Shell V-Power test

[MnFocus]

Yes indeed it is ! Also in Texaco fuels too . Seems to be a common mixture of detergents .

[Rick Rae]

Hmm... okay, thanks!

Found the detergent quote (from a Shell press release):

Shell regular and Plus gasolines... contain more than two times the amount of cleaning agents required by the EPA. Shell V-Power... has more than five times the minimum amount of cleaning agents required by government standards... While [the 2x+ detergent level] is designed to protect engines from the future build-up of carbon deposits, Shell V-Power is specifically formulated to actively clean your engine as you drive, giving it the ability to clean-up deposits that have already built up on intake valves and fuel injectors.

Rick

[Bubba Bob]

Good quote, Rick ^^ Thanks

[VetteOwner]

hahaha i laugh so dang hard at thier stupid comercial they have. about 2 identical cars running around one uses the allmighty v power while the other uses cheapo gas. then magically the shells is nice and clean while the other has what looks to be black corn flakes stuck to it...i have NEVER seen gunk that bad in an engine...its amost impossible... ive seen some funky carbon build up but no way was that comming off without a scraper....

[Rick Rae]

First segment complete. 33.99 MPG over 307 miles. As expected, no obvious FE improvement (prior three segments were 33.64, 34.11, and 32.09 MPG).

Rick

[VetteOwner]

hate to say it but just as i expected...

[Rick Rae]

Looks like I may have to scrub this test due to equipment failure.

My instrument cluster is on the way out (speedo and tach refuse to start up) and I need to pull it for repair.

My reference says I need to disconnect the battery first, and based on what I've read here that's going to make the ECU forgetful. So my FE is going to be wonky until it relearns reality... which isn't compatible with the test I'm trying to do.

I'm open to input or suggestions, but I guess it comes down to whether my numbers go South after getting the cluster out of the car.

Rick

[VetteOwner]

hmm yea is it the VW? i know thier known for electrical isues. if its anyhtign liek my chevette or truck, when it stops working bang on the dash. it may jar it enough to get it workign again. if it does. pull it and clean the conatcts and slightly bend them out for a tighter contact. if that doesnt work well try a new cluster.

but it could aslo be the computer being weird. try disconectiong the battery for 20 minutes or so and see what happens.

[Rick Rae]

Originally Posted by VetteOwner

hmm yea is it the VW?

Yeah, 2000 Cabrio, based on the Golf A3 platform. I researched it over the weekend and it turns out this is a pretty common failure... lots about it on the various VW forums.

...it could... be the computer being weird.

That's exactly it, but not the computer you're thinking of! The instrument cluster has its own little computer that apparently sits on the OBD II bus... think of it as an in-build mini-Scangauge, I guess. It runs a self-test at engine start-up, and if anything fails it shuts down both the speedo and tach drivers.

I found a guy who had the problem himself and fixed his cluster, then started doing it for Internet friends, then finally started doing it for anyone willing to pay a nominal fee. He says there's tons of capacitors on the cluster boards and most of the time one of those has gone bad, otherwise it's a cracked solder connection, very rarely a bad stepper motor for one of the gauges.

I chose to ignore the "disconnect the negative terminal of the battery" part of the instructions and instead just work very carefully. Managed to pull the cluster without destroying anything obvious, and it's even now on its way to the repair guy.

The only odd thing I noticed this morning (other than a gaping hole in my dash, haha) is that my SG wouldn't register MPH (and thus MPG) -- I guess when I unplugged the cluster I must have thrown some pretty nasty trash on the OBD lines and confused it or something. Unplugging and quickly reconnecting the SG caused it to reinitialize and start working right (and without losing my MPG figures, yay!)

So it looks like I might have dodged this bullet. I'll have to use my GPSr for mileage readings since my odo is on the way to Canada as we speak but everything else in the cluster I can get from the SG.

Thus, the V-Power test continues...

Rick

[VetteOwner]

lol yea its usualyl somehting stupid like one of th erobotic arms at the assembly plant didnt hold the gun there long enough for it to heat up the components to let the solder flow.