Any ideas please on why I'm getting such poor mpg

[Van-Tramp]

Yep, I too get my worse MPGs in California (down into the 11's)

You may want to do a few routine maintenance items:
1) replace all your plugs, cap/rotor, wires, air filter, and O2 sensor.
2) Also check your tire pressures, they will drop over time so every month you should be checking them. Personally I over-fill with air by about 25%. I am not advising it for you, but it is something you could consider.
3) Shed some weight. If you can drop a few hundred pounds out of the van it will help.

Read up > http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/increasing-the-mpg-in-the-big-blue-van/

 

[SoulRaven]

Driving 50,000 miles at 15MPG and $3.50/gallon you will spend about $11,700 on gas. If you had to spend say $2700 to get the heads replaced every 4-5 years, you would still save $9000. Most people would take that any day! So where can I get this upgrade?

Greetings!

None of these are available yet, I'm scheduled to be one of the test drivers this summer. They're hoping to hit the 200k mark sometime in the Sept.-Oct. area. The new test vehicle has been on the road about 2 weeks now, and the goal is to keep it on the highway 24/7 as much as possible to make these real world tests, not lab tests.

While I agree that even at only 50k miles it would save people money, I think that might still be a huge stumbling block for most people. Most people would be horrified at the idea of major repairs below at least 100k miles.

I have told them if we can get 100k reliably, it should go to market, but the main man has his sights set on the 200k mark and at this point doesn't seem willing to negotiate that result. He is not driven by a "Make Money" attitude, he is a perfectionist who would rather scrap everything if he can't make it reach his goals. (This is my perception of the situation)

The good news is that I believe it can be done, and I'm hoping to be able to learn the whole process along the way. I currently know the basics, but not enough of the intricate details to be able to build one myself.

These inventor types can be a little unusual to deal with. This fellow's driving force is the fact that one of his MIT professors told him it couldn't be done, and he won't quit until he can prove it can be done. I think the impact that it could have on the entire world is secondary to him. He won't even discuss the idea of marketing it or releasing plans for it, until his goal is completed.

I can't wait to get the chance to actually drive this, and see what it will do in a real life situation.

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

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Sounds like an interesting read. Do you have a link?

Greetings!

Sorry, to my knowledge they're not publicly accessible yet.
All you get is a log-on screen.

While I am involved in these, I am not in charge of them.

IF I was in charge of them, I think I would do things differently, and make them publicly available, and open to ideas from the public. I believe that collaboratively with the whole world involved, we could probably solve a lot of the worlds problems, but that does not take into account stuff like patents and all that other legal stuff. I'm actually very happy that the legal headaches belong to someone else.

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

 

[Zil]

Tinfoil.

Yes yes yes! i have a product that can get 100,000 miles on a gallon, but i don't want to use it until i get 200,000.

yes yes yes ! get under the tin foil now, quick quick under the foil.:dodgy:

 

[user 423]

Sorry, to my knowledge they're not publicly accessible yet.
All you get is a log-on screen.

Big surprise. I hope you didn't send him too much money to be one of the 'testers'. Water and baking soda? That's a good one! HHO generators were debunked long ago. Oh well, the gullible will always be around.

 

[GotSmart]

Many years ago I did run a few quarts of their fuel product through my gas tank on long highway only x country drives and saw no MPG benefit, much to my chagrin. I've read of many reports by those that say it helps, but I will remain skeptical.

It helps me enough to buy it. I used it when I first purchased vehicles that had been fed cheep gas and abused, so I am sure the systems all needed a good cleaning. We have only one out of 8 stations in this town that sells real gas. Hard to find good fuel in Missouri.

I live near the Lucas International Speedway, and have seen him pour tens of millions into a race track so far off the beaten path the locals have a hard time finding it. His products certainly make him money, so there must be a lot of people convinced enough to buy it.

 

[steamjam1]

Emissions control, fuel injection sensors, transmission condition, and weight are the factors I used to diagnose the bad MPG I was getting out of my van.

When I first got it, it got like 9mpg... I swapped out the 02/MAP/coolant temp sensor, serviced the transmission with a band adjustment, and made the interior as light as possible.

It then got more like 11mpg. I swapped out the coolant thermostat for a Chrysler OEM 195 degree unit, tested it, (cracks open at 195 and is fully open at 205 then closes at 193, where as the old aftermarket one cracked at 190, and fully opened at 200, then closed at 185) and viola! Now the van gets 15/16.

Apparently, Dodge TBI is very sensitive to coolant temp, and will rich the mix even if its just slightly low. Many of the cheap-o aftermarket thermostats have a slightly lower range of operation which throws off the TBI CPU.

I haven't tested this on another TBI dodge so it could be just as eccentricity of my particular van.

 

[SoulRaven]

Big surprise. I hope you didn't send him too much money to be one of the 'testers'. Water and baking soda? That's a good one! HHO generators were debunked long ago. Oh well, the gullible will always be around.

Greetings!

No, you're confusing this guy with the scammers, he isn't after anybodies money, he's out to prove it can be done, and he has a pretty good track record too. His first version went 10k, second went 25k, last went 50k, so he's going in the right direction.

If he was after money, he WOULD have a fancy website and be selling plans or some such...

The dozen or so alternative energy projects that I'm involved in are all genuine. None are soliciting money, or doing press releases, they're still off the radar, but it is a fascinating group of inventors/innovators.

I kind of got involved with them by accident, I was back east, doing computer security work for a big insurance company, about 7-8 years ago, and I pulled up some strange looking plans off one of the computers. They belonged to the comptroller, who turned out to be an alternative energy inventor. Since it was something I was interested in, and they needed a programmer, they invited me in.

One of these projects is actually in beta testing, being sold at cost, to the first 100 off grid cabins, it's a power plant. From all reports so far, it's a home run. Full 24/7 60amp service, with almost zero operating costs. They're still working on improving it and shrinking its size to make it portable too.

Two or maybe three of the car projects look promising, several home heating/cooling and toilet systems look good too. Several others I don't know enough about to even render an opinion, one has something to do with satellites, another is about growing 40-50 foot shade trees in a year, and a few have to do with plants/food/fruit production.

It's quite an interesting group of people, and the fact that they're not just in it for the money is refreshing.

This same group of people came up with the auto-parking cars, and the anti-collision/auto braking for cars too. Like Google, they're working on self driving cars too, and call your car on your cellphone and it will come and pick you up or drop you off then go park itself.

It's truly a great time to be alive.

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

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It then got more like 11mpg. I swapped out the coolant thermostat for a Chrysler OEM 195 degree unit, tested it, (cracks open at 195 and is fully open at 205 then closes at 193, where as the old aftermarket one cracked at 190, and fully opened at 200, then closed at 185) and viola! Now the van gets 15/16.

Greetings!

That's pretty impressive, you wouldn't think a few degrees wold make that much of a difference...

Cheers!

The CamperrVan_Man

 

[user 423]

The dozen or so alternative energy projects that I'm involved in are all genuine.

Okay, whatever you want to believe. The OP is more interested in something that works now...

 

[Zil]

My friend being thrifty bought his replacement thermostat from NAPA. His Honda would not run for sht. Miss-firing, smoking, no power. An OEM thermostat from the dealer cost twice as much, his truck ran like new. That was 15 years ago and the first I met this problem.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

Going from 9 to 16 mpg with an aero brick vehicle like a van without a complete drive train change has got to be a first, congratulations

keeping everything in order, synthetic oil, air pressure, air filters, plugs, weight down, high engine temperature, quick warm up, no dragging brakes, alignment, all help but even if you did all these things you will not likely get huge gains, 1,2,3, maybe 4, 5 percent, if you added them all up, if you want to make real gains you have to be radical with a boat tail on the back of your van, You can make a few gains by installing an air dam under your front bumper moving air around your vehicle rather then letting it get messed up under it, and a partial grill block both inexpensive modification that could give you a percent or three. Don't expect to be going from 17 to 20, if you are lucky with all the mods above mentioned you may gain 1/2 to 1 mpg. on a good day. There are so many variables to testing mpg, wind, temperature, fuel, road surface, that you have to really do an A B A test the same day under similar conditions to know if and where you gain,

 

[GotSmart]

15 to 17 is what my TBI gets on the highway. That is after a complete tune up, as well as changing all hoses, fluids, thermostat, water pump and so on in an engine with about 30K on the rebuild.

 

[Spirituallifetime]

Yep, I agree with Van-Tramp. And if the exhaust system is old it can cause poor mpg also.