engine mods worth doing?

[dmac257]

I read in several of the threads that you should use the thinest oils that OEM recommends and use synthetics for engine oil .. transmission .. rear differential. Someone elsewhere also mentioned and showed a picture of a special four sided grounded side sparking spark plug but that might need to have special valves or something for those plugs. But this got me thinking. Are there any recommendations for eco mods for engine fuel efficiency that actually work .. magnetic fuel line mod is supposed to be a hoax .. but do any work like they say. High flow air filters do anything. I am going to replace my tires soon and as I don't go off roading .. going to see if I can find a LRR passenger tire for my truck (would love some recommendations for tires too).

Just filled second tank since attempting to mod the driver ... no changes even though I am trying. The good news is that my truck actually gets the MPG the dealer said it would. (or is that bad news?)

Don

[saand]

There are a few engine mods that actually work, most take considerable time though.

the proven list of mods is here if you haven't previously come across it there is an engine/drive train section
65+ Vehicle modifications for better fuel economy - EcoModder.com

The wiki has data for only a few of these mods
Car Modifications Main - EcoModder
One user suggests Synthetic oil give no gain larger than 1% on MPG

Alternator delete can give up to 10% but there are obviously come consequences to this mod

In the unproven section of the wiki I have put a few in which I know without any doubt have worked for me.
Car idle reduction and cold start idle reduction but there are also some consequences to these mods as well.

Good luck

[Ryland]

The botch +4 plugs that you talked about don't seem to work well for Japanese engines but from what I read do work on some American style engines (valve lay out, combustion chamber shape) the SAE (society of automotive engineers) publishes books and papers, some libraries can get these, they are well worth the read as they are peer reviewed papers based off of real research and testing, they cover alot of questions about exhaust size, spark plug style, combustion chamber shape, tires, fuels, oils, the list just goes on and on! but their info is not free, they sell their research papers, so there isn't alot to find for free on the internet, but it's all solid info.
Basic their only oil viscosity is that you need to keep your oil pressure up to protect your bearings, the thiner the oil is the easier it flows out of the bearing, most cars don't have oil pressure gauges any more and the pressure switch is just an on/off pressure switch.
Air filters are a hot topic of debate as well, but it really comes down to the amount of air going in to the engine has to burn a set amount of fuel, so if the restriction is at the air filter or at the throttle plate it doesn't really matter unless you are running wide open throttle, personally I like the best filter I can afford as I like to keep as much dirt out of my engine as possible, so small holes and alot of area, I used to have a foam air filter but I sold that car and it was the best air filter in my mind.
Most people will say that they have good luck with warm air intakes, they work in theory and in practice, Honda used to have a warm air intake as part of their intake design on all of their cars, it would maintain a 100F air temp and you could tell when it was not working because your mileage would drop like a rock.

[Domman56]

depends on how you drive I mean I personally have picked up mileage by adding K&N filters running slightly lower weight oil and doing exhaust and running the cars on premium

also keeping tires aired up to max PSI actually helps more than i thought it would (that's a trick i learned from the guys on here) and i've actually seen a pretty good LRR tire for trucks there's a guy on base that has them I'll try to find the truck and let you know what they are They look similar to a michellin hydroedge

[some_other_dave]

Most of the mods are doing well to increase your fuel economy by a few %. The really good ones can bump it by as much as 10%.

Changing your driving style can easily increase your fuel economy by 50%. As far as "low-hanging fruit", that is a really ripe one. Just slowing down to the speed limit and avoiding putting your foot to the floor can help quite a bit!

-soD

[dmac257]

Originally Posted by Domman56

depends on how you drive I mean I personally have picked up mileage by adding K&N filters running slightly lower weight oil and doing exhaust and running the cars on premium

also keeping tires aired up to max PSI actually helps more than i thought it would (that's a trick i learned from the guys on here) and i've actually seen a pretty good LRR tire for trucks there's a guy on base that has them I'll try to find the truck and let you know what they are They look similar to a michellin hydroedge

Thanks for the info.. I intend to replace the filters with K&N eventually and the oil at the next oil change. What do you mean by "doing exhaust"?? And are you saying that I should spend more for premium gas to get better MPG??

As for the tire pressure, I check them regular once a week, but I set them to the door pressure .. not the side wall max pressure. I have been wondering about that pressure. Should I check the air pressure when the tire is hot or cold? Setting to max sidewall pressure will not change the ride much on my truck but a couple mpg would be nice if it works. I would love any recommendations for LRR tire for light truck. I have been contemplating using passenger tire also.

Don

[dmac257]

Originally Posted by some_other_dave

Most of the mods are doing well to increase your fuel economy by a few %. The really good ones can bump it by as much as 10%.

Changing your driving style can easily increase your fuel economy by 50%. As far as "low-hanging fruit", that is a really ripe one. Just slowing down to the speed limit and avoiding putting your foot to the floor can help quite a bit!

-soD

I am working to retrain how I drive but people don't like slow drivers .. gonna get a sign on my truck that says "HEAVY LOAD" so they stop honking at me

Curiously when I was actually HAULING what turned out to be 1290lbs of gravel for that 40miles of mostly highway it appears that I got better MPG than when no load. Man I wish I could afford to drop the coin for a SGII. Instant MPG would help a lot while trying to retrain.

Don

[Domman56]

Originally Posted by dmac257

Thanks for the info.. I intend to replace the filters with K&N eventually and the oil at the next oil change. What do you mean by "doing exhaust"?? And are you saying that I should spend more for premium gas to get better MPG??

As for the tire pressure, I check them regular once a week, but I set them to the door pressure .. not the side wall max pressure. I have been wondering about that pressure. Should I check the air pressure when the tire is hot or cold? Setting to max sidewall pressure will not change the ride much on my truck but a couple mpg would be nice if it works. I would love any recommendations for LRR tire for light truck. I have been contemplating using passenger tire also.

Don

Actually i use K&N air filters haven't tried their oil filters but i've heard good things about them. Well with premium on a newer car i'd say try and use it a few tanks to see if it makes a difference on your vehicle mine are older so i adjusted the timing to run on premium and with the exhaust my thing with trucks is a flowmaster or flowsound (cause it's a direct flowmaster replica for only 40 bucks on ebay) with a turndown at the rear axle and on my car i just deleted the resonators with an x pipe and replaced the rear muffler. far as tire pressure check do it cold
If you're gonna use a passenger tire i'd say try the michellin hydroedges they're great tires with a pretty LRR plus they are a 90 thousand mile tire.

and with that truck i'm sure people are gonna suggest aeromods too
but it is true lots of the mileage increase you'll see is due to your driving habbits

[bestclimb]

I am leery of any "magik" spark plug. The spark is always going to take the path of least resistance.

[redyaris]

What we are looking for in better fuel economy is the minimum amount of power, so what can you do to get less power? use a lower displacement engine! Better aerodynamics reduces the power needed to go at any given speed, all else being equel. I think wikipedia has some good articles on Internal combustion engines.