Fantastic fuel economy increase!

[Daniel]

I've been registering the MPG's for about the past 6 months. It's beed steadily increasing after various adjustments etc. : adjusting AMM, new plugs/leads and dizzy. New lambda/reset ECU and inflate tyres! It started at 20/22mpg and I got it to 24/26. (averaged, including all types of driving and conditions).
I decided to have the timing checked and it was out by 3 degress. At the same time as doing this I fitted a new 82 degree thermostat. The car was taking ages to reach op temp and I suspected it was holding the car on choke for too long.
The MPG's have jumped to 28/33! I'm getting 28 around town and 32/33 on the motorway.
Just a heads up really: if you're having poor economy and you've exhausted most other things, try the thermo and timing!

[unkleG'sif]

superb


guess i'll have to look at the same
cheers daniel

g

[SteveTheFolkie]

great job! Some people have seemed astounded by my mileage (32-33 MPG) but I attribute it to keeping my car in a good state of tune, clean air filter, clean oil (and I don't go gonzo on viscosity) and keeping the tires aired up - amazing how many people are running around with a dirty air filter, poor lubrication, low tire pressuer with a bad running engine who complain about the lousy mileage they get.

[Matt88S]

Not to spoil you good mood or anything but Summer fuel mix might also have something to do with it, you tend to slightly better milage on it. I went from about 28 mpg to 25 mpg when they switched from summer to winter and I've notice in the last month or so I've went back up to 28 mpg. I've forgotten exactly when they switch over but its a theory

[SteveTheFolkie]

Originally Posted by Matt88S

Not to spoil you good mood or anything but Summer fuel mix might also have something to do with it, you tend to slightly better milage on it. I went from about 28 mpg to 25 mpg when they switched from summer to winter and I've notice in the last month or so I've went back up to 28 mpg. I've forgotten exactly when they switch over but its a theory

You could also take atmospheric conditions into account since warmer air is less dense and would provide less resistance, colder temperatures keep the enrichment circut open longer, the alternator is working harder (lights, wipers, heater blower motor, heated seats) and people tend to idle longer to let the car warm up, plus our cold lubricants provide more resistance until they're up to speed - and the winter fuel change over is a possibility - but mine was consistent through the winter (and we do use winter formulations in this part of PA) - you still can't beat a good tuneup, clean filters and correctly inflated tires -

[16saabs]

as others before have said, keep all your electrics newish and clean, good filters and oil, and timing. the only time i get below 31(norm 32-33 al seasons) is when i drive the wife's vert auto 25-27

[PianoDavid]

ive heard about ignition timing but i have noooo idea how to check it. some kind of light needed?? plz help... im getting 20 and i WAS getting 25 before my new AMM was installed (i guess my older one was running lean?)

[SteveTheFolkie]

Originally Posted by PianoDavid

ive heard about ignition timing but i have noooo idea how to check it. some kind of light needed?? plz help... im getting 20 and i WAS getting 25 before my new AMM was installed (i guess my older one was running lean?)

You'll need a timing light (connects to your battery and the spark plug on the #1 cylinder) and a wrench (that fits the fixing bolt on your distributor) - with the engine at idle you aim the timing light at the timing mark (should be adjacent to the flywheel) - and adjust the distributors position - by turning - until the mark on the flywheel (which will be illuminated as the strobe light in the timing light is activated by the ignition pulse from the #1 cylinder) is aligned with the timing scale mark that is required - you then tighten the bolt holding the distributor and re-check the timing (to make sure you didn't move the distributor by accident) - if you have a vacuum advance can on the disty you typically remove the hose and plug it before timing the vehicle -
That's about it - what it does is ensure that the spark plug fires at the correct moment in time to ensure the best burn of the fuel in the combustion chamber - if it's retarded (happening to late - not acting dumb) you'll get lousy performance and poor mileage - if it's advanced you'll get detonation - if it's WAY off the car won't start -

Steve

(next lesson we can discuss setting the gap and dwell on your new distributor points!)

[SAABurban]

I love the fuel econ on my 93'. She is getting consistantly, 31-33 mpg. Fixing the leaky fuel bib with all of it's cracks has really made the difference.

Oh yeah, keeping the steel toe's from becoming wedged at the knee bolsters also worked wonders