Fuel mileage mods and alternative fuels

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G

Guitar Jones

aka Angry Johnny
Joined
May 24, 2004
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Location
Deltona, Florida
With fuel prices soaring and no relief in sight I thought we could share our ideas and experiences. You know like what you tried, how well it worked or didn't work.

For instance I have a 2500 CRD Cummins 4WD truck, automatic with 4.10:1 gears in it. It got 14.5 or so MPG when I bought it. I installed a K&N air filter, without really noticing any significant improvement. I added LT315/70 R17 tires and got maybe .5 MPG improvement. Next I got a Superchips tuner, downloaded the tow mode and picked up 1 mpg. I tried the performance mode but my mileage got worse (probably because it's just too hard to keep your foot out of the throttle). Next I installed an EMS Off Road free wheeling front hub kit and saw an increase of .9 or so MPG.

So I spent about $3K for 2.4 MPG increase. Not sure if that was worth it but it is a significant gain. Next mod will be extrude honed injector tips, the fuel mileage ones but they aren't cheap either at $750 plus shipping and a $400 core charge up front. At least I'll get that back.

So let's see if we can help each other out and save some cash. Cars trucks, gas or diesels what have you guys tried?
 
Wow. $3000 could have gotten a 10/12 mpg increase buy getting a Neon. Of course then you have another vehicle to worry about but that is the route I'm going to take. Have my 98 Dakota up to about 17 mpg by making it lighter. Removed spare tire,jack,fenderwell splash guards,keep junk out of cab,etc. Try not to run AC unless its unbearable.Pull the splash guard off of air cleaner side of grill to let more cool air in & hot air out. I hate it but my truck is staying parked 3 days a week for now & I'm car pooling with the wife until I get a good gas mileage beater.

Oldschoolcuda
 
I put a K&N in my 05 Stang and my 02 4.7 Ram. No difference that I can see in the Stang, but it went up a bit on the truck. maybe 1-1.5mpg. Guess I should add the truck has 143K on it, the Stang has about 31K
 
My new job is only 1.5 miles away so out comes the 21 speed bicycle. I'll be on the 5:30-2:30 shift so traffic shouldn't be too bad. If it gets too bad riding I'll get a rickshaw and hook up my Doberman and make him earn his food.
 
i have a 01 cummins ho 6sp. 3.55 ratio 4x4.quad cab. i was getting 17.5 mpg. i have a quadzilla adrenaline box on it.it is rated at 180rwhp and 420 lbs tq at wheels, air dog fuel preperator, 5 in exhaust, k & n cold air intake, hx 40 turbo, 100 hp edge jammer injectors, i am getting around 21mpg now. this empty. i pulled our gooseneck trailer with 15 calves weighing 500-600 lbs each and got 19.3.alot of your problem is the 4.10 gears. I can get you the jammer injectors for $260. then they need to be pop tested for another $65. and they are ready to go..seem to work pretty good. i am hitting about 1050lbs of torque at the rear wheels right now.
 
Yeah I know those 4.10s are hurting me, that's why I put the taller tires on it. A gear swap is expensive and time consuming though I may have to go that route eventually. I should have mentioned my truck is an 06 so gear selection is limited. Also I've not been able to find anything except stock injectors for it except for the tips and they are all expensive.

I've talked with other guys who have installed 4" and 5" aftermarket systems and they say it didn't make any difference unlike the Fords and GMs which I guess don't have as good of an exhaust system to start with.

I have however purchased a beater $300 88 Omni. So far though I just can't bring myself to drive it. :)
 
My usual daily driver was a '95 Ram 2500 V10. The best I've ever seen is 14mpg all freeway driving. I've been averaging just about 10mpg and putting over $100 per week in the tank. Needless to say, that wasn't getting the job done.
Fortunately, I had a '79 Kawasaki 1000 sitting in the garage that I hadn't ridden in years. The bike looks brand new and has killer paint but who knows what's now living in the engine. I took it into the shop and told them to get it running. The first question was, "How much do you want to put into this?" I answered with, "How much are you thinking?"
Turned out to be $1200, including current registration and insurance, to get it perfect and now I'm getting close to 40mpg on a daily basis (as long as the sun is out and the roads are dry - won't ride in the wet anymore). The gas savings alone will pay for getting the bike back on the road in about 3 months. It's all gravy after that - and more fun too.
The Ram is now parked except for when it's needed.
 
The biggest problem is some of the new vehicles are hard if not nearly impossible to improve apon. Unlike like our older rides which were not MPG maxed out when they left the factory.

On my wifes '99 Ford Taurus, I gave it a K&N and a newly released Accel coil pack for it. Without new plugs or wires, she did note it used less gas on the Hwy. to and from the doc's once for herslef and then again for the kids. She said it took just less than a 1/4 tank to make the round trip normally and this time it used just about the full 1/4 for 2 round trips.

OK, that was general, but it is about 30 miles round trip.

New readings began yesterday with a slightly wider plug gap and new Platuim plugs. I amd sending back the Taylor direct fit wires because they didn't fit properly. Some to short, the locking tabs didn't lock and the coil side of the wire wasn't long enough to make any type of decent ontact with the coil packs female side.

Nice work Taylor. (This is why Americans looooose! )

The Harley 1200 Sporty gets 50 mpg's at Hwy speed (About 70 - 75 mph) and will do better if I keep the throttle a bit untwisted. 60 mph and under. Which is great since thats about the speed of rush hour traffic in the HOV lane going home.
 
speedyb-cc said:
My new job is only 1.5 miles away so out comes the 21 speed bicycle. I'll be on the 5:30-2:30 shift so traffic shouldn't be too bad. If it gets too bad riding I'll get a rickshaw and hook up my Doberman and make him earn his food.
Click to expand...
lmao
 
When I first got my Dakota a few years back I put on a K&N air filter - no change. I put a Black Max tonnoue cover and it improved mileage on the interstate nearly 2 mpg - but no change driving it around town.

I live a mile from my work. Unless rain threatens (not likely in Georgia this summer) I ride my 50cc Honda scooter. It gets 100 mpg. I would ride my bicycle but I would get run over...
C
 
We're beginning to experiment with a hydrogen/oxygen vapor injection system...........the Slant-6 Volare Wagon will be the guinea pig on this one........

Electric current is introduced to stainless coils in water producing the gases, and the gases are fed through direct vacuum........much more efficient and practical than the old water injection systems, since the gases do not tend to condense or liquefy nearly as much as the water vapors would....The system electronics are tied to the "key on" like a fuel pump. Gonna be fun...........8)

Looks fairly promising, and from tests we've studied on some other older cars, it looks like it could net a nice increase in HP and mileage.....we're looking at an array of "converters", set up similar to an "Optima" battery....we may try moving the battery to the rear, or adding a second tray for the converter........

When we finish putting the system together, we'll post pics. :read2:
 
Ok, here's a fairly simple additive that has worked in my wife's 95 Lebaron Convertible:
2 ounces of acetone to 10 gallons of gas. I tracked it carefully for several months and mileage will go from 23.5 to 25+ mpg in mixed driving. 87 octane 3.0 V6 auto with 205,000 miles.

I'm not guaranteeing anything, do your own research, but I am saving a gallon of gas every ten with just this and the acetone is about $15/gallon at W-mart or less than $.30/ 10 gallons. At $4.20 a gallon, that save me $3.90 a tank/week x 52 weeks = $200/year.

If 25% of the population did that we would save an incredible amount!

found a site with info:
http://www.pureenergysystems.com/news/2005/03/17/6900069_Acetone/
 
That article on Acetone is GREAT............ALL of us should check this out........I think you should post this by itself, and I'd urge the Administrators to put a STICKY on it.........

REALLY important reading !!! :read2: :read2: :read2:
 
With my DD I am contemplating going to pure synthetics for the drivetrain, and most importantly going to smaller tires for the non-winter months.

I know that when I went from 225/75/15's to 30x9.50x15 mud tires power dropped some of course as did mileage.

I now have other rigs to drive in the winter, so I will drive the other less efficient rigs when needed.

I am hoping that smaller street tires, mixed with slowing down and thinner lubes will get me into the mid to upper 20's which I did see in the past.

Truck is a 98 Tacoma 4-cylinder 4wd. Dead stock with 93K on it.

ROB
 
My new ram seems to get 9-10mpg. Flowmaster Catback and a K&N filter. Im hoping a cai will bring it up to 11mpg, LOL
 
On my 02 Dakota 4.7 a tonneau cover was worth 2 mpg gain too like clhyer's was. Cold air kit did nothing but a slight power gain and alot of noise. Same with the Flowmaster cat back, no gain, just noise but it does sound good. Also tried a superchips tuner and it gained 1.5 mpg as long as I keep my foot out of it but unfortunately that's pretty hard to do with my lead foot and when you do get into it much it's worse on gas.
 
A friend gave me an extra 1406 eddy carb (600cfm, calibrated for economy). Not sure if bolting that on would give me any mpg gain over the 625cfm carter I am running now on my 360. The acetone thing looks like its worth trying though.
 
3404speed said:
Ok, here's a fairly simple additive that has worked in my wife's 95 Lebaron Convertible:
2 ounces of acetone to 10 gallons of gas. I tracked it carefully for several months and mileage will go from 23.5 to 25+ mpg in mixed driving. 87 octane 3.0 V6 auto with 205,000 miles.

I'm not guaranteeing anything, do your own research, but I am saving a gallon of gas every ten with just this and the acetone is about $15/gallon at W-mart or less than $.30/ 10 gallons. At $4.20 a gallon, that save me $3.90 a tank/week x 52 weeks = $200/year.

If 25% of the population did that we would save an incredible amount!

found a site with info:
http://www.pureenergysystems.com/news/2005/03/17/6900069_Acetone/
Click to expand...


Some very good reading. Im going to try it with my 73 dart with the 225.
 
I'm trying the acetone in my truck even though I replaced one injector friday and I picked up nearly 1 mpg. I got almost 18 @ 17.84.

With acetone and injector nozzles could 20+ MPG be obtainable? I hope so, I'd be very happy with 20.
 
pastortom1 said:
We're beginning to experiment with a hydrogen/oxygen vapor injection system...........the Slant-6 Volare Wagon will be the guinea pig on this one........

Electric current is introduced to stainless coils in water producing the gases, and the gases are fed through direct vacuum........much more efficient and practical than the old water injection systems, since the gases do not tend to condense or liquefy nearly as much as the water vapors would....The system electronics are tied to the "key on" like a fuel pump. Gonna be fun...........8)

Looks fairly promising, and from tests we've studied on some other older cars, it looks like it could net a nice increase in HP and mileage.....we're looking at an array of "converters", set up similar to an "Optima" battery....we may try moving the battery to the rear, or adding a second tray for the converter........

When we finish putting the system together, we'll post pics. :read2:
Click to expand...
pastor tom.. nate here. ive gota buddy of mine , we met in college. they did some research . its called Browns Gas. he has an 04 Hemi single cab shortbed intake and exhuast. normally when we would drive, which we alwasy did 90mph everywhere lol wed get9-10 mpg. with teh gas hooked up we were goin the same speed but 25-30mpg..!! i didn't believe it till we went for a ride. On one of our trips from WACO TO DALLAS doing 90 ..again,lol we only used a 1/4 tank, which it would normaly use 1/2 to 3/4 doin the same speed. im not sure about this browns gas but it worked well on his truck. i wonder if it will hurt carbureted vehicles in anyway.......it would surely be something to look into
 
What ever happened with this, did anyone try it or was it just another one of those "I'll do it next week" car guy things that we all do? I never tryed it because stopping at the store and getting some acetone just takes too damn long. I can really use that extra 5 mins to sit here and play on FABO. LOL.
 
wouldn't the taller tires skew your results? I think you are going farther than the odometer says you are, therefore you are actually getting better mileage.

Guitar Jones said:
Yeah I know those 4.10s are hurting me, that's why I put the taller tires on it. A gear swap is expensive and time consuming though I may have to go that route eventually. I should have mentioned my truck is an 06 so gear selection is limited. Also I've not been able to find anything except stock injectors for it except for the tips and they are all expensive.

I've talked with other guys who have installed 4" and 5" aftermarket systems and they say it didn't make any difference unlike the Fords and GMs which I guess don't have as good of an exhaust system to start with.

I have however purchased a beater $300 88 Omni. So far though I just can't bring myself to drive it. :)
Click to expand...
 
3404SPEED great article! I'm going to try it in my car and I am going to show it to my cousin (has an RV). He retired and justed started travelling four years ago in the RV and loved it. Then these gas prices have squashed his travel. This article could really boost his travelling plans once again. Thanks.
 
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