98 DX build / testing

[nj636]

update:

went to a 14" HX wheel to lower the rpm's a bit. 13's served well but time for change
next month the summer blend fuel should be back so hopefully some mid 40 mpg's in the near future

[PaleMelanesian]

I'm late to this party but I concur about blocking half the lower grille. The radiator is only half-width, so you don't need all of that gaping mouth.

Also concur about the power steering. This is one of the cars that does just fine without it - i preferred the steering feel in EOC to the boosted engine-on feeling.

[PaleMelanesian]

Oh, and give P&G a try. It does amazing things in these cars.

[nj636]

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

I'm late to this party but I concur about blocking half the lower grille. The radiator is only half-width, so you don't need all of that gaping mouth.

Also concur about the power steering. This is one of the cars that does just fine without it - i preferred the steering feel in EOC to the boosted engine-on feeling.

thanks for the reply. I haven't had the time to do the lower grill block but it's on my to-do list with the car for sure. I'm also tempted to remove the power steering belt and see what happens, 95% of my driving is highway anyway.

[PaleMelanesian]

At highway speed I doubt you'll even notice the difference.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by nj636

thanks for the reply. I haven't had the time to do the lower grill block but it's on my to-do list with the car for sure. I'm also tempted to remove the power steering belt and see what happens, 95% of my driving is highway anyway.

I took the belt off. Gained FE and did not notice any steering difference, except at 10 mph or less (basically during parking and that was not so bad). It is a small and lightweight car.

[hamsterpower]

If you like the steering with the belt off, wait until you drain the fluid.

I removed the pump, hoses, fluid and plugged the holes where the hoses were with two hex plugs. Works great, and saved some weight and complexity. I don't remember the sizes for the plugs but it has been trouble free for over 6 years.

[nj636]

Waiting on warmer weather to make a new partial grill block & to make the lower valance block so I decided to try something else for the few remaining cold weeks.

I've read a few accounts of the IAT trick using resistors. One thing I have noticed over the past few winter months is that the car definitely get's better FE with higher intake temp's, optimal so far has been around 110 degree's Fahrenheit. It's very hard to get a consistent IAT this past winter when the temperature can fluctuate 15-20 degree's day to day, so I started playing around with resistors. I found that about 730 ohms of resistance at the IAT plug showed a 127 degree IAT on the Ultra Gauge. I was out of resisters but I'd like to add more resistance to try and get that IAT down in the teen's at least.

When I find the right combo i'll fill up & see what happens

I've got a good baseline to compare to so stayed tuned

[nj636]

testing starts tomorrow

[nj636]

Originally Posted by nj636

Waiting on warmer weather to make a new partial grill block & to make the lower valance block so I decided to try something else for the few remaining cold weeks.

I've read a few accounts of the IAT trick using resistors. One thing I have noticed over the past few winter months is that the car definitely get's better FE with higher intake temp's, optimal so far has been around 110 degree's Fahrenheit. It's very hard to get a consistent IAT this past winter when the temperature can fluctuate 15-20 degree's day to day, so I started playing around with resistors. I found that about 730 ohms of resistance at the IAT plug showed a 127 degree IAT on the Ultra Gauge. I was out of resisters but I'd like to add more resistance to try and get that IAT down in the teen's at least.

When I find the right combo i'll fill up & see what happens

I've got a good baseline to compare to so stayed tuned

Ok, so I ended up picking up more resistors and came up with a combination of 970 ohms which gives me 115 degree's on the IAT. this has worked out great so far..

Originally Posted by nj636

testing starts tomorrow

First tank went great. I had one trip of about 80 miles with the A/C on for the wife, but overall I went 410 miles on 9.5 gallons = 43.15. That is a 2.8 mpg increase over the best yet.

This will definitely be a winter time mod only & I'll have to move the WAI tube to receive some cold air. We reached a high of 80 two days ago so I plugged the IAT sensor back in and had 140+ degree IAT in traffic I'm not comfortable with that at all & the car was idling a little strange.

Shall see what happens in the coming months. As for now the 970 ohm resistor stays in during these 60 degree days