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Old 09-24-2013, 03:39 PM   #1 (permalink)
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The Blazer - '00 Chevy Blazer LT
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Changed air filter & differential oil- WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!

I had a K&N cone filter attached to an eBay cold air intake for the longest while and I switched back to the factory air box. I cut some holes in the front and fender side of the air box (some guys on s10forum recommended it). I also put Royal Purple motor oil with a Royal Purple filter.

I noticed moderately increased gains and was happy, although I wanted more.

Yesterday I took off the old differential cover and drained the oil. Cleaned it up really well with brake cleaner and spun the gears and made them shiny again. Shot it with some compressed air (just the stuff in the can) to get all the extra gunk out of there. Put a new differential cover on, filled her up with Royal Purple 75w-90 and spun it around to get it worked in. Went on a drive around the area (about 5 miles). Noticed no oil leaking, bolts were still on, and everything checked out. I also swapped in an AC Delco fuel filter (old one was Fram).

Tried to get the spark plug wires undone (going to replace the distributor cap, rotor, wires, and plugs) but I was running out of daylight.

Check my fuel log. My FE has been terrible. I got the scangauge reading 18.9 MPG for this tank (half of that is before the differential oil) and I took it on the highways around Houston last night for 100 miles and - get ready - 24.9 MPG!!! And that's BEFORE I've done the ignition tune up! My old highway mileage was ~17 if I was lucky! And, on top of that, the vehicle just feels so much more smooth. I guess I was used to a grinding feel as I was letting the car slow down because now as it coasts it feels like I'm sliding on butter.

This website is the best thing that I've found in a long time and I've seriously learned so much from you guys. You're saving me money and that means I can actually get to use what little I make for something OTHER than gasoline!

I'll update the fuel log when I need to. So far I'm 222 miles in and Scangauge says I have 4.5 gallons left. My old tanks would get me 225 on a good day.

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Old 09-24-2013, 05:26 PM   #2 (permalink)
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Sadly, there is no way to know for sure that it's only the change you made or your change in driving. Odds are that it's both.

Keep on saving gas!
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Old 09-24-2013, 05:54 PM   #3 (permalink)
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Maintenance is always step 1.

Getting more air flow than stock usually isn't good for FE.
The ECU will counter a lean mix with more fuel.

Cutting holes in the airbox is a modification to get more power - often done on motorcycles as well, that is if the whole box wasn't thrown out altogether.
You might want to test again with the holes covered, and see what that gives.

Cold air intake works on diesels, petrol engines usually prefer a warm air intake for better FE.
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Old 10-03-2013, 06:18 PM   #4 (permalink)
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Gearbox oil change worked for me too.

VW tell us that the manual gear oil in the Golf Mk4 never needs changing and it's good for the life of the vehicle. Being a skeptical chap, and my car having covered 150k miles I decided to change it anyway.

I did some research online about various exotic gear oils that other people had tried in that gearbox and the consensus seemed to be that the newer VW gear oil recommended for that box was as good or better than the alternatives. Pretty cheap too. I think it cost me about £20 for the oil. I also got a small tube of Molyslip for gearboxes from my local Halfords store as I've used that stuff to good effect in the past.

(Note: 'Molyslip' in North America may be a different product, and I've heard of people having bad experiences with it over there. I guess the thing to remember about Molysllip - in all its guises - is that it isn't an oil additive as such; it's a treatment for an engine or a gearbox that treats the metal surfaces. The oil is just a way to get it to the right place. With that in mind, you only need a tiny amount of the active ingredient to work. I've used the UK branded products for decades with no problems. Oh, and Molyslip in automatic gearboxes? Bad idea!)

I was going to change the gear oil myself, but what with the engine undertray and limited access to a driveway to get it up on ramps and all the crawling under the vehicle it would involve, I phoned my local mechanic. The first thing he said was "You don't need to change the oil in those gearboxes," and then he said he'd change it out for £15. Sold!

Once he had the car up on the lift, it took him all of 10 minutes to do the job. I drove off and the difference was immediately obvious. The car drove more smoothly and rolled more easily when coasting. I took it for a run around a couple of my local mpg test routes and could not believe what my onboard mpg meter was telling me. (One route at 50mph and one at 30mph.) I was apparently getting at least 5% better fuel economy than I'd ever achieved before on those runs, and that was with an engine that had only been running half an hour.

Unfortunately, from the scientific testing point of view, I put the new oil and the Molyslip in at the same time, so I don't know which was responsible for the improvement. My guess is it was a combination. In any case this was one of the cheapest and easiest ways I have found to bump up mpg. For £35 I'm saving myself nearly £100/year in fuel.

It's basic maintenance really, and only a 'mod' in the sense that I'm modifying the manufacturer's recommended servicing schedule.

My theory is that these extended service intervals are often marketing hype. If a fleet manager sees that servicing is only required every 2 years (or whatever) then that looks more attractive. Manufacturers are not really interested in what happens to their products after 100k miles, ...which is understandable. Well, I think the engineers are interested in longevity, and all power to the engineers, but marketing managers have different priorities I think, and their interests are not always aligned with the interests of their customers.

Last edited by paulgato; 10-03-2013 at 06:23 PM.. Reason: typo
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Old 10-03-2013, 09:38 PM   #5 (permalink)
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I changed the spark plugs and cap and rotor the other day. What a pain in the ass... GM thought it'd be a great idea to give about 1.5cm of clearance between the 3rd spark plug and the steering column.

Anyways, the vehicle responds better to throttle but I haven't been able to take it out for a highway run. I'm starting to lose hope with my blazer. The engine is making an airy noise when accelerating. It's just one thing after another, man.

I put aluminium tape over the air box holes and took it around the neighborhood and it seems to be doing a little better. I'll be able to really see tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I'm stuck with a **** load of ****ing city driving which is really freaking me out. All that $$ just wasted at every red light.
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Old 10-04-2013, 02:07 PM   #6 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jtbwatson View Post
Unfortunately, I'm stuck with a **** load of ****ing city driving which is really freaking me out. All that $$ just wasted at every red light.
Perhaps add a fuel injector cutoff switch?

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