Re: [Biofuel] Debatable statement?

[Hurley, Edward R]

Agreed.  As also stated by another list member “the right tool for the right job.”    Case in point: I have a 2000 Dodge 2500 4X4 with the Cummings 24 valve diesel. It has the avg. and “real time” mpg readout in the overhead console. Going by that, the stock truck would get its best mpg / performance between 1700 and 1900 RPM’s. This equated to 17- 18 mpg @ 70 mph while on flat ground in factory OD. Above that I would get more performance (pulling power), but less mpg.    I installed a “Gear Vendors” split out-drive and at 70 mph my RPM was only ~ 1450. I “thought” that this would be great and I would be getting better mpg. But when I checked the real time mpg gage I was actually getting less (~15 mpg ). I then installed a “mild” Banks kit (accessory computer, 4” SS exhaust, K&N air filter and we changed the fitting from the turbo to the waste gate with one that had a smaller center hole (this increased boost from ~22lbs to 26 lbs before the waste gate would open). What this did was open up the “sweet spot “ that the engine gave it’s best mpg / performance ratio from the original 1700- 1900 RPM’s to 1500 – 1900 RPM’s. The result was that I can now be in the “4th over” gear (factory OD + gear vendor OD) doing 70 mph and I get 22- 23 mpg. @ 80 mph I get 20 – 21 mpg @ 1800 RPM’s. Not bad for this size truck.    With the extra gears I can also “match the gear to engine speed” while climbing the mountains around here and get much better mpg while maintaining the highway speeds on the freeway. The example would be with the camper on the truck and towing a trailer, the factory OD is too high a gear to get up the long hills, yet the factory 3rd gear is too low a gear and although I get the power, the engine RPM’s are too high to get any mileage. But using the Gear vendor I can select “3rd over” which is between the factory 3rd and OD gears and this gear gives the best of both worlds.    In other words, less RPM doesn’t necessarily mean more mpg. If you are below the engines’ “performance zone” you start to “lug” the engine and get less performance / mpg. The goal is to open up the engines’ “peak performance / mpg zone” and to provide the gearing to make the best of it.    I now have “acquired” several gals. of WVO from the cafeteria here at work and I will be learning the “process” of making my own Biodiesel to run in the truck. Speaking of that, I was told by my neighbor that one of the local cities who is running Biodiesel in their vehicles (busses, heavy trucks, etc.) is having problems with the Biodiesel and the Cummings engines. I did not have time to get the specifics from him, but from by readings of the discussion site, I could see not changing the fuel filter enough (after switching from D#2 to Bio as the Bio will “clean the system out”) to maybe having a bad supplier of the Biodiesel. Does anyone else know of issues with running Biodiesel in the Dodge Cummings engine?    Ed   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kirk McLoren Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2005 9:22 AM To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Debatable statement?   The fuel efficiency of an engine is not a constant. At high throttle settings economy is sacrificed for power. ie the grams of fuel used per horsepower hour increases. That is why infinite ratio transmissions would be worthwhile. And ideally - lossless.   At low loads the fixed burden of the engine becomes significant. Most diesels look best around 70% of design max. Kirk Greg and April <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: True or False Underpowered vehicles can be just as inefficient as overpowered vehicles. Why or why not?   Greg H.     _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ Yahoo! for Good Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

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