Testing on hold anouncement (mower fuel experiment)
 

I've tested Shell a little

Mobil is done.

Speedway is done.

Whats next? Maybe I should do Shell back to back with CITGO! ;) I think someone here mentioned Citgo!

The big ones left are Marathon, BP, Citgo and Sunoco!

I think Shell vs Citgo would
 

I think Shell vs Citgo would be good. Someone mentioned that Citgo was the best. They sell Citgo here at the 7/11's so I would have guessed that it was a cheaper gas. I would like to see E10 (possibly Sunoco as I have mentioned earlier) or even E85 if you can get your hands on some.

QuikTrip
 

Do you have QuikTrips in your area? They're considered Tier-1 (I know, I couldn't believe it either).

From an inside source, Citgo stations have a notorious problem with water leaking into the fuel supply (FYI).

Really all gasoline is essentially the same -- it's the additives that the brands put into them when they reach the end of pipeline transport and trucked to stations, and how new the underground storage tanks are. One Shell may vary from another because of faulty tanks, for example.

RH77

Citgo
 

I agree that the gas is the same and it's the additives that make the difference. I have had very good luck with Citgo. It's consistently better on tank averages in both our cars. Great job on the runs!

citgo vs shell it is
 

If I am not mistaken Citgo comes from down south. Meaning ALL of Citgos's oil comes into New Orleans. There are three refinerys within 200 miles of there that I think that are Citgo refinerys. We do not have a Citgo refinery here or even in a 100 miles last I looked. I am going to bet right now that due to the source of oil being so far away, that Citgo will even do worse than Sunoco. So Citgo VS Shell is next due to my interest in Shell, and zpiloto's interest in Citgo.

Thanks for the support, team!!

Anyone interested in oil testing? Or once we finish fuel we will move into oil additive and fuel additive testing?

PM me for my address if any of you decide you want me to test your additives. You could send them to me. I could even send test tubes to you to put the samples in.

RH77,
I don't have Quiktrips here. The only Tier whatever gasoline we have here is Shell.

E85
 

And as for E85 Dan, I can get my hands on some. The station is about 18miles from me so thats not bad. Would be interesting to see how that does for sure.

~Will

Man, I heart E85. I'm sort
 

Man, I heart E85. I'm sort of tempted to convert my car to run on natural gas. The engine modifications are extremely simple the only thing is the fuel delivery system, which I'm sure can be rigged up reasonably cheaply.

Re: Man, I heart E85. I'm sort
 

If I could get that "Phill" device that hooks to your home's natural gas line, I'd convert to NG tomorrow. I'd probably put the tank in the hatchback part or something and keep a gallon of dino fuel in the old gas tank for emergencies. It would be da bomb, well, hopefully not, actually.

RH77

I dunno how NG would work
 

I dunno how NG would work for you though. Personally, since I have a d series engine I can just use the special NG intake manifold **** off the Civic GX, but you can't!

Re: I dunno how NG would work
 

Balls.

Anyways, B-series rocks. Yeah.

Seriously -- why is this car so limited!!! When I first drove it I thought it was underpowered (I had the Si at the time -- another B-series g-funk). Would my '97 Civic DX have had the D-Series?

So is it that the B-Series isn't very efficient to start out with (power being the goal), or just not a whole lot of research/time has been spent on making them efficient with swap ideas. Too new? It's almost 8 years old, and it's still going trouble free as it has from Day 1! I refuse to drive anything else or change the engine/transmission (until it fails), which folks predict is a long time. I even ran the damn thing on 2-cylinders for 50 highway miles.

Can I get some B respect, y0!

-RH77
B18b1, 4-speed automatic in the hizzy.

Quote:Would my '97 Civic DX
 

Yep.

The issue here when talking about NG is that that 96-00 Civic GX has a d16b5 motor in it, which is basically exactly the d1675 vtec-e motor but with a fugly intake manifold to allow it to run on NG and some high compression pistons.

citgo vs shell today!
 

I went and sourced the fuel. I was told by the attendant that Citgo is the exact same fuel as Sunoco!? I'm not so sure I believe him, but thats what he said.
So I am running warm-up right now. And I thought I would sneak Acetone into the test somehow?
Not sure how to accurately go about doing that?

Results of shell VS citgo to arrive in maybe four hours...

geez!
 

This South Carolina article makes me want to test Havoline Oil and STP oil treatment!

If anyone comes up with these "longevity" type articles, I'd love to read them! PM me them.

changed my mind or decided whichever
 

Today,
I'll do alternating lone marathon to isopropyl runs x3
...then I'll run the marathon and Ethos FR x4

And I'd still would like to test E85 so maybe tommorow I'll head out and get some.

~Will

P.S. ~ The isopropyl alcohol is not mixing with the gasoline like I thought it would...shaking it up even does not mix it...strange

Ethos FR is powerful!!
 

Well I just got back from the library.

The Ethos FR I tested today concerned me, and I did not even complete its test session. :(

I was TOLD by my citys small engine shop that the way MY mower was governed was by limiting airflow in some way. Today, I found out, they were wrong.

Turns out, my mower has a centrifically activated ignition cutoff. If my mower for some reason REVS too high, a switch gets thrown at anything higher than 3,454RPMS - a centrifical switch controls the ignition on my mower.

I say I WAS concerned, yes. I began testing Ethos tonight and the mower sounded good. Second run, good. Third run, bad (but not really) The RPM's of the mower were fluctuating. They would go higher than I've ever heard them, then they would fall, like it was sputtering and about to stall out....
I was ignorant. I didnt' know the additive had caused the mower such extreme RPM increase. I turned the mower off during the first five minutes of the third run with Ethos.
So yeah, the mowers RPMS increased ABOVE 3,454rpm and then it cut ignition. As RPMS fell, the centrifical switch clicked back and connected the ignition circuit to continue running.

I was pretty concerned there for a moment. I drained all the Ethos added fuel out and put it aside thinking it really messed up the mower. After walking back from the library, I now know better.

Anyway, I have some company so I will post the results thus far in a couple hours. But I do plan on finishing up with the Ethos. I still have enough for a fair third and forth run.

grrr
 

Call me paranoid and skeptical. I aquired more info today that makes me not want to give credit to Ethos FR for the increased run times.

I've been talking to my small engine shop here today (they been crazy busy so it friggin took all day to get some free answers)

They said that there are two gaskets that are more likely causing the surging that I am experiancing testing the Ethos FR. They said they are both prone to fail, and said its totally coincidental that they failed during this ethos run.

The solution is to replace these gaskets to delete this possibility completely. hoping this does not discount any futher testing times.

Oh yeah, and something else happened after this additive test = [IMG]https://images6.theimagehosting.com/CrackedTha****Up.th.jpg[/IMG]

Yeah, the ethos is supposed to have esters in it that makes gaskets tighter (which means it makes them swell) and the plunger in my gradiated cylinder friggin swelled last night cracking the polycarbonate cylinder part :( !!! WTF?!? so that part of the ethos works ****ing good. :o

Anyway, I'll rip into the mower tommorow. I aquired another graduated cylinder today...

Mower's fixed
 

Turns out the intake gasket cracked. I replaced it today. Runs like a champ now.

I had to undue the Throttle zip tie to get at it tho...I may have to fiddle with that when I start testing again so I can get similar run times.

I hate to say it...but this may be the end of this rounds testing. I may not be able to get the mower to achieve similar run times now that this new gasket is sealing perfectly.

Yeah I kinda do have a reason for saying this: I ran 200ml's through it cold after the fix just to see...

Its raining here so I ran it on the smooth garage floor. The blade is noticibly closer to the ground there. I used leftover Speedway fuel.
-Run Length = 16:33.56 OR 996.56sec
-58°F
-29.95 inches pressure
-77% humidity
-no wind
-DID NOT cover the fuel funnel.

Thats like 33% worse, lol. Oh well, not like its a fair comparison test or anything...

Anouncement - END OF TESTING
 

I was trying to get similer run times this morning and I just couldn't. Yes the weather is different, but the times are waay waay different. Mower does NOT sound the same. So whatever, I will buy a new carburetor for it today and see if then I get the old times back but theres something else: I am going to have real Easter bunnies it seems.

This is crazy. Unbeknownst to me within the last I'd say 6 days, 12ft away from the test mower has been a bunny nest. I have a strawberry patch and momma bunny dug a hole right in the middle of it and popped her kids out. I checked on them and they have their eyes open 3/4 of the way, lots of fur, palm sized...ready to start roaming the yard within days!
So as long as the mower noise scares the kids away for the day, I guess I can test. Hate to suck them up into the 18" blade, that will ruin my test duration time! j/k }:)
Theres about six of them cuddling in the nest, and in my front yard I have baby squirrels that will be showing themselves any day here.
While the rest of the country's been getting burned up and thrown about by fire and tornadoes...its been eerily calm here which has helped the wildlife flourish this early spring.

Anyway, I'm done with this till 4/21/06
Gonna find out if I can these run times back. If not, phase two will start.