To The Metal

I don’t get it.

Oscar winner.

Rave reviews.

I’ll admit some of it was mildly entertaining, but at the end – everything just seemed… pointless.

Won’t know till I get her all put back together, but I pulled the 2nd valve lifter for the #4 cylinder today and it was frozen, the plunger didn’t budge.  The spring had plenty to it but I’m hoping – that was the cause of my clickety clack.

So far I’ve cleared about 4 tanks of fuel at a steady 33.5MPG in my Volkswagen, the little tricks I’ve been using to bump up the mileage from an average of 28MPG have pretty much become second nature.

1. Slow down.  I’ve been able to conclusively prove that speed over 50mph in my car directly affects the fuel mileage.  At 50mph, I can generally pull anywhere from 35-37MPG.  At 65mph, I generally get 32-34MPG.  I also make a point to use the cruise control to adjust and maintain my speed.  The car’s computer and throttle controls are far better on the MPG rating than my size 13.

2. No jackrabbit starts.  Sure, if I’m getting on a highway, or hopping onto a congested roadway – I may need to give it more gas than I’d like – but I’m not going to impose my driving habits on other drivers.  Still, I’m not againt doing 64mph in a 65mph zone (in the slow lane) just so I can maintain a consistant speed.  Now my Scangauge doesn’t read much MPG when I’m performing a slow start – but a jackrabbit start generally gets me 3-5MPG where a slow, gradual start gets me anywhere from 16-20+.  It adds up and helps the overall average.

3. Coast downhill.  Now pretty much any time I drive downhill – my MPG is increasing.  It increases even more when I’m going 50mph+ and turning only 750RPM (instead of 2500-3000).  Again, it drives the average MPG up for the tank.  Just a piece of the puzzle.  Depending on the conditions, I may coast for just about every downhill grade, but I mainly stick to the significant grades where I can maintain the legal speed limit and not have to touch the gas pedal at all.  Also key is rev-matching when re-engaging the clutch.  My theory – if you just engage the clutch you’ll slow down and lose momentum, forcing the use of the engine to bring the vehicle back up to speed.  By rev-matching, you’re bringing the engine RPM’s up to a proper level which uses less fuel than if the engine was under load.

4. Run the engine only when the car needs to move.  Unlock the car, roll down the windows, set the seat belt and pick a radio station.  Put the car in gear, and THEN start the car – and drive.  At a long stop-light, I shut the motor off and let the car sit without running, only starting it when the light is about to turn green.  One thing I have done on occasion – but do NOT recommend doing – is coasting with the engine off.  I do NOT do this at any speed greater than simply rolling.  Anyone who does this at normal roadway or highway speed is a moron – stopping a car without power brakes is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT.  I have on occasion been on a downhill offramp with heavy traffic, and instead of idling the engine for 15 minutes – I shut the car off and just roll, using the e-brake to stop the car until I get close enough to actually moving that firing the engine is justified.

5. Tire pressure, tire pressure, tire pressure.  Maintaining at a MINIMUM the factory tire pressure is ESSENTIAL.  At any pressure below the recommended PSI you are WASTING GAS.  My previous numbers which were in the area of 34-37MPG (for a full tank) involved the tires being accidentally over-filled by the place that rotates them.  My front tires were about 5lbs over full which decreased the rolling resistance, but IMHO would likely contribute to early tire wear.  I’m sticking with the stock numbers for now.

14.5 gallons of fuel @ 28MPG = 406 miles to empty.

14.5 gallons of fuel @ 33.5MPG = 485.75 miles to empty.

Now I drive about 14 miles to and from work each day.  That extra mileage is the difference between filling up once a week and filling up twice a month.  Normally, I fill up when the fuel light glows – which means I have 2 gallons of fuel left, so I’ve gone from filing up at 300-350 miles to 400-450 miles.  With the current cost of fuel – every mile counts, and I’m saving money every time I turn the key.

Lastly – if you have any interest in improving your MPG – pick up one of these.  It’s a ScanGauge 2, I got mine from ThinkGeek.net for $150, and it was worth the investment to visually and accurately explain how to improve my MPG.

Finally had a chance to see Jumper, starring Hayden Christensen, Rachel Bilson, Diane Lane, Samuel L Jackson, and Michael Rooker – I thought it’d be cool from the previews and I was right.  Basic plot, David Rice (Christensen) discovers he can teleport anywhere in the world – and uses it to escape an alcoholic father while making himself disgustingly wealthy.

Downside is that he’s not the only one, and there are a group called “Paladins” who are bent on killing all the jumpers because “only God should have that power.”  So what was fun turns into a nightmare as the Paladins (led by Diane Lane and Samuel L Jackson) stop at nothing to track down Rice and another Jumper who is actively seeking to destroy the Paladins.

It’s sci-fi at its best, a fresh idea IMHO and if it could be done well (and the first one made enough money) – worthy of a sequel.  Won’t complain about seeing Rachel Bilson and Diane Lane on the same screen either.

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Also caught White Noise 2, starring Nathan Fillion (Buffy TVS & Firefly/Serenity) and Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica).  I didn’t like the first one, mainly because the ending absolutely SUCKED, that and it starred Michael Keaton.  Still, Fillion and Sackhoff are two of my favorite actors currently and any chance to see some Whedonverse characters unite with some BSG characters, I’ll take it.

Starts out slow as Fillion’s wife and son are murdered in front of him in a diner – afterwards, Fillion attempts suicide and after his Near Death Experience – finds he has the ability to see EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) without staring at a dozen screens full of snow.  Not only that, he figures out he can use this ability to save lives.  The movie starts slow, Fillion’s acting is as genuine as always (definitely one of my favorite character actors) carries it through the slow start until things get just plain sci-fi.

The ending was also a little iffy, but not nearly as worthless as the first in the franchise.  All in all – good flick, and I wouldn’t mind seeing Starbuck with some streaks in her hair when BSG returns next year. 🙂

Got the intake manifold off today, but the lifters are stuck in the block.  Going to try and hunt down a removal tool so I can remove them without destroying them.  I’m only replacing them in that one cylinder (technically, i should replace all of them AND the cam) but this is just to get the truck down to Jersey without paying out the nose for a flatbed to tow it.

Weather permitting I may tackle the rest during the week, but most likely I’ll worry about it next weekend when I can dedicate a few hours of daylight to it.

The order is in for the new motor in the Chevy.

In the interim, so I don’t have to risk it blowing up – or have to tow it to my cousin’s to install the new engine, I’m going to fix the lifter problem myself.  I spent a good 4 hours today in the summer heat getting to know the engine bay of my pickup intimately.  Tomorrow, I’ll be taking a quick trip to Autozone so I can get a new O-Ring for the distributor and a lifter removal tool (maybe an electric cooling fan as well if they have them)… then hopefully I’ll get the intake manifold off so I can get at the lifters.

Theory at the moment – is that I’ve got a collapsed hydraulic lifter on the #4 cylinder, intake, exhaust, or both… once I get the cylinder working again – it’s off to Jersey and a brand new GM Crate motor. 🙂

Won’t see this reported in the MSM, despite being an AP story…

US removes uranium from Iraq

At this point, the US has lost the PR war in Iraq so there’s no real point in even having a press conference… but DAMN.  550 metric tons (that’s 1,212,750lbs for those of you not raised in a metric country – like me).