Advice to Forum Members

[logey79]

depends on where you live too. my brother-in-law and nephew are plumbers and past few years do all their work in London hotels because they can charge up to 300% more for the job - and they get paid it.

price of living in or around London possibly Philip!

[cataclysm]

me, 100% of the time, and more frequently service my motors than any manufacturer recommendations. saves me a fortune in the long run.

so, do you have any linkable proof that shows fuel heaters do nothing?

Not fuel heaters, but the "catalytic" chemicals. Fuel heaters work very well for Diesels in cold weather or for Biofuels.

[logey79]

Not fuel heaters, but the "catalytic" chemicals. Fuel heaters work very well for Diesels in cold weather or for Biofuels.

oh ok, got you now. yeah the heaters i know for a fact work, so basically what your saying is that the other inline type are just a filter then, therefore if the car's maintained properly anyway you'll see no additional advantage in fitting one of these fuel cats. cool.

[cataclysm]

Me. It costs a bl00dy fortune too.

If I can get better economy by chucking a bag of metal down the filler neck I don't really care if it would somehow still be better if I took said bag of metal back out again. Maybe we should all club together to buy one, tie it to a piece of string and dunk it in each other's fuel tanks one by one

There's an enormous market for products to reduce fuel usage, and for the poor few that work they're downed out by the ones that don't.

This forum is disproportionate in the fact that most of us do keep our vehicles in good service (being enthusiasts -- most car owners couldn't care less)

For the maybe 5% change that the best aftermarket devices get, it's not worth the money -- you'll get better than that for having a light right foot.

If you want good fuel economy:
1) buy a small diesel VW car.

Failing that (and I certainly won't be doing that anytime soon!):
1) Drive gently, smoothly and using good observation and anticipation
2) Keep your tyre pressures correct
3) Take off bull-bars and roof-mounted kit
4) Lighten the load -- keep unnecessary kit out of the truck, and if you're just commuting, don't fill the tank up: 1/4 tank vs full is nearly 30kg
5) Keep the vehicle in good service -- fluids and filters.

The difference between doing all these thing and not doing any of them is between 30% and 50% fuel economy gain -- way more than any aftermarket tablets!

If your fuel bill is still too much, Veg Oil blends help.

(P.S.: I'm no angel, and I certainly don't do #4)

[Sancho]

If your fuel bill is still too much, Veg Oil blends help.

Not in a petrol one it doesn't!

My interest comes from finding the number '100' written on my petrol filler flap, putting 97 in there instead of 95 and everything going quieter and getting about 10% better economy, then putting V-Power (102 I think) in and everything going quiter still (don't know about the economy yet, haven't looked).

I was wondering whether I can chuck a fuelcat in the tank and get the same effect as putting high octane petrol in without having to look out for the petrol or pour redex booster in there every time I fill up.

If I was that bothered about economy, I wouldn't drive a V6 auto, believe me. My main concern is getting it to run nicely and better economy would be a bonus. If a fuelcat does what it says on the tin (pun intended) and boosts octane then it could be useful to me.

[cataclysm]

Not in a petrol one it doesn't!

My interest comes from finding the number '100' written on my petrol filler flap, putting 97 in there instead of 95 and everything going quieter and getting about 10% better economy, then putting V-Power (102 I think) in and everything going quiter still (don't know about the economy yet, haven't looked).

Sorry... keep forgetting about Petrol!

The octane rating for petrol is very important... if your fuel is too low for your engine, the ECU will be retarding the ignition --> less revs, less power. It could also do you engine some nasty long-term damage.

The Fuel cat chemicals don't work. Even the lead in leaded petrol doesn't actually raise the octane, it just suppresses the knock (pre 1980's fuel was really crudely refined compared with today's).

High octane petrol is very carefully refined stuff, and there's just no substitute in a high-compression, high performance engine (sorry!).

I did once maintain a Ducati Imola with a 15:1 compression ratio, and that needed Aviation fuel to run properly.

(P.S. putting high-octane fuel in an engine that doesn't need it does nothing... nothing bad, nothing good)

[Bouf_2001]

Fuel cat

I can share my experiences of the heated fuel cat. obvioustly only derv related so slightly off topic.

I have had it fitted for 18 months now. it made no difference to economy and no diference in cold wether using normal derv.

however, when using veg and using the fuel cat as a fuel heater there is a big difference in power (i presume this is because the veg is more combustable when its hotter) and it stops that knock you get when there is too much veg in there. i was using 95% veg through the summer without any problems.

[Sancho]

I can share my experiences of the heated fuel cat. obvioustly only derv related so slightly off topic.

Off topic is our speciality.

This thread is about the high cost of plumbing services for instance.....

[cataclysm]

Off topic is our speciality.

This thread is about the high cost of plumbing services for instance.....

And you can usually count on some rude bugger like me to fill your post with 3 pages of off-topic-ness.

Sorry Philip!

[POPEYE]

Off topic is our speciality.

This thread is about the high cost of plumbing services for instance.....

Back on topic!! the pump in a combi does require special (bent) spanners etc and is probably little more expensive than the standard one, but it never ceases to amaise me how much these buggs's charge, i never got rich plumbing, too soft,

[da SLUG man]

surely after you've driven long enough to heat the fuel cat, the diesel will be heated in the tank??... on trucks in winter, there's steam coming out the tank when i go to fill up!!

TonyN reckons they do reduce carbon and the oil stays cleaner for longer... and Linda said she was getting an extra 50 miles per tank

always makes me laugh that Plumbers charge you for them to drive to work!!!
i've got a BG maintenance conract... it works out about £10 per year more expensive than just an annual service... well worth it!!

[Bouf_2001]

Even with the heated cat I personally have never noticed any steam at fillups.

Come to think of it I think the emissions on the last MOT were pretty low (even shocked the tester) and i wasnt using veg at the time so maybe it does have some benefits other than fuel heating. I certainly didn’t get any more mpg as I used to keep quite a detailed record. Cant anymore seeing as I input veg/derv with a watering can.

[da SLUG man]

Even with the heated cat I personally have never noticed any steam at fillups.

you won't in a car cos the filler cap doesn't go directly into the tank and generally it hasn't got 200 litres still in it when you fill up!...

you'll notice when truck passes you in winter that the road salt dries quicker on the hot part of the tank and you can see the fuel level!

[MattF]

Not read much of this thread, but I can't believe Apache ain't jumped in with his Bobbox rant/comparison yet.

[Bouf_2001]

[QUOTE=da SLUG man]surely after you've driven long enough to heat the fuel cat, the diesel will be heated in the tank??... on trucks in winter, there's steam coming out the tank when i go to fill up!!

sorry dude, misunderstanding, when you said truck i thought you were refering to surfs in general.