#2 car 1999 Kia sephia.

[justme1969]

As repairs to my hatefull little honda have exceeded $1500 with me providing the labour, I put my old Kia back on the road.
This car was destined for the crusher with brake issues, suspension, axles, motor mounts, broken windshield, engine misfires, stereo stolen, dash cracked, passenger seat broken, bad clutch, power steering hose burst, etc. etc. etc. It was more parts car than car. I parked it after the powersteering and brakes left it useless.
Well with junkyard parts fixed engine miss and much of the list above except brakes are still sub standard and power steering is shot out.
Brakes on these things are not too good to begin with so I simply adopted safer following distance and at times downshift and /or apply scooter brakes.
depending upon fear factor!
I found after the engine and brakes were fixed enough for locomotion that the power steering should have been optional in these cars.
It steers fine and I actually like it better with the improved driver feedback I get. I did keep pump in place due to belt driven oil pump or balance shaft following it. very little parasitic drag after I loosened that belt up alot. {so add that one to your list ecomod mods.}
With that hydraulic drag gone I am sure it improved mpg.
I found that the squealing sound was alternator dragging due to bad bearings. When replacing it I used a junkyard Toyota unit with much larger pulley, it fit fine but I had to replace the Toyotas plug to match my harness.
Thus Ive introduced a underdrive junkyard style so more mpg.
{there is 2 now for your list ecomod moderators.} And there is a question for future what is the most efficient alternator?? not all made equal Ill bet.
The engine performance was a faulty injector and a combination coil /wires issue. massive mpg there!
Both were working but both worked intermittantly in addition the engine recieved new denso plugs, air filter, and pcv.
The motor mount issue caused tire wear issues that I corrected with the next taller sized tires. this placed final drive into a 75mph sweetspot that has nearly effortless ride as here there is very few hills and biggest restriction against glide is head wind from sea to shore during pm.ride home.
all said It has come from 17mpg to 24.5mpg and better if I would just quit being in a hurry to get home. I am single dad of 3 so my life is on a tight schedule till they get old enough to be trusted more alone.

[justme1969]

Well there was something to be said for the 195 series tires because I had a flat on the way back from the holidays in Atlanta.
Putting the 185 back on front lowered fuel mileage drasticly, and it was from a much higher elevation down to sea level. So the fuel eco gain is confirmed..
The new project is to add a front dam now, that will profile the aero and also closes some of the new ride height gap from the 195 series tires.
I seen the aero 1ton thanks and he used conveyor belting, "this I have".
This car is a POS so it matters little to have the screw holes into the facia.
I will retest the aerodynamics again afterwards, as there is a large disruptive pocket of turbulence just before the windshield also.
If anyone else has a better "smoke generator" please help.
My current one is a washer bottle with one spray jet I duct taped to front of car in several locations. just press and hold a button when at specific test speed, and watch.
probblem is water spray is heavy and I cant see fair results under 55.

[justme1969]

Update #2.
Air dam worked well but switched it after 1 week to a front spoiler works better.
Coast down is dramaticly changed my avatar is the air dam Ill try to update with the spoiler. Not perfect but good enough.
nothing else yet to post side skirt is designed but not implemented yet.

[justme1969]

To Dam or Spoilfront area.
Tested and proved is front spoiler creates more aero so car cuts through the air. The dam forces compression of even more air at front of vehicle. Then creates vacuume under the car at hiway speeds and even more turbulence than none of the above without side skirts.
I dont want a vacuume under my car or more downward pressure. both of which are usefull for other stuff, but for mpg less is always more!
I will go so far as to say if your car has a profiled "Aero" nose the simple answer is always to spoil the air. exception may be if windshield is not swept back, and then aerodynamics dont work.
Update#3 Got two new 195 70 14 front tires, keeping best 185 65 14s on the back.
I can reeeely feel fhe difference during coast down now! !!!!!
I have found that with nearly 1/4 mile more level ground covered I need to use brakes some to slip into traffic at off ramp. The side skirts go on Saturday, as well im moving the trunk spoiler to back of rear window to remove that low pressure turbulence too.
Im still working on the side mirror delte cant find good solution yet.
I may shorten the rear springs soon also, thus dropping the rear another 1.5".
Reason for smaller rear tires and lowering spring height is to add rake to windshield and nose, then reduce area behind the car as best I can.
This in my opinion is better than any mod save a boat tail. If its all about air compression from impact, and resulting forces than im out to reduce the signature of the car!

[justme1969]

Moved trunk spoiler last night.
Did it in the rain because I wanted a good solid mpg test run as my baseline for the car.
So filled tank b4 I got home 1/4 mile up the street last night.
It cost me some due to location is in middle of my best coast down zone of 1 3/4 mile.
But thats ok as it is only a baseline and first recorded that will go into garage.
I will wait till tuesday to post results because I am installing side skirts saturday also for the second recorded test.
It is really hard to tell the difference when dealing with rear spoiler mpg change so wanted my best first location trial now.
It looks really well placed sorta like the ones on a 98 sunbird where its right behind the rear window.
After I get few solid baseline runs recorded I will move it back n forward and raise it up also till I find best results.
ok later.

ps. FYI I think I may alter my decision about dam v/s front spoiler.
I believe best approach is going to be spoiler and dam, hope this ends the debate as it will also be tested.

[justme1969]

If anyone else has a better "smoke generator" please help.

I will make setup to spray window cleaner from a spray can like as not havent found a better solution and spray can atomizes the solution. much better than stream of liquids but more complex to create the holder? Ill post piks when Ive figured it out more..?????

[justme1969]

OK im bragging 24 to 34mpg in a month without annoying drivers behind me, or leaving for work 15 minutes early.

Got drivers side skirt on today was a mess! did it with my children.
I do jobs like this with them to increase thier knowledge skills and esteem.
Worked against me today I think was like working with three stooges, I swear and im not being mean it really was.
The height of our fun was my son screwing skirt strap into underside of fuel tank.
I guess my next avg will be sorta low lost about a gallon in my temporary repair because tank was filled 50 miles ago.
I cant post piks because I dont have a photo buckett acct. and cant remember how to update my avatar.

[justme1969]

The last fill was not so special at 27mpg.
I understand why; son draining fuel on ground, and passenger front brake dragging but it was very disheartening.
But realize any who do happen to read this, That is still 3mpg better than the car used to make with no issues.

Found cause Friday for the intermittant brakes dragging issue.
Ive replaced everything except front brakelines on this thing in the last 6 months and burned through 5 sets of brake pads up front.
Engine vaccume is pulling down brake booster applying the brakes.
The sping inside booster should stop this from happening but doesnt and this is the brand new replacement booster.
I found a little plug device with an adjustment inside the booster that I adjusted in.
This piece pushed in the piston that is the valve of the master cylinder.
In addition I also changed the PCV even though the other was good.
Results seem to be good except for shudder while driving now from warped rotors.
They became so hot from self application that they both warped, this is the third used set of these.
Ive never seen an adjustment plunger in a brake booster before so cant tell you if other cars have this item.
KIA is strange and doesnt make sense alot of times.
So ill replace the rotors and get a new baseline mpg.

ps. In progressive column I have passenger side skirt on it now.

[justme1969]

I have found temporary resolution to my brake dragging issue yesterday.
I will admit first off I am beaten in part by my KIA.
The engine vaccume is so high on this car the cabin vent switch only changes at idle, and the Brakes apply themself unless I allow air into the hydraulic system.
The vaccume overpowers the booster cylinder and applies the rod into the master cylinder applying brake just after start up.
This is the 2nd. new booster and with the interior air issue I have eliminated the booster itself.
My temporary cure was a #50 drill bit hole after the check valve in the vac. hose to manifold.
Ive never seen this issue without a cure, it defies reason at this point pcv and air filter are new so I guess this is it.
I would list the vaccume but do not have any gage at this time.
It is substantial to the point that with this hole my coast down today was 1/4 mile more then my best before. I was impressed with my 1 mile record before.
I think after I get new reading tomorrow I may hit 40+mpg.
Im planning on air dam under and slightly below front spoiler this weekend and start stop buttons also for my weekend projects.
The air dam will funnel a little air into the lower radiator cooling it a little better since it seems fans runs too often in this cool weather now. And divert more air off the front end.

[justme1969]

Very disheartened after doing the math, I was 32mpg. Iposted it as 31.5 as previous fill up was not done uniform to my standard base.
Plausible cause for loss instead of gain in mpg. 1. The brakes still do self apply over 2200rpms. guess what thats 67mph. so slight losses there from mild brake touch on hiway.
The second is my best 2 coast n glide locations were littered by slower moving traffic for 2 of 4 trips that means braking and stopping for lights that I could normally time and coast through on my 3 mile descent.
Ive really enjoyed the challenge this car presented for 3 years of repairs.
But alas it will never be dependable or pretty or much of anything else I find pleasing in a daily driver. So this may be the last post here for this car.