PT Air Filter as clean as new????

A while back I posted that my PT mileage has drastically dropped from about 15 mpg down to 12. The spark plugs had been replaced less than 1000 miles ago. Someone said to disconnect the battery to allow the computer to reset itself. I decided then to check the air filter. It was put in about 10,000 miles ago. And it was clean!! As clean as it was when it came out of Auto Zone. Any ideas on this??

Reply to
tomkanpa
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The air intake snorkel is taking in air from the side of the vehicle and not directly in front of the car, I believe this helps in keeping these filters clean. As far as disconnecting the battery to get better mileage......... That's funny.

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

Reply to
maxpower

And have you checked the number one reason for poor fuel mileage? Your tire pressure!

Reply to
hartless

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm unfamiliar with the PT, and we rented one a couple of months ago in Tennessee and Kentucky. Never checked the gas mileage, but it seemed mediocre compared to a Toyota Avalon (6 cyl) which gets 28-30 on the road. Even the Avalon's city mileage is at least 15, probably more like 18. I don't understand why a PT Cruiser's mileage is so poor. Comments? ask Dr. Z?

Reply to
mack

My 2001 PT, with automatic and 48k miles on it, has never been on a long highway trip so I don't know what the mileage would be like in that situation. However, around town it averages 18 with A/C on, 20 without A/C. Mixed driving, it gets 20 with A/C on and 22 without.

Reply to
L, not -L

The Avalon is a totally different vehicle than the PT Cruiser. I would not expect the two to provide similar MPG.

The best highway MPG I've gotten with my non turbo 2006 Cruiser is 25.5 mpg. Around twon I get 20 MPG.

Things I have found that effect PT Cruiser MPG.

Tire pressure Driver technique Top speed. driving conditions including outside temp / humidity

.
Reply to
Steve Stone

I was always wondering about the poor mileage myself. I would get around 17-21 around town, on the road, around 24-26, never more. I then got the K&N airfilter, changed to Mobil1, kept the tires at exactly 35, and now I am getting consistently 21 around town, and just recently got 32 mpg running at 65/with ac on driving on I-95 from Charleston back to Florida.

Reply to
Count Floyd

But would you expect that a six cylinder engine with 210 horsepower and weighing almost a ton more would get better mileage than a four cylinder, small car?

Also, parenthetically, I can drive the Avalon at 80 mph and feel rock steady, but the Cruiser I rented felt skitterish at or above 65. And a trip of over 200 miles was tiring and a little nerve-wracking, whereas the Avalon is only getting warmed up at 200 miles....after a day of driving 400 miles I'm ready to go dancing (if I danced.)

My Avalon has gotten up to 31.5 mpg on the highway (per its onboard mileage computer.) If I got only 25.5 on the highway, it would go in the shop for a tuneup, or I'd think that my tires were underinflated, or the brakes were dragging.

Reply to
mack

It has been said here that the PT Cruiser's body aerodynamics are not to the benefit of MPG. Maybe the non turbo 4 cylinder is not enough HP to lug it around without straining ?

A big old V8 limping along at 65 mph and 1500RPM might do better than the PT Cruiser mix.

MPG numbers of my own. All cars 32 PSI tire pressure and Mobil 1 oil

1988 New Yorker, (K-Car) 3.0 140 hp Mitsu v6, 3 spd auto 32 mpg highway 2000 300M 3.5, 250 hp v6, 4 spd auto, 28 MPG highway 1995 Ford T-Bird (MN12 body style) 4.6 SOHC V8, 4 spd auto, 29 mpg highway

The seats in my Cruiser are firmer than my other cars. With tires set at 32 PSI I feel comfortable on the highway at 80 mph At 35 PSI every bump is felt and it feels like the wheels are lifting off the road and the car slightly twisting left or right, much like an older RWD solid axle rear on a corner with bumps.

And a

The 300M and T-Bird seem easier on me on long trips, but I'm an old fart. The New Yorker is too soft.

I wonder how restricted the exhaust system is on the PT Cruiser ? The 300M is said to get an extra 5 mpg highway if you change it over to a muffler back dual exhaust ? I wonder if a simple scavenger tip on the tail pipe of the PT Cruiser would help ?

Reply to
Steve Stone

After seeing the episode on 'Mythbusters' challenging its effectiveness, I tried adding about a tablespoon of PURE acetone to a full tank of gas in my '02 PT Cruiser, which had been hanging around 20 MPG in mixed driving. After that tank was used, which didn't seem to have improved mileage, I've noticed a better average, about 22-23 MPG mixed, on all the subsequent tanks ever since.

Allegedly, adding acetone in very small amounts (only PURE acetone), like I mentioned before, breaks the surface tension on gasoline, much like soap breaks the surface tension of water, which makes if vaporize into smaller particles when injected into the cylinder.

I only added it for that one tank and the results haven't wavered from that second and subsequent tank. I haven't done anything else since trying this several months ago, so it seems that either a very small amount of the acetone still lingers in the tank (still breaking the surface tension) or it might have cleaned the injectors or something.

Anyone wanting to try it, use caution with the amount as there was some speculation, according to Adam and Jamie, that too much or too frequent use of acetone could damage rubber seals or gaskets.

FYI, the episode results indicated that the myth was busted. I don't know, however, if they tried running their test car any more after their initial test to see if subsequent gas mileage improved. Even if they did notice an improvement some tanks later, would they have been able to update their findings, or would the episode have already been edited to a degree that would not permit it?

No one will ever know.

Reply to
thom baker

Were does one go to purchase pure acetone?

Reply to
Pete E. Kruzer

My local hardware store carries it. Or at least used to. It may be deemed too much a hazard now.

Reply to
Mike Y

The only thing that acetone would do to the combustion would be while the acetone was actually present.

If it affected how the engine worked AFTER it was used but no longer present, it did one of two things. (And I would suspect acetone is no longer in your tank. Gasoline mixing products are not homeopathic medicines.)

1) It cleaned something so that it now worked the way it was suppose to work.

2) It changed something.

If '1', then I would suspect it had cleaning properties to the injectors, or maybe some other valve of some kind in the fuel rail. In any case, it would probably result in your engine working the way it SHOULD be working. I also suspect that a good fuel injector cleaner would probably have done the same thing, only with less long term damage. Damage?? Well, do YOU know how the nylon, neoprene, rubber, and other compounds present in the fuel system are going to react long-term to your adding acetone? You could have just cleaned your injectors, but made rubber seals turn gooey in 10K miles instead of hard at 50K miles. The effects remain to be seen.

If '2', then it might be something similar to the detrimental effects on the seals I mentioned above. They would appear to work better for a short time, but then have a drastically shortened life. And also don't rule out products of combustion. Acetone when burnt in a combustion chamber could have products that affect things like O2 sensors. Yep, you could be getting slightly better mileage that sometime in the future will start tapering off and be REALLY bad. Unless you replace parts...

Reply to
Mike Y

effectiveness,

Acetone is the primary ingredient in nail polish remover.

Acetone is also used in Berryman's Total Combustion System Clean-Up and Beryman's Total Fuel System Cleanup, see the following:

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Using Acetone to get past emissions checks on a car with high HC is an old trick. The usual method is to run the tank down to the last few gallons, then dump in a quart of acetone, run it past the inspector, then go fill the tank with gas. This trick DOES NOT work if the engine is burning oil (such as if the rings or valve seals are bad) it only works if the high HC is a result of a failed catcon or some such.

Another trick with Acetone is to use it to get rid of old gasoline. It's common with power boats that sit unused all winter long to have the gasoline go bad in them, boat repair shops usually have a barrel of old stale gasoline around from draining boat gas tanks. The usual trick is to add in 2-3 oz of acetone per gallon of old gas, then add in 1 or 2 gallons of treated old gas into a tank of fresh gas in your car. There's a fuel "rejuvenator" product called Startron that Walmart sells now that does the same thing.

Acetone can also be used with turpentine to make lawnmower fuel. I think the ratio is something like 70 turpentine, 30 acetone. I don't know if this will save anyone any money, though, it's probably cheaper to just buy gas.

I doubt that acetone will boost mpg except by merely cleaning your fuel injectors, thus putting your mpg back to what it's supposed to be.

Ted

Reply to
Ted Mittelstaedt

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