take it from there.
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Old 12-11-2003, 10:05 PM
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Yeah, you CAN use 87 octane, but I'd not. Use 91 octane or better. You could use 80 octane if you didn't car how long it ran.....

I run all the gassers on 92 or 93 octane premium. They all run better on it, even the 280 SE pings on midgrade.

Peter
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Old 12-12-2003, 11:08 AM
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That motor has a relatively high compression ratio.
It is one of the few motors (in the general automotive world) that actually benefits from higher octane fuel.
I generally run mid-grade with good results, but I bet my compression [at 215k] is not as good as yours is after that head rebuild. If the head was shaved, compression could be even higher than when new. I would bite the bullet and go for the premium.

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