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ghost7584
Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 11:56 am    Post subject: Get more gas mileage Reply with quote

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Some people drive without an air filter over the carbueretor in their car. Without an air filter, the engine will get much more air and have more power for the same amount of gasoline, making a more complete burn of the fuel. The whole auto will function with more power.
Keep the air filter cover, but take the filter out. The little bit of dust caught in the filter over the coarse of a year will not hurt the engine to any significant degree; it is negligible. If people got rid of their air filters now, the price of gas would soon decrease because people would be using less gas because their cars would get better gas mileage.
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Old Geezer
Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 5:11 pm    Post subject: Re: Get more gas mileage Reply with quote

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ghost7584 wrote:
Some people drive without an air filter over the carbueretor in their car. Without an air filter, the engine will get much more air and have more power for the same amount of gasoline, making a more complete burn of the fuel. The whole auto will function with more power.
Keep the air filter cover, but take the filter out. The little bit of dust caught in the filter over the coarse of a year will not hurt the engine to any significant degree; it is negligible. If people got rid of their air filters now, the price of gas would soon decrease because people would be using less gas because their cars would get better gas mileage.


Very bad advice! Without the air filter, you will destroy your engine WAY before the the end of it's normal life. The savings in gas will not even come close to what it will cost to repair or replace the engine after all that damage.
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spirytus
Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Modern cars use fuel injection not carburetors, and I'm using the term "Modern" loosely.

Fuel injectors use ECM's (Engine Control Modules) to calculate the mix of air/gasoline before they inject the mixture into the cylinder. Depending on the type of system installed in your car; an ECM will use a variety of sensors to calculate and mix the best fuel/air mixture rated for your engine + fuel type, far better than a carburetor ever could.

More advance ECM's can also handle other types of (cleaner) liquid fuels such as flex-fuels (ethenol/gasoline mixture), and even propane, without changing your engine.

Anyway, removing your air-filter WILL clog the sensors, damage the solenoids, and in the end hose the engine. On the other hand, changing the air-filter regularly, as per your vehicle maintenance manual, will help to keep it burning as cleanly as possible and maintain good gas mileage.

Do you stick copper-coins in your fuse-box to save on electrical costs too? Shocked

Thanks for playing...
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M
Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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I heard bicycles get a pretty good gas mileage... without any additives. Wink
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scpg02
Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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I've seen suggestions that you add a small amount of acetone to your gas to increase gas milleage.
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spirytus
Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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scpg02 wrote:
I've seen suggestions that you add a small amount of acetone to your gas to increase gas mileage.


Controversial at best:

Quote:

Some automotive enthusiasts add acetone at around 1 part in 500 to their fuel, following claims of dramatic improvement in fuel economy and engine life. This practice is controversial as there are counterclaims that acetone has no measurable effect or may in fact reduce engine life by adversely affecting fuel system parts. Debates on this subject and claims of Big Oil cover-up intensified when the practice was addressed on the popular American TV show Mythbusters in 2006, and shown to have negative effect in the televised fuel economy test.


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetone Not the best source, I know, but proves my point.
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Last edited by spirytus on Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:48 pm; edited 1 time in total
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scpg02
Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Quote:
Controversial at best:


Yeah I know. There was a thread on another forum where a guy was running his own experiment on it and posting a running log of what happened. I'll see if I can dig that up.

__________________________________________

Adding Acetone to Gasoline Update: Myth or Miracle and the “Check Engine” light. – vanity -

Ok that is the thread and he has links to the threads that started his experiment.
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spirytus
Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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It's hard not to become more skeptical after reading stuff like:

Quote:
Results: Yes, folks. Acetone in your gasoline will increase your mpg and it will make your “Check Engine” light go off.


Click to view this image at its original size
Click on the image to view it at its original size

...

Not saying you're wrong, but this source is definitely unreliable bro Wink
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scpg02
Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Quote:
Not saying you're wrong, but this source is definitely unreliable bro
Oh I'd never put the stuff in my tank. I'd be the one in a thousand it didn't work for, assuming it worked. You know what I mean.

And that's sis bro.
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spirytus
Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Here's a quote from the original "paper":

Quote:
Since the fuel from every gas station is different from the next, the MPG performance will also vary. Then there exist a wide variety of additive choices at the terminals that affect quality. Also other variables in the cars performance such as warm external temperature versus cold external temperature, using the AC or not, headlights or not, incline of drive, etc


Yes, fuel millage can vary greatly, thankfully these can be eliminated/controlled in a lab (aka garage with a chassis dynamometer). Was any of this done? No. So where did he pull his facts from? ... Wink Anyway, no sources given.

"ScanGuage II - Track your automobile statistics with ease. Unit plugs into the diagnostic connector found under-dash on 1996 and newer cars and light trucks." link at the bottom just killed the whole thing for me...

This page is more likely a front to push that overpriced trip calculator - a $159.95 tag.

Post edit: Sis? I stand corrected. Embarassed
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