VW Rabbit diesel pickup owner wondering about Brown's gas

[magicmanwon]

I have several VW pickups, all diesel and all run.......... I dont use them much. The 83 gets 48mpg and the 81 only gets 42mpg. I have 1.9 trubo diesels in both. But the 83 has a 5speed and the 81 a 4spd. Has anyone tried H2O (browns gas) Generators?

[MetroMPG]

hi magicmanwon -

I moved your question into a separate thread. Maybe some of the diesel owners can chime in.

[UFO]

Off to the Unicorn Corral with you. What's up with this rash of water electrolysis?

[ConnClark]

All HHO and Browns gas generators that run off your cars electrical system or off of any power generated by the engine are scams.

Scientific proof debunking the "run your car on water" scams

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by magicmanwon

Has anyone tried H2O (browns gas) Generators?

Don't waste your time and money on it.
There has been a lot of talk about it (search for HHO), but we're still waiting for a confirmed positive and verifiable result.

On the plus side :
Adding an easily combusted gas to diesel helps - it's been or being done with LPG, CNG, and H2 - as it reduces both the diesel and the total amount of fuel being used.
The total amount of fuel being reduced, means the diesel is burned more efficiently - there's also drawbacks to that, as higher temperatures lead to more NOx gasses in the exhaust.

The negative side :
You'd have to make the H2 and O2 gasses out of water by electrolysis, using electricity generated on-board by the alternator.
- the electrolysis device isn't 100% efficient, first loss.
- the alternator in your car isn't 100% efficient either, second loss.
- the engine driving that alternator, has even worse efficiency, greatest loss.

Result : any H2 you'd generate on-board, would come at a high energy deficiency. The beneficial effect of better / more complete combustion won't make up for the inefficient H2 generator.


I wouldn't add H2 to a diesel. It burns too hot and too easily.
But diesel+CNG is becoming more popular - though it comes at a price because of the CNG installation.
Not worth it on a vehicle from the 80s that doesn't see much use.

Have you considered switching to biodiesel ?
That'd reduce your impact significantly.

[niky]

There's alcohol injection. With water/methanol injection, with proper tuning, you can see some fuel savings, but not enough to justify the kit. It's sold mostly as a power adder and a way to scrub carbon soot out of the combustion chambers and exhaust. And these are usually set only to come on at high boost or high load... injecting this at low boost / low load can have detrimental effects on the engine. I doubt this is what you're looking for.

One popular solution is diesel-propane injection... propane displacing about 40% of the diesel you use. Don't know about availability in the US. The nice thing is, propane is dirt cheap compared to liquid fuels, but this means you'll have to carry an extra tank in the pick-up. If the Rabbit diesel has an underslung spare tire, the tank can go there and you can stuff the spare behind the seats. (I do that with my two seat Sentra pick-up).

The economics only work out if you drive a hell of a lot, though. So this probably isn't for you, either.

[elmalouno]

cool that you have multiple rabbits though

[oil pan 4]

Water injection - EcoModder

[superrick]

Originally Posted by magicmanwon

I have several VW pickups, all diesel and all run.......... I dont use them much. The 83 gets 48mpg and the 81 only gets 42mpg. I have 1.9 trubo diesels in both. But the 83 has a 5speed and the 81 a 4spd. Has anyone tried H2O (browns gas) Generators?

HHO does good in a diesel, but generating the gas has to be done without using power from the engine or its not really worth doing. well thats my opinion. I have experimented with HHO generation and did not have much luck because of the power required to generate it. but I have an idea that might work. I have a permanent magnet alternator that I plan to put a large fan blade on and put in the front of my car. the idea is to use the wind force that is already slowing down the car to turn the generator to make HHO to use in the engine. and since the wind is pushing against the car anyway why not put it to work to gain more power from the engine. another way would be to use solar panels to generate HHO while driving, you can use it as its made or use it on demand like store it under pressure in its container and then use it to accelerate from a stop to save fuel.

[oil pan 4]

A wind mill on the front of a car would make it even less aero dynamic, look stupid and no doubt attract attention from local PD.

If you are going to put solar panels on a car why not do a mod that we actually know works and use solar to power the vehicle electrical system after doing an alternator delete.
You said it your self, its not worth generating the power to supply an HHO machine, just think if you could remove the vehicles entire electrical load from the engine and have one less accessory to spin.
Alternator delete - EcoModder