Recently, I traded an older Polaris 4WD for a LT-500. I took my "new" LT-500 into the shop to have a strange sound investigated, and it appears that my motor needs a bit of lower end work.

Anyway, the mechanic ran a compression check, and it came out to 198 psi. I'm told this is rather high, and that I should be running 110 octane gas. Any thoughts? I have about 10 gallons of 110 octane, and plan on buying more soon. How do I know if I really need 110, and not 103, etc?

Thanks in advance.

 

You definately don't want to run pump gas with that much compression.
200 psi is respectable compression (and usually what I shoot for when rebuilding)

Typically I run C-12 in mine, which can range from 110-112 octane, you could certainly try 103, and listen for the little man with the hammer (Rocks in the pipe) aka Dentonation.

I don't like taking chances with my precious machine, so I run the good stuff.

Hope this helps.

 

Mind if I ask where you get your 110 octane gas, and how much it sets you back?

Thespazardman

 

There are several makers of high octane fuel. VP, and Sunoco are the two I'm familiar with. You could find an oil/fuel distributor local to you and purchase it through them. (That's what I do) They'll typicallysell it by the gallon.. I usually pay (are you sitting down?) somewhere around $4.50/gal. I could probably do better if I purchased by the drum (55 gal) directly from the mfg.
Now that I have some extra room for storage, I'll probably do that this summer. Race fuel keeps better than regular gasoline (Doesn't need Stabil to keep it fresh).

You might also try searching online.