Fuel Saving Gadgets Do NOT Work

on May 26 in Accessories, Maintenance & Repairs tagged gas mileage by jasonl

With $4.00 a gallon gasoline weighing heavily on everyone’s minds, and major news sources like CNN constantly making reference to the coming energy crunch, fuel economy has taken on a new importance for many drivers. Pickup truck operators in particular feel the pinch more than car owners, as trucks are usually less fuel-efficient than cars. Not only that, but many truck owners use their trucks to tow trailers or haul heavy cargo, and both of these activities take their toll on fuel use.

It’s not surprising that now more than ever, those fuel saving gadgets and additives that used to be exclusively advertised on late night TV have suddenly become mainstream products. With everyone looking for an edge on gas mileage, you might have been tempted to purchase one of these devices and install it on your car or truck. Is it possible that any of these products live up to their promises, or is it all just snake oil in a box?

Sadly, it seems that almost all of these miracle cures for poor fuel mileage don’t add up to much more than marketing hype.

The ‘Turbonator’ is a device which is designed to be fit into the pipe that brings fresh air into the engine. Essentially, the makes of the device claim that by placing a stationary fan blade inside of the pipe, it can create a ‘vortex’ which will more efficiently burn fuel, increasing both mileage and horsepower. The makers of the Turbonator claim mileage increases of as much as 33%. Lofty claims like this one are an easy way to spot fakes and frauds. To begin with, if it were that simple to dramatically improve the fuel mileage of a vehicle, then Turbonators would all come stock on every car sold around the world. Unfortunately, automotive engineering is a lot more complicated than a one-size fits all vortex generator.

Another popular set of ‘fuel savers’ are devices which claim to use the power of magnetism to somehow improve your miles per gallon. These devices usually stick onto the fuel lines heading into the engine bay and make pseudo-scientific claims that the magnets ‘align’ the fuel molecules in order to promote quick burning. Sadly, magnets do not affect non-ferrous materials, negating any effect they might have on your engine’s performance. Even if these magnets were able to somehow re-arrange the molecular structure of fuel they way they claim, there still would not be a noticeable improvement in engine performance, as there is no evidence that this type of effect provides any real benefit.

The list of fuel additives and mileage increasing devices is quite long, but nowhere amongst any of those vaunted products will you find anything that will affect the efficiency of your vehicle more than a program of regular and consistent maintenance. Things like maintaining the proper air pressure in your truck’s tires, regularly changing your oil, spark plugs and air filter, and cleaning the carbon out of your intake manifold will not only increase your fuel mileage, but also lengthen the life of your truck. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of snake oil any day of the week.

SCAM ALERT – Adding Hydrogen To Your Gas WON’T Save You Money

on Apr 11 in Accurate Auto Advice tagged gas mileage by jasonl

 

 Adding hydrogen to your gas won't improve your gas mileage. [3:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Listen to this post.

I stumbled across a scam today that I just had to write about. Here’s the hook:

“Increase your gas mileage 20-90% by adding a supplemental hydrogen generator to your car! A supplemental hydrogen generator works simply enough – you put distilled water in a special canister in your car, and electricity from your car’s battery is used to separate that water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is added to your car’s fuel because hydrogen burns very well (hydrogen is a very combustible gas), and it reduces the amount of gas you use! The oxygen is added to the air your car breathes in. Oxygen is needed for combustion, and more of it makes your car more efficient. One gallon of water is enough to provide oxygen and hydrogen for hundreds of miles!“

Here’s a nice graphic of the system.

The hook is followed by lines like “the secret the oil companies don’t want you to know” or “automakers and oil companies are working to keep this technology out of your hands”, etc. The websites (which I won’t link to because they’re a complete and total rip-off) even sell parts or entire mechanisms for adding a separator to your car. Unfortunately, there’s a problem with this idea. It doesn’t work! It’s impossible!

Here’s a summary of the system:

Step 1: Using electricity from the battery, the system separates water into oxygen and hydrogen. Keep in mind that the electricity in the battery is simple stored electricity from your engine. The engine creates electricity by turning your alternator, which powers your radio, headlights, turn signals, etc., with any extra charging your car’s battery.

Step 2: The oxygen from the separator is added to your air intake. More oxygen in the air makes for better combustion.

Step 3: The hydrogen from the separator is added to your fuel, reducing the amount of gasoline your car uses.

Step 4: Hydrogen and oxygen re-combine during combustion in your engine, releasing energy and making your car go. Unfortunately, the engine also needs to send electricity to your hydrogen separator in order to continue the process. That brings us back to step one.

At best, this would be a break-even process. While it is true that hydrogen can supplement gasoline, it’s important to remember that whatever energy you added to the water to get it to separate in step 1 doesn’t fall from the sky – it comes from your engine. Whatever power you gain in step 4 goes towards providing energy for step 1.

Here’s the ironic part – adding this equipment will probably reduce your gas mileage. You’re pulling energy out of the engine to break down water, but you’re going to loose some of that energy to electrical resistance in the alternator as it charges the battery, heat loss from the battery and the separator, and probably some combustion efficiency loss because the engine’s computer won’t understand what’s going on (the computer would need to be re-calibrated for the un-naturally high oxygen in the intake air stream, not to mention the hydrogen in the fuel).

There’ s a law called “conservation of energy” – whatever energy we put into something, that’s the most we can get out of it. We add energy to water to make oxygen and hydrogen, but whatever energy we get back can’t be more than we added.

In other words, it’s a scam.

How To Figure Out Your Gas Mileage: Calculate It Easy

on Dec 16 in Maintenance & Repairs tagged gas mileage by jasonl

Figuring out your gas mileage yourself is very easy to do, and if you remember this simple method you can figure it out for yourself every time you fill up your tank.

Here’s how — we’re going to figure out how many miles you drive between fill-ups, then we’re going to figure out how much gas you used. Finally, we’re going to do some really simple math and come up with a very accurate estimate of your gas mileage.

All you’ll need is a piece of paper, a simple calculator (the one in your cell phone will work fine), and a minute or two at the gas station right after you fill up.

Step 1: Fill your gas tank completely full.

Step 2: Before you leave the gas station, you need to reset your trip odometer to “0″ (zero). If you don’t know how to do that, or if you don’t have a trip odometer, then you need to write down your car’s total miles and save the piece of paper you write it on.

Step 3: Drive around normally until it’s time to put gas in your car.

Step 4: Fill your gas tank completely full.

Step 5: Figure out how many miles you’ve driven since your last fill-up. You can look at your trip odometer for the answer, or you can figure out how far you’ve driven using the scrap of paper from step 2 and your calculator. Write down that mileage and go to the next step.

NOTE: Keep in mind that most of the time, the number you write down in step 5 should be between 100-500 miles. If you’ve driven a lot more or a lot less, there might be a problem with your math (or you’re getting really good mileage).

Step 6: Now that you know how far you’ve driven since your last fill-up, it’s time to figure out how much gas you’ve used. This is easy — just look at the gas pump. You’ll see exactly how many gallons of gas you just put in your car — that’s the amount of gas you used since your last fill-up. Make sure to write down the amount of gas you used, and make sure to include the numbers after the decimal point.

Step 7: Using your calculator, divide the number of miles you’ve driven by the number of gallons of gas you just bought. The resulting number is your gas mileage!

If you’re driving a truck or large SUV, your mileage should be between 12 and 20.

If you’re driving a small SUV or a large car, your mileage should be between 18 and 25.

If you’re driving a mid-size or compact car, your mileage should be between 25 and 35.

If you’re driving a scooter, your mileage should be really good and you shouldn’t worry about it.

If you want to know what your car’s mileage should be according to the EPA, you can look it up online. Just find your car’s year, make, and model.

Also, if you car’s mileage is a lot more or a lot less than we’ve listed, there might be something wrong with your math or your car.

The best part about this method is that you can figure out your gas mileage every time you fill up — just make sure that you reset your trip odometer or write down your mileage every time you fill up with gas.