To The Moon: Upping economy in a 2000 Dodge Caravan

[101Volts]

After a long trip, The economy was at about 37.8 according to the SGII. (It's probably closer to 30.) Pulse and gliding was experimented with again and it appears to work when done properly; Not at WOT but at a IGN rating close to what would be if the accelerater wasn't pressed; Pulsing for three seconds then gliding for nine.

Is this an appropriate place to post this?

The duct tape grille block was removed on the return trip as the fWT was almost up to 210 at a red light.

Edit/Update: When I was trying to pulse and glide as I described here, I hadn't watched videos on the subject; I did it in trial-and-error prior to this.

[101Volts]

We had the air filter and spark plugs changed. I also put more air in the tires. I think that will be it for modding the van for a while, Unless I can find something cheap to do.

And I only recently with this last fillup started to adjust the ScanGauge at fairly properly; Until recently, I'd only zeroed the tank for a baseline though I thought it was higher when I started this thread.

For some reason, The SGII is reading wonky when I check the tank info - It says we went through over 1,200 gallons, Got 2.7 MPG or so and that the water temperature is under 40 below. Why is it doing that?

[101Volts]

There's not much to talk about today but the van had some low economy last month due to going to a small local station that apparently sold us some dirty gasoline. The SGII because it's gone wonky as of late too so I don't know what FE we've gotten in the van lately.

EDIT: That wasn't appropriate grammar, Was it? "The SGII because it's gone wonky as of late too so I don't know what FE we've gotten in the van lately."

[forums123]

I kinda text searched your thread and saw no mention of a "Grille block"... It seems to me that many people have seen mpg economy improvememtns from simply adding a grille block. Give it a shot and let us know what mpg gains you see.

Thanks

[101Volts]

Originally Posted by forums123

I kinda text searched your thread and saw no mention of a "Grille block"... It seems to me that many people have seen mpg economy improvememtns from simply adding a grille block. Give it a shot and let us know what mpg gains you see.

Thanks

I'm not about to put a grille block on the van right now, But Thanks. I did have a full one on the van a while back in the winter and it was all duct tape. I have to mention though, I was warned that these vans can overheat rather quickly and considering the (Poorly maintained) 1997 Plymouth Voyager I drove prior to this van had paint coming off the hood from overheating, I'll need to be careful. But the ScanGauge II does have the FWT meter which I can use.

BTW, The fuel economy seems to have gone up lately compared to how it was in June and July since we've been buying gas from larger chain gas stations. For those who might not know at the time reading this reply, Back Months ago we bought gas from a small local station and it was like burning a rope that was watered down - The meter said we were getting about 16 MPG at one time which is probably the lowest I've seen it read, I might be getting higher FE than that in the Caprice.

I still need to reset the ScanGauge II.

Earlier Edit, 2013-August-31 - Reason for editing: I added "Read" to "probably the lowest I've seen it," to make more sense

Edit, 2013-September-18: It wasn't actually a completely full grille block, It was on the higher two vents but the lower ones were still open. Also, I do feel like adding a partial grille block.

[101Volts]

The fuel injectors were cleaned today. Initial thoughts are that the van accelerated faster but it might have slowed down faster too? Am I imagining it? Perhaps; The Walmart employees put the tires at 35 PSI so I had to set it back up to 46 hot.

Also, My theory of getting higher fuel economy at a higher tank doesn't seem to hold true given the latest fuel log.

[101Volts]

Father and I put stretch-wrap over the hubcaps the other day. After testing it initially, Plastic was falling out so we taped it in. Although the plastic wrap is more prone to holes it's not going to rust like a pizza pan nor is it going to fall off just like the two front pizza pans did.

Edit, 2013-September-18: I much prefer the plastic smooth covers at this time.

[101Volts]

As of 2013-09-14, It would be good to write down some trips as according to Google Maps, To see if the odometer works properly at this tire pressure.

Also, Perhaps with the weather changing a small grille block of duct tape will be added along with a block heater or water temperature heater.

[101Volts]

I reset the SG2 prior to today's fill up (Which read 25.1 MPG with 200+ miles on one trip this September 13th) then it was still acting up at the fill up time and I set the tire pressure to 50ish today.

Here's a photo of the plastic wrap on a hubcap:

[101Volts]

I put a duck tape partial grille block on along with partial rear side skirts made out of tape.

Original post edited.