Hey! I read this whole thread a while back, and just wanted to chime in.
First, I monitor leanburn with the Torque app for Android- here's how:
- Buy a
$15 OBDII bluetooth adapter from Amazon.
- Buy the $5 Torque Pro app
- Create a Digital Readout gauge in the app, and set it to measure O2 1x2 (bank 1, sensor 2). When this O2 sensor reads zero, you are either in leanburn, or DFCO (deceleration fuel cutoff). If your foot is on the gas and you aren't decelerating, you are in leanburn.
- Long press on the gauge you just created, then click "display configuration" Then click "Set Low Warning" A dialogue then opens- "Flash dial when it falls below this value"- Set the value to 0.0.
That creates a flashing dial indication for when you're in lean burn. I keep my phone in a mount on my dash, which makes it really easy to monitor leanburn.
I also learned that the Torque App MPG calculations do not work with leanburn mode. The reason is that the torque app uses the stoichiometric ratio in it's calculations of gas mileage. So when in leanburn mode, the Civic is using less gas than it would be at stoich, leading to an incorrect MPG number- I think I actually see my MPG's go down when I enter leanburn, which was scary at first, but makes sense now! I just measure my MPG's at fill ups off the odometer.
Now info about the 2001 Civic HX, ULEV with CARB sticker
I'm assuming this is a CA car, hence the CARB sticker.
- I can get it to kick into leanburn in 3rd, 4th or 5th gears.
- Lean burn kicks out right about 70mph- sometimes I can get it up to 71 or 72 if I'm REAAAAAL easy on the gas. But 70 seems to be the intended cutoff.
- The way I get leanburn to engage is usually on flat or going slightly down hill. I get up to speed, say 60 mph, then slowly ease off the gas over about 30 seconds. It will eventually kick into leanburn, although I'll usually lose between 5 and 10 mph. Then I'll slowly ease it back up to speed.
- From time to time, leanburn seems to shut off, even if I'm very careful with my driving. I read somewhere that this is the system purging itself, or cooling down, something like that. It usually takes a couple minutes before it will drop back in. But knowing that it's an intended function of the car makes it less frustrating for me.
- Like others have said, once it's in leanburn mode, if it kicks out easy, it will drop back in easy. However, if it kicks out hard, ie, if I punch the gas hard, it will take the normal 30 seconds or so of slowly easing off the gas pedal for it to drop back in.
- I cleaned my egr ports when I first got the car. I hadn't mastered leanburn monitoring at that point yet, so I can't say for sure whether that made much of a difference, but I can tell you that my car enters lean burn excellently now. It is always consistent, easy to get in, stays in well. Although, I imagine there's still room for improvement! (I'm actually having an O2 sensor problem at the moment, but under normal circumstances, it works great).
We took a trip to Northern California from Salem, OR, and over the 500 mile trip we averaged 42 mpg with monitoring leanburn and keeping engaged whenever possible. 2 passengers. I was decently happy with that, although I'd like to see more.
Love this car! 220k on the engine and still getting 40+mpg. Love it.
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