Let's talk WAI

[spotaneagle]

sentra guy, 50% is possible but not everyone here is claiming it, my commute was the same commute over and over again for months with set speeds and also without set speeds yet constant gains...




and project 84's saturn shouldn't be getting over 33 mpg at all because he has the older style pistons, and an automatic i had a 96 automatic dohc and it never got over the 33 mark ever ever ever ever ever, no matter how old lady grandma i old lady grandmad that old lady, cause its an automatic saturn dohc and the Rpms run real high in the cities and gobble up gas..I would know cause I drove one for two years, I would get like 20 mpg or so in the city

and to prove this as being correct mpg, I remember I constantly babied that car's transmission accelerating real slow ect all the time.. because it was in really bad shape, leaked and shifted bad slammed into reverse for 50k miles the tranny outlasted the engine which died at -7 degrees

the thing would usually get 31mpg just like the epa says

I used to hate that car for being so bad on gas some weeks, I was like saturn sucks economy my azzz

[theholycow]

In the WAI data collection thread, I added these two fields:
Chronic mechanical difficulties before WAI
Chronic mechanical difficulties after WAI
Phillip and John, can you update your data?

John's additional oil burning and spotaneagle's transmission difficulties seem relevant.

John, your additional oil burning does not support a HAI as helping your fuel economy and casts some doubt that it might have exacerbated your oil burning issue. IMO the best evidence from your car is just looking at the MPG column of your gaslog linearly from bottom to top, noting where the HAI was installed.

spotaneagle, your failing transmission is not a good example of the maximum fuel economy that can be achieved from a car, and automatics seem to get better fuel economy if you don't grandma them too much.

Guys, I'm not convinced that the WAI is BS, but strong arguments are better than arguments with holes. Maybe somebody with a clearer situation can post.

[Project84]

WAI data collection thread updated.

There are many guys that used to frequent here using HAI with no side effects and no oil burning or transmission problems before or after the addition of their HAI. Unfortunately, those guys have moved on, and I can't help but wonder why. lovemysan comes to mind mostly because he was my inspiration for building my HAI. I believe his car was a SOHC and w/ other mods he was in the 50's for mpg.

Mine has been on for roughly 14-15k miles and I have no transmission problems.

spotaneagle's reverse "slam issue" (this is what they call it over there) is well documented on saturnfans.com and is a typical problem in the s-series, as is oil consumption and the increase of it with mileage increase. I think he was saying his '96 DOHC car had the reverse slam, he didn't mention having a HAI on that car. (just to clarify)

[spotaneagle]

Originally Posted by Project84

WAI data collection thread updated.

There are many guys that used to frequent here using HAI with no side effects and no oil burning or transmission problems before or after the addition of their HAI. Unfortunately, those guys have moved on, and I can't help but wonder why. lovemysan comes to mind mostly because he was my inspiration for building my HAI. I believe his car was a SOHC and w/ other mods he was in the 50's for mpg.

Mine has been on for roughly 14-15k miles and I have no transmission problems.

spotaneagle's reverse "slam issue" (this is what they call it over there) is well documented on saturnfans.com and is a typical problem in the s-series, as is oil consumption and the increase of it with mileage increase. I think he was saying his '96 DOHC car had the reverse slam, he didn't mention having a HAI on that car. (just to clarify)

many saturn s-series automatics will get reverse slam, i've encountered three in the 95-96 years with it, at 175k+ miles each

But I cured two of the vehicles, you can back the car into a wall and leave it running for 25 minutes in reverse with your e brake on and against the wall and that should purge the gear, you can do this in other gears too, by using the concept of purging, you can drive you car around your neighbor hood in one gear that may be having trouble shifting for 15-20 minutes and it will purge it. You're supposed to change the fluid after... i forget the pecking order of which gear to do, I think if it slams between 2 and 3rd, you do 3rd..(use automatic gear lever and put on 3,2,1, ect)

That last paragraph will save you 2000$


ya no hai on reverse slam car,

I always check my oil cause saturns are notorious for burning oil(why i use synthetic, doesnt burn as easily) I believe its one of the two big faults Gm designed into saturn, The other being the Cooling Fan discontonuing to work, considering I've seen 4 saturns now with a cooling fan switch, it seems like the computer stops using the cooling fan after about 150k-160k probably so your engine will fail eventually and you'll have to buy a new one... I could be wrong on this, but one after another after another, So obviously I built 4, yes 4 cooling fan switches for 4 different saturns so far.. After replacing all the othe parts that supposedly control it, We're talking about 15$ worth of materials

But on the oil consumption, I've read numerous times that saturns burn oil because they dont have proper drainage holes, and guys who rebuild saturns to race them drill their own slots.

I think to keep a saturn from burning alot of oil change the oil often and use penzoil that has worked for me, also do tune ups often and drive it less agressively, it seems that after 1000-1500 miles from when I changed the oil is when alot of the burning starts to happen, hence I say change oil often

[Jay2TheRescue]

I've read in GM service manuals that after adding fluid to the tranny that the system needs to be equalized. This is done by starting the vehicle in Park, waiting 15 seconds, then shifting to Reverse, (15 sec), Netural, (15 sec), Drive, (15 sec), 3rd, (15 sec), 2nd, (15 sec), 1st, (15 sec), 2nd, (15 sec), 3rd, (15 sec), Drive, (15 sec), Neutral, (15 sec), Reverse, (15 sec), Park, then recheck the fluid level.

This procedure is supposed to make sure that there is fluid in all areas of the transmission.

[spotaneagle]

you should have driven your car at least 10 miles before you check your transmission fluid to let the fluid warm up and use it to guage how much you actually have and for a saturn, it's while the car is running

[Jay2TheRescue]

I've only ever owned GM automatics but I thought all autos were supposed to be checked hot and running.

[theholycow]

With the possible exception of Saturns, AFAIK all autos are supposed to be checked hot and running. I say Saturns could possibly be an exception because their automatics were not designed like normal automatics. IIRC they were more like manuals.

[spotaneagle]

no saturn automatics have to be running to check it

thats what i meant

[FrugalFloyd]

Saturn CVTs are checked hot and running.