V8 Lover looking for better MPG's

[RH77]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Re: that Pop Sci bit: Wow. Just... wow. Aside from the pickup aero info (good), their "test" and their premise is complete crap.

Agreed -- the repeatability and summary is just, well, weak.

Further, people don't drive completely on the highway and park it, there's a little thing called mass and a concept known as acceleration. I implore the author to investigate further

RH77

[darcane]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

You are more or less completely and utterly on your own is the scoop.

Those services may or may not work and the price is obviously not very good.

The megasquirt and other options that are controlled by you are also not real cheap.

If you do it yourself completely you need to understand the binary portion of the rom, how to make it into a human readable thing, how to identify its parts and how to modify it.

Generally you will also need a computer, a soldering/desoldering iron, nerves of steel *******izing and putting a socket in your ECM and a ROM reader for the PC.

I failed when I tried that route so I am little help, also remember each vehicle and motor varient has its own club and potential utilities, a google search might help.

Oh and if you do it yourself it voids any warranty you may have.

Cheers
Ryan

Hrmm... Not at all concerned about warranty. I've never owned something with a warranty.

I'm a little light on nerves of steel when dealing with modifying the code in an ECU and with soldering electronics. I'm sure I could do it, I just don't have the experience to make sure my custom tune doesn't burn a hole in a piston.

I *may* still bite the bullet and give a reprogrammed ECU a try, but probably not a DIY on this mod.

Mike

[Backtobasics]

I would look at the intake setup. Warm air, particularly in winter, will probably help.
A cat back exhaust, or at least a lower restriction muffler should help exhaust breathe better, plus play to your gearhead side (I am one too).
This vehicle swallows a BIG lowering kit with ease. I have seen 5/7 drops that look like a 2/3 on an 88-98 CK truck. Get it down.

There are aftermarket hand help programmers that adjust fuel curves and timing. There are also programs out there (EFI LIVE, LSI Edit) that allow you to modify many parameters within the computer code itself.

I think much of your benefit is in the computer controls. A full size truck with a 4.3 was obviously presumed by GM to be a work mule. Since they presume the truck is going to be loaded down and driven many miles, they were probably VERY conservative with the tune. An aggressive tune will have leaner fuel and more timing, but this type of tune could prove disasterous in terms of warranty for GM, when the local (insert large fleet business here) runs these trucks all over hell and back, with crap gas, no maintenance, and drivers who probably don't care about the truck (company trucks)

As such I bet GM has these trucks tuned with conservative timing maps, and too rich fuel maps, to prevent lean conditions where Phone Company Phil pings the motor to death, and GM has to warranty it.

[cfguy2000]

Originally Posted by Everett

if you are gonna spend the money on a synthetic oil go with amsoil....dollar for dollar the best oil out there

Is Amsoil cheaper or something?