Official Thread for posting daily FE updates

[GasSavers_DaX]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

http://www.fueleconomy.gov

Thanks, got it fixed.

[JanGeo]

Weird thing last night - was doing my usual Ocean Drive loop and then a little more - 52.7mpg 21 miles - was lugging it at 18mph in 5th without touching the gas and was getting 90MPG.

Another thing that really bugs me and I may need to hack the code to fix this is if I turn on the AC going down hill with my foot off the gas it adds fuel and accelerates when it already is going in gear.

Monitoring the LOD reading on the ScanGauge really shows how much lugging I am doing - check it out sometime. It is supposed to be the Percentage of output of the engine at any RPM and it is easy to push it to 75-90% output at low RPM - may be a good test for finding the idea RPM/Load efficiency of the motor.

[MetroMPG]

The closest info I have to that is coasting with the engine idling in N vs. CODfishing. I did a suburban/urban loop and noted a 12.9% improvement from the fishies.

Coasting experiment: engine on VS engine off on a fixed route.

[zpiloto]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

The closest info I have to that is coasting with the engine idling in N vs. CODfishing. I did a suburban/urban loop and noted a 12.9% improvement from the fishies.

Coasting experiment: engine on VS engine off on a fixed route.

Thanks. Good info

[JanGeo]

I haven't tried coasting with the engine off in my xB but did notice that with the ignition on but engine not started the ScangaugeII turns off after a short time. I only burn fuel at 0.2 - 0.1 GPH at idle so leaving the engine running saves wear and tear at this point I don't want to mess with it but I would like the injectors to stop firing all the time when they are not needed. It does seem that I am hitting the MPG wall at this point - time for some aero mods!

[GasSavers_brick]

From my limited experience with back road driving, I have to concur that the potential for higher FE is there. There's a 6-mile route that I take from time to time through stop lights, turns, hills, etc. that provides the best FE I have ever seen (45mpg+ round trip from a cold start). LS P&G (codfishing) is the way to go. I'm planning to give it a shot this afternoon now that I've seen the route, and just hope that traffic doesn't nix that plan.

As for the ScanGauge: Yes, it does stay active when I kill the engine. It's set to hybrid mode, which does the trick quite nicely. Accuracy remains pretty good even with frequent engine killing.

[krousdb]

The catalytic converter arrived yesterday. Now I just need to find the time to install it. I just went over 500 miles on this tank and the gauge is still pegged above F. I seem to remember that on the maiden voyage from Chicago to Pittsburgh, the needle dropped below F at about 415 miles. Yes, there is a problem with my fuel gauge. The plan is to run the tank down far enough so I can remove the fuel filler tube without having to drain the tank. I need to make sure that the vent tube isn't clogged. While I'm at it I will remove the sending unit and take some measurements to see what the deal is.
I have a feeling that I will smell like gas for a few days after I am finished.

[SVOboy]

Replace the cat by taking the exhaust manifold off and putting it down in there instead of trying to go up from the bottom.

I doubt I will pass epa unless I do something else major, so whatev, I suck and we all know it.

[krousdb]

I jut finished replacing the cat. The old one looked just like the one I put in. The catalyst matrix was intact. After taking a drive, it seems to smell the same, so yea, I suck.

Anyway, I got my vacuum pump, gauge, brake bleader kit from ebay today. I checked the operation of the EGR and it seems OK. Applying vacuum kills the engine and the EGR holds vacuum.

Next I checked the PCV. The manual says to crimp the hose leading to the PCV and it should make a clicking sound. Well I didnt hear squat. So I removed the PCV and blew thru it with no problem. In, out, in , out. No valve action. Im wondering if the valve is stuck open then it seems to me that it would cause a vacuum leak at idle. The idle is a bit rough and never gets down to the 600 rpm where it should be. It is usually at 800 rpm.

Anyway, could a stuck open pcv cause high HC at idle? At any rate, I will get a new one tomorrow.

[GasSavers_brick]

The new commuting route is going ridiculously well. I've seen steady improvement both down-hill (morning) and up-hill (afternoon) since I started it at the end of last week. Today's results were better than expected:

Morning: 47.0mpg
Afternoon: 39.3mpg
For the day: 42.8mpg and 0.796 gallons burned over 34.1mi. (I work at two offices, one of which is a couple miles shorter to get to than the other. That's why the daily mileage is a little different.) Not bad compared to the gallon and a quarter daily average from before!

I've been CODfishing my butt off to get these numbers, and I'm loving the dramatically reduced aero drag at the lower speeds.