Howdy folks, Just some observations from a long running experiment. My 91 with auto trans has historically averaged about 17-18 mpg in town. During this time, the temp guage never deviated more than a needles width or two from the led in the middle. About three months ago, the temp gauge started showing my van running relatively cool. The needle *never* even got close to the led unless I let it idle for ungodly amounts of time. And even then, as soon as I started in motion, the gauge would shoot back into the 'cool' range. I assumed my thermostat was stuck open but didn't swap it out for about two months. During this two month period, my average mpg was about 13-14. About three weeks ago, I finally swapped out the thermostat and this corrected the cool running problem (the thermostat was NOT stuck open, however, a qualitative test on my kitchen stove revealed a relaxed spring-opened sooner, and closed later than the new thermostat). After two tankfulls, my milage is back in the ~17mpg range. An explanation? I'll leave that to someone who actually knows what they're talking about. All I know is what I saw :) Sincerely, Pat ____________________________________ Patrick L. Larsen Water Center/Environmental Programs University of Nebraska pll@unlinfo.unl.edu http://www.uvm.edu/~plarsen/pat.html ____________________________________
|
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.