GS FAQ/Glossary, Busted/Confirmed Mods, Archive

[Hateful]

I think it's crap, but there are those here that will say otherwise.

[theholycow]

I haven't noticed those ads here, but every miracle water-for-fuel idea I've seen before is either completely non-functional, or requires more energy to work than the energy you get out of it.

If you're talking about electrolysizing water into H and O2 and using H for your fuel, that's difficult to implement. I have no idea if it would be cheaper to split your own water using electricity or just buy gasoline. I don't think anyone has actually ever done it.

[Nerys]

Running a car on water is not a miracle and is ABSOLUTELY possible and plausible. If I had the money I could do it tommorrow. The problem is this. ITS NOT EFFICIENT :-)

Think about this to run a car on water you need the following.

A battery to electrolyse water into hydrogen and oxygen at a sufficient rate to then BURN that hydrogen to power the car.

Sounds good right? here is the problem.

The battery. By the time you have enough BATTERY power to go say 200 miles on hydrogen you ALREADY HAVE enough battery power to run an EV for 400 miles :-) (those numbers are out my butt they are just to make a point)

IE a PURE hydrogen car is an ELECTRIC CAR. Because this process is so inefficient you already have an EV without the benefits of an EV :-)

IE a hydrogen car CAN NOT work (burning hydrogen) for the same reason an EV can not work (yet) we DO NOT HAVE the batteries to make it work!

And even if we did (chevron and there damned patent) it would be many times more efficient to SKIP the water part and just put an electric motor in the thing :-)

SO YES car can run just fine on water but NO you would not bother since if you can do that you can do the EV for twice the range at least.

[GasSavers_Eric]

One comparison I don't see is normal oil versus synthetic? Has anyone done a comparison on that?

[theholycow]

Normal vs. synthetic is one of the most commonly argued issues on any car forum. BITOG is the generally accepted authority.

Please, nobody respond in such a way as to turn this reference thread into a flame war.

[nlife]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

Busted/Confirmed Mods:
Ignition Enhancers:
http://www.fuelsaving.info/ignition.htm

Not confirmed or busted? Having read the link, I'm not entirely convinced one way or the other. I do know that an MSD (Multi-Spark Discharge), or DMS (Digital Multi Spark) or other type of multi-spark ignition does help with the cold weather starts. Although it really is more apparent in the older vehicles where the ignition system may be tired. For example, the Ignition in my '86 Samurai was less than stellar. Cold days would see me sitting in the driveway cranking away. Pull the choke, Start, stall.... Start, stall... Start, pump the gas, attempt to keep it running, stall. Once it finally started everything was fine, but until then, it wasn't much fun. After the DMS was installed, it was, pull the choke, Start, go inside and enjoy some coffee.

In terms of actual fuel efficiency, I'm not too sure. I hadn't kept records of the mileage.

N

[shupack]

Originally Posted by Bill in Houston

I believe that a freer exhaust can help. Air filter, no.

My freed up exhaust helped, I don't like to calculate MPG because it's depressing lately ('96 Range Rover...16mpg, but it's paid for and makes me money.....) I track by miles/tankfull. I always fill to the top, a year ago I got about 280 miles/22 gal. New exhaust got me to 295/tank. Better fuel injectors got 310+ and just switching from BP to QuickTrip to fill up bumped me to 350/tank. That was the amazing bit, just filling at a different station made the biggest difference. I havn't done any ABA testing, but I drive the same route everyday and try to be consistent (lightening my foot over the last year or so has probably make a bit of the difference as well)

Has anyone done a test of different fuel brands?

[67 Satellite]

Shupack, it probably has a lot to do with the % of alcohol in the fuel. The Clark station across the street from me had 14% in it the last time I tested. The local Kroger and Shell had the lowest at 3%.I'll give you 3 guesses which one I use.

[DRW]

Originally Posted by 67 Satellite

Shupack, it probably has a lot to do with the % of alcohol in the fuel. The Clark station across the street from me had 14% in it the last time I tested. The local Kroger and Shell had the lowest at 3%.I'll give you 3 guesses which one I use.

Interesting! How would I find out how much alcohol is in the gas of local stations?

[GasSavers_Erik]

To find % ethanol-

1. Fill an evenly calibrated glass measuring container with water to the lowest calibration mark, add gasoline and fill up 10 more calibration marks so that the whole mixture is 11 calibration marks (a graduated cylinder like you may have used in high school chemistry lab having 11 evenly spaced calibration marks is ideal).

2. Cover and shake/mix. The ethanol will mix with the water, but then will no longer stay mixed with the gasoline

3. Look at the level of the water/alcohol mixture (it will always be on the bottom). If its at the same mark that you started on (where you filled the water to), then there was zero percent ethanol in the gas. If it comes up 1 calibration mark (out of a possible 10), then it was 10% ethanol. Half a mark= 5% ethanol.

4. Disposal- Decant the gasoline off the top of the mixture and burn it in your lawnmower etc. The water/ethanol on the bottom can go in your water injection system