40+ MPG project
With the gas prices as high as they have been this year who would want to improve the gas mileage. For the past couple of years I’ve been looking into ways I could do just that with my old 1994 Ford Ranger. Now I’ve had this POS (term of endearment) 2.3L 4-banger Ranger since it was new. And I’m proud to say that I’ve put all of the 260,000+ miles on it. Now that it’s thoroughly broke in, LOL, it is now my project vehicle. My goal is to get over 40 MPG in with it. First a little background information.
Over the years it’s been a good truck that hasn’t had a major problem with it until about a year ago when it started, on occasion, missing really bad. Since it was an occasional problem I know it had to be a problem with the ignition so I replaced the coil packs, sparkplugs, and sparkplug wires. This helped it a little but the problem was still happening. One night after a very long day at work it started missing more than it ever had before and I barely made it home. Once I got there I notice an orange glow from under the truck, it was my catalytic converter and it was red hot!!! Now it was time to take to a repair shop.
The mechanic at the shop tells me that I did indeed have a ignition problem and at the time of his test it was only firing on 2 cylinders. Turns out I needed a new ICM, catalytic converter, and O2 sensor. I thought this would be a great opportunity to do some testing on my theories of better MPG so I just had the ICM replaced. Actually the shop wanted too much for a catalytic converter so I bought one online and replaced it myself.
Over the next 40+ weeks I tested my MPG by charting my total miles driven and the total gas used, noting changes I did along the way. I discovered my mileage after 14 tanks with the O2 sensor burned out averaged 22.41 MPG; my mileage after 14 tanks with a new O2 sensor averaged 23.01 MPG; and my mileage after 14 tanks after I modified my air intake averaged 23.92 MPG.
You can see my CAI modification at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIbIyd1_SnQ
And my mileage data at:
http://www.neosbiosphere.com/project/mileage.htm
Now the next step will be to lean out the gasoline and add Hydrogen (H2) or possibly Hydrogen (H2) and Oxygen (O2). It should be interesting to see what my mileage will be. Incidentally I could hardly believe the increase in power and responsiveness of my truck after doing my CAI mod. I can’t wait to see what adding H2 will do to the overall power of the truck. With any luck, and lot of trial and error, I should be able to reach my 40 MPG goal.
