yet another WAI experiment

[spotaneagle]

Originally Posted by BEEF

spot,

a big reason for my lack of gains is that I don't have a saturn. I know that the cars are very similar but I was blessed with the 2.2 liter (very large displacement for a 4 cyl). I have actually gotten my 90 day average close to 50% over EPA (45ish percent if memory serves me well). I also don't do a lot of the things I used to do such as high-G turns and rolling stops. I have also been told that you get better results under 70 degrees F. I haven't tested this as time has become scarce in my house (I have a 1 year old running around) and most of my car time is spent fixing it (deer damage).

though the idea of caulk around the headlights sounds good. it is a mess and the tops of my headlights are exposed every time I pop the hood. I instead used weather stripping for a cleaner look and a tight seal. I once had it in the space between the hood and the bumper so that I had no grill opening (except one small area so that I could open the hood, just big enough for my hand). I changed that when I put on the new bumper. I just haven't gotten around to it putting it back.

as far as the IAT temps, the reading was taken at the end of each run when I reached my destination. they do fluxuate at stoplights and when you first start the car, they actually read ambient (pretty much)

the scangauge will display this and is conveniently named IAT. I can monitor it the entire trip if I want. it is currently set as one of my 4 displays. the good thing about using that reading and not the remote thermometer is that is the actual sensor reading so that is the figure that the car is using in its ECU.

personally my good results are on days ranging from 50-90 because thats when I had time to do my testing(warm enough outside to want to do work on my car) I dont think it would matter much between those temps if you caulk around the headlights because no air is being let in, use clear caulk btw, or you can get seal and peal(removable caulk) that's clear, Seal and peal will probably fall out eventually though, it's hard to caulk headlights too, because there's nothing behind the gap usually, so you have to use a real thick bead, plus since you have to wait for the real thick bead to dry for so long because its so thick, you have to plan it out when it's warm and not going to rain for 36 hrs+/ avoid morning dew then refill it when it dries to function aerodynamically as well and fill any holes..

best bet.. take off the headlight and put tape behind it first to create a backing for the caulk..

I do professional weatherproofing sometimes so I have used a good 100+ tubes of caulk in the last few years, so I'm practically an expert at sealing

caulk is water soluble so you can use a wet rag to put it into place and mold it once you apply it. But for a small things like headlights where you want to aerodynamically shape it, your finger will work best..