New Members: Welcome Thread

[rh77]

For those who are new...Welcome to GasSavers

I started this thread with the intent of directing folks here to get an idea of what to try first (just my opinion -- others can feel free to add-on).

1. Get a good baseline started. What kind of mileage do you get now, and what is your short-term goal?

2. There are essentially 2 basic ways to increase "FE" (fuel economy): Modifications and Driving Technique. Both can work together to achieve your goals. There are mods and techniques that range from Beginner to Advanced.

Good threads to review when new:

Busted and Confirmed Mods List (what usually works, and what doesn't)
Gas Saving Tips from Best to Worst
List of Aero Mods for Your Car or Truck

3. Don't forget to tell us about your vehicle: especially year, engine, transmission. Also, make an entry in the Garage and keep track of your mileage with a GasLog, found in the garage.

4. Feel free to introduce yourself...

5. And Have fun.

Don't hesitate to ask questions or post ideas Lots of folks are here to help...

RH77

[dlj]

WATER INJECTION Hello I have been working on a system of water injection (NOT WATER SUCTION). I estamate a mixture of 8-12% water to gasoline at all time except at idle and when the engine is cold. Using a Shurflow pump 30-40 lbs pressure to a fuel injector in stalled about six inches from the throttle. It has to be distalled water (the minerals will clog the injector) and water solable oil to prevent rust in the injector. It is slaved off one of the engines injectors. The fuel/air mix needs to be leaned to about 25/1 (this will burn the exhaust valves if done alone) Information on making a circut is at better-mileage.com. The part I need help with is adjusting the duration of the injector used to inject the water to control the water to gasoline mixture. I figure about a 50% increase in gas mileage. I'm thinking using a 555 timer?? Any ideas?? Thanks, Dennis

[TeamExploder]

thanks for the links!

[trashcan bill]

this is fun site. My mileage vehicle is a weedwhacker bike. It's a 1953 schwinn black phantom basketcase with a robin/subaru 1.4 HP 4-stroke positioned over the back wheel. It has a 14-tooth drive cog and a 156-tooth driven pulley with a toothed belt and an idler pully. If I keep it around 15 M.P.H., It will pull 150-175 mpg depending on the terrain. But best of all, it gets huge reactions from people that see it and makes them think about how easy it is to achieve killer mpg for not so much $. The whole package was $650 from www.goldeneagle.com. and it takes less than an hour to assemble. Mine will go 25 MPH with my fat *** on it. They have other engine choices and offer individual parts so you can design your own. I bought the complete kit because it was the easiest installation and It is very reliable. Never had a problem with it in 2 years. The robin engine that I use is intended for a ditch pump and is very quiet and has a centrifugal clutch on it. 2 strokes of the pedal and feed the throttle and off you go. It climbs the hills in Michigan with no assistance. It induces profuse grinning to the operator and passers-by. Seeya! Trash can Bill

[nammdenn]

I see in the best to worst methods to increase mileage is a suggestion to "accelerate more slowly". I don't believe that improves one's fuel mileage. Is accelerating more slowly the consensus of this group?
Dennis

[skewbe]

Just my $0.02, but it would be better stated as "brake less".

For a stickshift, you can run the engine into it's most efficient range (typically 1/2 to 2/3 throttle and shift a little over 2000 rpm, VERY generally speaking). You need enough throttle to keep the manifold pressure high and minimize pumping losses, but you don't want to wind it out or hit the fuel enrichment circuit.

For an auto, the less you floor it, the less the converter slips, which is a much larger factor that the pumping losses of the engine. Also once you get on the hiway, you want to avoid too much gas so the torque converter stays locked up (if so equipped).

Either way, if you have to use the brakes heavily at the next predictable stop, then you probably wasted gas getting there.

[GasSavers_panther]

Hi . .

I'm a new member of this best MPG site. I live in Medan,Indonesia and until now I still drive a 2,5 L Isuzu Diesel ( In Indonesia we call it Isuzu Panther ). I just finished my first "Warm Air Intake"project which I adapted from many sources include Internet. Thanks to all people who got this idea to save my money from "Oil Company"
Next time I will post my project in this forum and I hope for critics and suggestion for it

Notes : Sorry for my "Bad English"

[civicsunshine]

My 92 Civic VX seems to have jumped timing but it didn't bend the valves. The engine has 220000 miles on it so I removed the head and found some carbon deposits on the pistons and valves. I am proceeding with a valve job but would be interested in one of those low mileage VX engines. Has anyone tried modifying their VX for more power or economy? I presently have a K&N air filter and no other mods. I have averaged 44.6 MPG over the last 90000 miles of 80% hiway driving. The AC still works but I would love to have cruise control. Any ideas?
I am recently retired so look forward to working on my cars more and doing some experiments.
I live near Nashville TN. and have several other cars including a Toyota MR2 and a 1972 honda Z600.

Cal

[Sean Harnett]

Hello,

I joined a couple of weeks ago and have been taking my time, reading a lot of good posts. Through the following introduction I hope to connect with others with similar and complementary backgrounds.

I?ve been interested in energy efficiency since I was a kid. Every day I marvel at the overall wastefulness of our society and am appalled at the energy and global warming situation we have gotten ourselves into.

That said, I?m conflicted by my lifelong love of the internal combustion engine. I have always done all of my own work on my vehicles, which I always run into the ground. I have a BSCS, but I have a strong analog and digital electronics background and have been designing embedded control systems for the past 15 years. Several of those years were spent designing electronic fuel injection systems, (gasoline and continuous LPG) and I have always had a strong desire to get back into that.

Vehicles:
Preferred: Counterpoint Presto and Bike-E recumbents

2003 stock base model S-10 (extended cab) 4 cyl, 5 speed. I get 28 on the highway at 60. In town 26 in the summer, winter 22.

2000 stock base model Caravan with the 2.4L. Gets 26-27 at 65. Lousy around town where the 3 speed auto never locks up.

Planned mods:
After reading this forum, increase tire pressure. Still a little leery about tire wear?may need a bit more convincing.

Lean Burn:
Ideally I?d like to build my own controller, but the wiring harness, OBDII state emissions test and time make the following a bit more realistic:
-Design an HC12 based controller that will read the crank sensor, MAP and a wideband O2.
-Based on MAP and RPM (load condition) the controller will:
-Interpret the wideband O2, bias it for desired AFR and drive the stock O2 sensor input.
-Read the crank sensor, adjust the timing and drive the stock crank sensor input.

The controller for the above is actually pretty simple. I have base code that I?m using on my HC12 based clothes dryer controller, that will interface with a nice GUI. The real problem is motivation. After doing this kind of stuff all day at work, it?s tough to get excited about it by the time I get home.

Major desire, but not so simple:
Determine engine torque real-time. This, along with injector pulse width and RPM enables real time measurement of engine efficiency. Real-time efficiency would be great for driver feedback, but it could also provide controller feedback for ignition timing and mixture. Patent number 5856922 is intriguing.

I have a lot more if anyone?s interested, but I think that?s enough for now.

Sean

[Slothman86]

I love seeing new driving techniques that help save Gas money! I am so excited about hypermiling and can't wait to lose more, after reading several tips from this forum I saved 2 MPGs on 1/4 of a tank. I cna't wait to see what happens after a full tank!