I just returned from a trip to Quebec Canada. It was a little over 2000 miles round trip, and I ran a little expirement to see what effects on economy I could get out of my van. The van: 1996 Dodge Caravan 3.0 litre V6 [gasoline burner] 3 speed non-lockup tranny 2 adult passengers [me and ex-wife], 2 suitcases, and a 4 lb package I was delivering The overall condition of the van is "good". The tires are about 50%, the tranny was rebuilt about 10,000 miles ago, and new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and air filter were installed at that time. The rear valve cover gasket has a bad oil leak, and since the intake manifold must be removed to access it, I'v neglected to change it It leaks out [almost] exactly 1 quart per tank of gas. I'v gotten into the habbit of putting in 2 quarts every other tank. 99.9% of this trip was expressway driving. Filled it up and left out of louisville. Did absolutely nothing to it, just as a soccer mom would be driving it. Speed limit thru Ky was 70, set the cruise control @ 75 and drove non-stop untill the low fuel light came on. First fillup, mileage avaraged 20.972 Thinking this was a little odd as I remembered this van getting about 23 mpg, I started looking around, and found the rear passenger tire to be SERIOUSLY low. I aired it up to 32 psi, and hit the road. The speed limit thru Ohio was 65, so I sat the cruise on 70 mph. We detoured off the X-way 1 time for a bite to eat. [less than a mile] Next fillup, MPG averaged 22.484 So... Setting the pressure in all 4 tires @ 32 psi and dropping the speed 5 mph netted me a 5% increase in economy including a pit stop. The gears in my head were turning, so I overinflated the tires to 45 psi and hit the road, and again kept the cruise @ 70. No pit stops this tankfull Next fillup, MPG averaged 24.217 Shortly thereafter, we crossed in to Canada. The speed limit was 100 kph, or 62 mph. I was sorta getting into the "economy" thing, so I set the cruise @ 66 mph. 2 pit stops and the delivery this tankfull. total of about 4 miles off X-way Next fillup, MPG was 25.388 It was time to add oil. I bought a container of Lucas oil stabilizer and poured it in. I only added 1 quart this time because them crazy canuk's overcharge like crazy!!! The fillup cost me an additional $17 over a fillup in the states, and the Lucas was $19!!! Back on the highway, cruise varried between 65 and 70. Ran into some traffic congestion, and about 15 miles of speed up - slow down city driving. Made 2 pit stops. Next fillup, MPG was 24.165 I was a little dis-appointed in that figure. I had kept the speed down, and the city congestion had not been too bad.... Hmmmm..... I wonder if the "thick" lucas was taxing the engine..... We stopped for dinner, and I swung into an auto parts store. Bought 2 quarts of Mobil-1 0-w-30 "econimy oil". I NEVER run synthetic in this van because of the oil leak, as expensive synthetic just leaks out faster, but for this little expirement, I figured, what the hell...... I also bought an off the shelf Fram air cleaner and a bottle of Gunk 1-tank injector cleaner. Poured in and installed all the goodies. Filled it up with BP super-93, inflated the tires to 50 psi, rolled up the windows and hit the road. Set the CC @ 70 mph and made no pit stops. Filled up just after we crossed back into Kentucky... Are you ready for this? MPG averaged 30.902 mpg. As we were driving thru downtown Cincinnati, the ex-wife was commenting on how [extrordinarily] long we had been running on this one tank. She was "getting into" the expirement as well, and when she saw the 31 mpg figure on the calculator, she gave me a big kiss and we did a victory dance right there in the gas station parking lot... I hope nobody was watching! Conclusions: Make sure your tires are properly inflated. Overinflate them [at your own risk] for even better mpg. Slow down... Just a 5 mpg reduction makes a good difference. Tune it up, and replace your air filter Synthetic oil consumes less HP to pump it thru the engine Premium fuel might actually be worth a few extra cents Now I hope you were paying attention to all of that. I went from 20 mpg all the way to 30 mpg, a full 50% increase in fuel economy simply by inflating the tires, tweaking [and tuning] the engine, and slowing down. <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
WOW.....a trip with your ex-wife..... Seriously, that's pretty cool. I can certainly tell a difference in my fuel economy when I dial down the speed in Big Olds. I'm going to make sure my tires are properly over-inflated for the next time and see.....and thanks for the remindered, I'm sure my air filter needs to be cleaned and re-oiled.
50 psi in the tires makes me cringe a bit. few things I wonder about in your mileage figures, did you have the windows down the rest of the trip?? what oil were you putting in the motor before?? lighter weight oil robs less HP. btw, if you think the oil made that much difference, are you going to take the time to fix that valve cover gasket now???
Yes, going to fix oil leak and run synth full time. 50 psi is a bit much, but 45 was pushing it already, just going for the last little bit. Windows were down for the entire trip. but it got a little cool comming home last night, so rolled em' up. Been running 20-w-40 "el-cheapo" brand [as it leaks out so quickly, not worth the good stuff] Cruise control makes it a lot easier to maintain a speed. Me and the ex-wife are "cool". We both got tired of cheating on each other, so now we have "other lovers" and the two of us cheat on them Doesen't everyone have sex with their ex's???
I tried slowing down to the speed limit, 65, on the way in this morning and have been doing so for a bit to save my employer gas money. However, I was almost killed multiple times because everyone else was going 75-80...did I get some ugly looks, etc for slowing down traffic.
darryl, you can change that gasket without removing the intake. you just have to take off the front engint mount and the starter and lever the engine towards the front to do the rear one. we just use a ratchet strap for it at the shop.
Pretty much what it was like with my ex. We actually got along much better after the divorce, I think even the sex was better 'cause it seemed kind of "dirty"
2000 mile trip with ex, to deliver a 4lb. package, are you sure your not smokin' what's in the package?
there's a country song in there... oh HELL no on the the fuel economy thing. Synthetic makes a difference, as does tire pressure, and speed as noted. Also seems to make a difference where you get gas. I switched from Racetrac, to QT & picked up a little over a mile per. There is a station south of here that sells "100% Gasoline. No Ethanol" I filled up the driver & with NO other changes, picked up almost 2 mpg. Kinda shoots the whole ethanol thing in the ass, if ya ask me
Seems to me like that would bind up the rear and tranny mounts... I'll definately have a look at it tho, and if it works, I owe 'ya a brewskie!!! Denise, if 1/2 the stories I'v heard about you two are true, your welcome at my place ANYTIME DING DING DING DING!!!!! We have a WINNER! I'm a specialty carrier with a DOT waiver... Medical emergency deliveries, radio active and high value items.... I'm not supposed to talk about it too much for obvious reasons... This delivery was radio active medical supplies that could not go by air......................... You will just have to use your imagination for the stuff I cant talk about, but I'v handled some REALLY cool items! [sometimes the BEST security is anonimity... Think about it!] Excellent points! I didn't even notice if the BP was ethanol added, but it's worth looking for next time I do the expirement.
Wow, I'm kinda surprised this thread droped off the radar so quickly. True my minivan aint exactly "hamb friendly", but real life lessons here we can all benefit from.
Window observation - Top Gear crew a few years ago did a fuel economy study - Windows versus A\C. Verdict - the windows down ACTUALLY got better fuel economy than the A\C, a good bit of the time for high way. Now it is necessary to point out, this is not an across the board statement. Depends on aerodynamics of the car, engine in the car, torque of that engine, and speed. Just an interesting disspelling of A\C will give better highway mileage always. Same with cruise control, I've heard people always say you get better MPG with cruise, but usually that is just the opposite, depending on your driving habits and skills. The only way I could drive with my ex, would be to maybe bury her body in a swamp.
what rear mount that engine only has one in the front and one either side trans/engine. you can get quite a bit of rotation out of that once the front mount is out of the way with no problems. trust me...i removed TWO transmissions out of those POS vans yesterday, i've seen that mount setup WAY too much
The Jalopy Journal
