200 Quattro - warning light

[isham-research.freeserve.co.uk at pop.pol.net.uk]

> I am getting an occaisional warning from the "electronics failure / poor
> fuel grade" warning lamp on my 1987 200 Turbo- the one with the litttle
> picture of the engine in the middle. At the time I had a big trailer
> behind - about 1500kgs - so I might of been lugging it a bit up the hills
> (about 60mph in top). Anyone any thoughts - I'm running on what we in the UK
> know as 4-star lead replacement petrol (97 octane I think). If it's just
> telling me off because the engine's pinking then I can live with that, I'll
> just back off the throttle a bit or change down but if its an announcement
> of impending electronic disater I'd best fix it before I'm marooned in the
> middle of nowhere. Is this warning indicator prone to glitching?

a) You shouldn't be using LRP.  Your car doesn't need lead, never needed
   lead, and never will need lead.  It's perfectly OK on 95 RON unleaded
   from 'branded' outlets (except perhaps Shell).

b) LRP contains either potassium, sodium or other additives as poor
   emulations of tetra-ethyl lead.  Unfortunately the compounds used
   are known to cause exhaust vane erosion in turbos and should be
   avoided.

c) Your car is simply storing a code.  "Fuel grade" is only one of the
   many things it can mean - don't jump to conclusions.

See http://www.sjmautotechnik.com for code pulling procedures.

--
 Phil Payne
 http://www.isham-research.freeserve.co.uk/quattro
 Phone +44 7785 302803   Fax: +44 7785 309674