thought on a way to increase fuel mileage. .just a thought

[1996DANGERRANGER]

okay so i'm not a wiz with gas engines (my degree is with diesels) but from my understanding the more vacuum a engine has the more efficient its running right? so my idea is instead of using engine vacuum to operate the brake booster and heater box blend doors have a remote electric vacuum pump for it. like on a diesel powered vehicle. now i do not know how much it would help if any which is why i'm asking, I've been wanting to put a vacuum gauge on my ranger and get some base measurements and then try my thought.

whats everyone's thoughts on it?

 

[gw33gp]

I don't think vacuum is a measure of efficiency in a fuel injected engine. High vacuum in a normal street engine just shows that the throttle body plate is not open very much. The more the plate is open the more air flow and in turn more fuel flow. Having a vacuum gage will just remind you to keep your foot out of the pedal and make the engine work less.

I don't think using that vacuum to operate mechanisms requires the engine to use more fuel. Using electrical power would require power from the alternator and that would take power (although minimal) from the engine.

 

[Harris]

I'm all for experimentation and research. I just don't think the vacuum take-off for the booster and few other little things would amount to much at all.

Never been one to stand in the way of a man of science, though.

 

[Fordmastertech]

okay so i'm not a wiz with gas engines (my degree is with diesels) but from my understanding the more vacuum a engine has the more efficient its running right? so my idea is instead of using engine vacuum to operate the brake booster and heater box blend doors have a remote electric vacuum pump for it. like on a diesel powered vehicle. now i do not know how much it would help if any which is why i'm asking, I've been wanting to put a vacuum gauge on my ranger and get some base measurements and then try my thought.

whats everyone's thoughts on it?

Loose this stuff "hypertech tuner, thrush glasspack, 31 inch tires" and don't expect the soon to be 33s to make it any better.

 

[adsm08]

Gas engines work a tad bit different.

High vacuum just means you don't have an air leak after the throttle. Since gas needs a proper air/fuel ratio to run correctly and optimize emissions (unlike diesel) that is where the idea that high vac = high efficiency comes from, but it is a huge oversimplification.

Also, since no air is entering the engine from the vac motors and booster (when everything is working right) using a belt driven pump to provide vacuum will hurt fuel efficiency.

The belt driven pump will cause a parasitic drag on the engine to accomplish the same thing that can be had for free simply by putting a plate in the line to cause a pressure drop.

 

[1996DANGERRANGER]

Loose this stuff "hypertech tuner, thrush glasspack, 31 inch tires" and don't expect the soon to be 33s to make it any better.

hypertech has been gone and just haven't updated the signature. i've been told before that the glasspack hurts efficiency why is that? and my original thought came about because of using the brake booster if doing more city driving it wouldn't take the vacuum from the engine. and i would use a electric pump, because that would have less drag(through the alternator) than a actual belt driven unit

 

[LIMA BEAN]

hypertech has been gone and just haven't updated the signature. i've been told before that the glasspack hurts efficiency why is that? and my original thought came about because of using the brake booster if doing more city driving it wouldn't take the vacuum from the engine. and i would use a electric pump, because that would have less drag(through the alternator) than a actual belt driven unit

Install the hybrid flux capaciter with the Doc.Brown Electro-lux upgrade and thats win.

 

[1996DANGERRANGER]

Install the hybrid flux capaciter with the Doc.Brown Electro-lux upgrade and thats win.

ha ha, good idea. . .i know some people think that if the oem could have done something to increase fuel mileage they would've but my opioion is that the oem's dont do everything they could and limit our vehicles capabilites

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

My opinion.... the oem have to make the vehicle the best all around, that means compromises. That may not be what I'm interested in tho, as maybe power is more important to me than fuel mileage. It all depends on YOUR needs and what you're willing to trade off to satisfy those needs. You may be able to beat the oem on one thing, but unless you are on an Einstein level of thinking, you won't beat them on everything, they have too many resources. IE; engineers that get paid to make the best they can.

Richard

 

[Fordmastertech]

hypertech has been gone and just haven't updated the signature. i've been told before that the glasspack hurts efficiency why is that? and my original thought came about because of using the brake booster if doing more city driving it wouldn't take the vacuum from the engine. and i would use a electric pump, because that would have less drag(through the alternator) than a actual belt driven unit

Making the engine have more vacuum using a pump will not help fuel mileage.
Keeping your foot out out it and keeping the engine vacuum as high as possible will help. The muffler is a toss up as what it does for fuel mileage. It usally hurts it because they have their foot into it to hear the noise. The tires are your biggest cause of fuel mileage loss both due to poor rolling restance and making the odometer inacurate.

 

[1996DANGERRANGER]

Making the engine have more vacuum using a pump will not help fuel mileage.
Keeping your foot out out it and keeping the engine vacuum as high as possible will help. The muffler is a toss up as what it does for fuel mileage. It usally hurts it because they have their foot into it to hear the noise. The tires are your biggest cause of fuel mileage loss both due to poor rolling restance and making the odometer inacurate.

i was not going to actually put a pump on the engine to increase vacuum just to operate the accessories to keep from using the engine vacuum. the tires do hurt in city driving but i do alot of highway driving and the taller tire helps imo for that. and they are only 10.5wide. and the muffler is not the case for me. i usually get 19-20 driving it and i check use my gps to track my miles because i know my odometer is not accurate because of the tires

 

[RonD]

Yes, not sure vacuum would give you more efficiency.
I think automotive thermoelectric generators (ATEGs) might have a good future as the technology gets better, and cheaper.

Gasoline engines, and other internal combustion engines, are "heat engines", gas engines are 25-35% efficient, in converting gasoline in to power for the vehicle, diesel's are a little better but not by much.
The bulk of the energy produced by these engines now is waste heat, exhaust heat and coolant heat.

If the waste heat from the exhaust and coolant could be converted directly to electricity, we could remove the alternator, and also use electric water pumps, and power steering pumps, maybe even an electric A/C compressor.
Without having any drive belts fuel efficiency would be increased.

Probably need a little more weight for a dual battery setup, for short trips where engine doesn't heat up fully, but power would be generated and stored even after engine is shut down, as it cools.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a "radiator" that generates power and cools the engine without air flow, a unit filled with little thermoelectric cells that suck up the heat and put out electricity.
And a catalytic converter surrounded by a thermoelectric "blanket" that produced electricity.

 

[adsm08]

Yeah, thermal efficiency is the big thing.

I've often wondered how that could be helped by better thermal insulation around the cylinder and combustion chamber.

I was thinking some kind of sleeve, similar to the big diesels, but two layers. The inner layer is metal, for a normal wear surface, but then you have a ceramic coating, similar to the stuff used for heat shields on the shuttle.

It's still a very rough idea, but it could work.

 

[Andy D]

Heh heh, I just coast a lot .

 

[1996DANGERRANGER]

gasoline engines are not that efficient and diesels are about 25-35 range. gas engines are about 15-20. which is why diesels are so much better. but the cost vs the gains of putting one in my ranger is not there. one thing that i've been hearing a little on is hydraulic drives coming up and have heard of some concepts being made