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From: ARWadsworth on 5 Jul 2010 06:04 "NM" <nik.morgan(a)mac.com> wrote in message news:08bbf741-2ca2-4204-909a-12601a62706b(a)x27g2000yqb.googlegroups.com... > On 5 July, 00:31, Ed Chilada <nos...(a)nospam.com> wrote: >> On Sun, 4 Jul 2010 18:56:17 +0100, "ARWadsworth" >> >> <adamwadswo...(a)blueyonder.co.uk> wrote: >> >Do they really work? >> >> >My 15 year old Honda is now getting less mpg than it did last year. >> >> >It usually only does short journeys and sometimes is parked up for 6 >> >weeks >> >at a time. >> >> >Would giving it a good blast (at full throttle) one night/early morning >> >for >> >say 50 miles on the M1 do it any good? >> >> Surely you'll go through more petrol doing that than you're ever >> likely to recoup in an MPG increase? > > My Saab runs like a pig for the first couple of minutes if it hasn't > been used for a week or so, a good belting works wonders. same for the > BMW (2 pot air cooled) however the Smart seems impervious. The Honda is running like a pig when cold. I wonder if there is a sensor that needs replacing. Adam
From: NM on 5 Jul 2010 13:58 On 5 July, 11:01, Bagpuss <hairycatp...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > On Jul 4, 6:56 pm, "ARWadsworth" <adamwadswo...(a)blueyonder.co.uk> > wrote: > > > Do they really work? > > > My 15 year old Honda is now getting less mpg than it did last year. > > > It usually only does short journeys and sometimes is parked up for 6 weeks > > at a time. > > > Would giving it a good blast (at full throttle) one night/early morning for > > say 50 miles on the M1 do it any good? > > They definitely help. My experience with old motors in general leads > me to believe a good caning does them the world of good. Quite often, > I've bought an old shed from someone that's not really performing > well. A service - oil, filters, plugs (if petrol), check brakes, and a > damn good thrashing on a country road with plenty of twisty bits so > you can change up and down , and rev the engine hard will help a lot. > I've found this even more helpful on old diesel cars. > > Miaow. Diesel cars/wagons seem to me to go better and last longer if they are belted without mercy. (bit like women).
From: NM on 5 Jul 2010 13:58 On 5 July, 11:04, "ARWadsworth" <adamwadswo...(a)blueyonder.co.uk> wrote: > "NM" <nik.mor...(a)mac.com> wrote in message > > news:08bbf741-2ca2-4204-909a-12601a62706b(a)x27g2000yqb.googlegroups.com... > > > > > On 5 July, 00:31, Ed Chilada <nos...(a)nospam.com> wrote: > >> On Sun, 4 Jul 2010 18:56:17 +0100, "ARWadsworth" > > >> <adamwadswo...(a)blueyonder.co.uk> wrote: > >> >Do they really work? > > >> >My 15 year old Honda is now getting less mpg than it did last year. > > >> >It usually only does short journeys and sometimes is parked up for 6 > >> >weeks > >> >at a time. > > >> >Would giving it a good blast (at full throttle) one night/early morning > >> >for > >> >say 50 miles on the M1 do it any good? > > >> Surely you'll go through more petrol doing that than you're ever > >> likely to recoup in an MPG increase? > > > My Saab runs like a pig for the first couple of minutes if it hasn't > > been used for a week or so, a good belting works wonders. same for the > > BMW (2 pot air cooled) however the Smart seems impervious. > > The Honda is running like a pig when cold. I wonder if there is a sensor > that needs replacing. > > Adam Driver?
From: Albert T Cone on 6 Jul 2010 04:04 ARWadsworth wrote: > Do they really work? > > My 15 year old Honda is now getting less mpg than it did last year. > > It usually only does short journeys and sometimes is parked up for 6 weeks > at a time. > > Would giving it a good blast (at full throttle) one night/early morning for > say 50 miles on the M1 do it any good? After checking that your brakes aren't binding s a result of being left standing, I'd check the lambda (02) sensor - if that is norked, then the fuelling will be wrong, you'll be down on power and your economy will suffer. If you've been running with a dead lambda sensor for a while, you *may* well have poisoned the cat. converter. Whilst this won't affect economy, it may screw your emissions on the next MOT. If the lambda sensor is dead, there may be a fault code logged. Some hondas of that generation allowed you to get the fault codes by poking a wire into the diag port (see http://lonewolfonline.net/honda-civic-check-engine-light/ ) and counting the flashes of the MIL light. Alternatively you can test the sensor directly: remove a small amount of the sheath on the wires running to the sensor and measure the voltage on them when the engine is running and warm - it should oscillate continuously between 0 and about 1 volt (depending on how quickly your meter responds, it may just show an average of 0.4-0.7V). If it is sat continuously at 0V or at >1V then the sensor is probably borked and you'll need a new one. Or you could just buy a new one to be sure (about �25) - fitting should only take about 15 minutes for a garage, or half an hour yourself. Honda heads don't generally get gummed up, so an Italian Tuneup doesn't normally achieve much, however if it has been running very rich for a while then it may well have coked up, so once you're sure the lambda is ok then it may be worth taking it for a decent blast - they are designed to rev and hitting the redline once a day isn't a bad idea anyway...
From: ARWadsworth on 6 Jul 2010 06:19
"Albert T Cone" <a.k.kirby(a)durham.ac.uk> wrote in message news:i0uo5f$7vu$1(a)heffalump.dur.ac.uk... > ARWadsworth wrote: >> Do they really work? >> >> My 15 year old Honda is now getting less mpg than it did last year. >> >> It usually only does short journeys and sometimes is parked up for 6 >> weeks at a time. >> >> Would giving it a good blast (at full throttle) one night/early morning >> for say 50 miles on the M1 do it any good? > > After checking that your brakes aren't binding s a result of being left > standing, I'd check the lambda (02) sensor - if that is norked, then the > fuelling will be wrong, you'll be down on power and your economy will > suffer. If you've been running with a dead lambda sensor for a while, you > *may* well have poisoned the cat. converter. Whilst this won't affect > economy, it may screw your emissions on the next MOT. > > If the lambda sensor is dead, there may be a fault code logged. Some > hondas of that generation allowed you to get the fault codes by poking a > wire into the diag port (see > http://lonewolfonline.net/honda-civic-check-engine-light/ ) and counting > the flashes of the MIL light. > Alternatively you can test the sensor directly: remove a small amount of > the sheath on the wires running to the sensor and measure the voltage on > them when the engine is running and warm - it should oscillate > continuously between 0 and about 1 volt (depending on how quickly your > meter responds, it may just show an average of 0.4-0.7V). If it is sat > continuously at 0V or at >1V then the sensor is probably borked and you'll > need a new one. > Or you could just buy a new one to be sure (about �25) - fitting should > only take about 15 minutes for a garage, or half an hour yourself. > > Honda heads don't generally get gummed up, so an Italian Tuneup doesn't > normally achieve much, however if it has been running very rich for a > while then it may well have coked up, so once you're sure the lambda is ok > then it may be worth taking it for a decent blast - they are designed to > rev and hitting the redline once a day isn't a bad idea anyway... The brakes seem fine. It is always parked up on the level with no handbrake used. I'll check that out over the weekend. And the local garage where I get my MOTs done will check the emissions for the cost of a pint or two. Cheers Adam |