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Old 05-22-2014, 12:34 AM   #11 (permalink)
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baseline MPG

Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Tele man View Post
Welcome to the eco-zoo...what baseline MPG numbers have you found for the vehicle?
After purchasing the vehicle I drove the Insight from Odessa, TX to Lubbock, TX, about 140 miles and averaged 44.1 MPG. Granted, this was with an EGR-sick engine, a dead IMA no underbody panels installed and with a 73 mph trip average with a peak of about 83mph. My buddy was nice enough to go to Odessa with me, so I wanted to haul ass back to Lubbock so that I didn’t burn his entire Saturday. The thing is a stone and I had to floor it to attempt to maintain 80mph for about half the trip.

I’m hoping to improve significantly upon my first “tankful”. I’ve travelled about 280 miles on my present tankful and my gas gauge registers about one segment above the half tank marker. Am I looking at about a 50mpg average so far? I’m going to resist the temptation to fill it up before it’s nearly empty because there’s a place in town that sells ethanol-free gas and want to see how the Insight likes it, so getting rid of as much of the ethanol-tainted gas as possible is imperative. My unscientific experience with a ’94 Honda CX (my Dad’s car, he’s got a ’94 VX too!) is that that change alone is worth a two mpg jump, from 35 to 37 and I did achieve a single tankful personal record of 40.5 with the CX with the help of 100% gas

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Old 05-22-2014, 01:19 AM   #12 (permalink)
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floormats, glovebox

Installed new floor mats and a new glovebox this A.M. Got it run though a car wash, vacuumed the hell out of it and dropped in the floor mats. Nothing like a nice new pair of floor mats to make the car’s interior feel a little more luxurious.

My floormats are from “GG Bailey” and I got a good deal, $36.58 on Amazon after a $25 buck gift certificate credit. I didn’t want to have to pay 100 bucks for nice, custom mats or get universal, flimsy and gaudy auto parts chain mats either. These fit the bill. They’re 40oz, which means they’re kinda thick and sturdy, and the quality of the carpet is pretty good. The only thing off-putting is that the bottom of the mat is made of closed-cell foam instead of the usual studded rubber or tough textile like you’d find on a BMW factory mat.

Still, for the price, the quality and fitment is very good, though I wish they would have extended the carpet material over the deal-pedal area. But for 36 bucks shipped, I’m happy.

The glovebox door was fractured along the side of the box, so I ponied up 75 bucks for a brand-new one. Wen’t smoothly, except that there was a freaking sheet metal screw installed on the left side. I found a proper 5mm-14 washer bolt and it screwed it in. It seems to be holding. it closes fine except there’s an excessive gap on the upper-right that I could not solve, it’s better than it was, but I”m going to have to wrestle with it later to get it to fit better. Still, the car feels “newer” and nicer. I’m still doing the EGR maintenance Saturday and replacing both o2 sensors while I’m at it. It’s midnight and Photobucket is closed for maintenance, I’ll post pics when it comes back up.

Last edited by doctorgonzo; 05-22-2014 at 01:25 AM.. Reason: correct spelling and punctuation errors
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Old 05-22-2014, 11:11 AM   #13 (permalink)
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That's quite the baseline. Thanks for showing us how low mpg an insight can get on a trip . You shouldn't have much trouble beating that on your next fill up
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Old 05-22-2014, 12:29 PM   #14 (permalink)
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floormats, glovebox pics










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Old 05-22-2014, 03:47 PM   #15 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by doctorgonzo View Post
I’m hoping to improve significantly upon my first “tankful”.
I should hope so!

Once you get lean burn operating properly, 44 mpg will feel like a bad dream.

Quote:
I’ve travelled about 280 miles on my present tankful and my gas gauge registers about one segment above the half tank marker. Am I looking at about a 50mpg average so far?
Aren't you able to reset/view any of the car's MPG meters? There are 4 that you can reset (if the button's working): lifetime; Trip A; Trip B; Segment (FCD button on the dashboard to the left of the steering wheel).
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Old 05-22-2014, 06:31 PM   #16 (permalink)
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Well, the “Trip” button is sticky, so I’m presently resigned to toggling the FCD button between the lifetime odometer and the segment meter. I’m wary of the accuracy of the MPG meter, because I managed to reset it at my first fill up, and it was a few MPG optimistic, maybe six MPG off? Take that assertion of inaccuracy with a huge grain of salt as I’d only owned the car for ten miles at that juncture and I might have screwed up the reading of the meter somehow, I’ll read up on how to fix my “Trip” button and then earn my chops with this FCD thing.
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Old 05-22-2014, 06:52 PM   #17 (permalink)
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I’m new, so I thought I’d let you meet the rest of the family.

Here’s the ’91 Si, I drove it to Fort Worth recently, here it is at a rest stop. I averaged 28 mpg for the trip, the Type R gearing working against me--dictating 4200 rpm at 75 mph.





Here’s my ’89 HF, also taken at a rest stop on a road trip, lol! This was my DD until it was stolen in June of ’12, wrecked, then recovered. It hasn’t been driven since though I did drain the gas recently and pump in fresh gas. Runs great but needs bodywork. The car has no backseat, but it's taken a back seat to the other cars, I’m afraid.





I’ll have to split this into two posts, butting up against per post pic limit.
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Old 05-22-2014, 07:12 PM   #18 (permalink)
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my garage

1999 BMW 528i 5-speed. Manages 23mpg city and 30 mpg highway, with a best of 36.1 on a leisurely 56mph run to Fort Worth.



That’s it for my cars, here are a few of my friend’s:

a 1992 Civis Si, Integra GSR-powered, used to be mine, sold it to a good friend who is a gifted mechanic who still enjoys it, who massaged it into running mid-14’s and yet achieving 36 mpg regularly!



Here’s my Dad’s collection, twin 1994s, a Milano red CX and a Aztec Green VX. He’s no hypermiler, but he still gets 38 mpg regularly in his VX.
He loaned me the CX for the past 23 months after my HF was stolen. He gets it back now that the Insight is here.



Here’s “Plan G”

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Old 05-24-2014, 07:24 PM   #19 (permalink)
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Productive Saturday

I work a seven-on, seven off schedule, so every other Saturday, I get to monopolize my good friend and Honda line technician (ok, fine—Honda mechanic) to work on my projects. Yeah, I know, this is in violation of the DIY spirit of this forum but I’ve had three back surgeries and I besides there’s no harm done deferring to expert--at least occasionally, and this guy transcends “expert” into the realm of “bad-ass” mechanic. Follow along and see for yourself.

On to the Insight work.

First came the EGR plate cleaning. Yes, it was pretty clogged up.









Here ’tis after the can of carb cleaner and scraping and brushing:



(Hmm, looks like I missed a spot—this is why I shouldn’t be allowed to help!)

Then he adjusted the valves.



Then after that was buttoned up, he removed the EGR valve and cleaned the heck out of it.

A motor oil change (Castrol Edge 0W-20) and new Honda filter and Honda MTF change occurred at this juncture. Incidentally, the MTF change did not cure the second gear downshift crunchiness.

Following this, he swapped out the old o2 sensors for brand-new NTK sensors. The old primary sensor only had four wires and all four were held together with electrical tape. Whatever, it’s fixed.

Then a minor family emergency occurred and I had to borrow his Civic HX (my first time to drive one, I was impressed) to go deal with it (my Dad locked himself out of his VX at the grocery store, lol!)

By the time I got back, this had happened:


Honda S2000 steering wheel!

So at his point I’m dying to take it for a test-drive and to my disappointment, it ran just as poorly as before, bucking even more violently, it seemed.

So he hooked it up the the Honda diagnostic system’s laptop and it shot out a DTC P1491, or "EGR Valve Insufficient Lift Detected”. So we put up tools, grabbed a burger and a beer and he recommended exactly what forum member vskid3 recommended—to unplug the EGR valve. So we left the bar and before I drove off, he unplugged the EGR plug. I’ll be damned! It ran as smooth as glass, with no violent bucking whatsoever when (apparently) entering lean burn mode.

I’ve yet to wrap my mind around why it runs so well with the EGR disconnected, but I’ll figure it out eventually.

In the meantime, does everything I’ve said and done indicate a bad EGR valve and warrant a replacement? My mechanic seems to think so, not that I doubt his assessment.

While the car was hooked up to the Honda Diagnostic System, it spit out a SRS DTC 4-2 or "INCREASED RESISTANCE IN PASSENGER'S SEAT BELT TENSIONER”
Not really sure what that’s about, but my “SRS” light is glowing, and it will get sorted eventually.

I’m very, very stoked that so much got done to my car today, I’m very thankful to my awesome friend—he accomplished all of the foregoing in only three hours! His hard work has only strengthened my affinity for this cool car.

Guess we’ll do a spark plug change and an EGR valve swap two Saturdays from now. Ultimately, I will get the roof painted, arrange a car stereo and last but not least, score a Hybrid ReVolt battery. Stay tuned!
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Old 05-24-2014, 09:43 PM   #20 (permalink)
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That's a good dent in the to-do list. I'm sure it's way better to drive without the EGR issue.

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Honda mods: Ecomodding my $800 Honda Fit 5-speed beater
Mitsu mods: 70 MPG in my ecomodded, dirt cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage.
Ecodriving test: Manual vs. automatic transmission MPG showdown



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has launched a forum for the efficient new Mitsubishi Mirage
www.MetroMPG.com - fuel efficiency info for Geo Metro owners
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