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I rarely drive my F350 anymore, its just for towing the toy hauler and getting supplies for the house like gravel, concrete, etc. Well I busted up my foot digging some sod and can't ride the motorcycle. Filling up yesterday reminded me how bad this thing is. 31 gallons at $3.49 a gallon for diesel, 15.6MPG. :eek:

Now the good news is this includes a lot of sitting in traffic and is up from 14MPG the last time I drove it. When the ULSD hit the market my mileage dropped from 16MPG on the freeway to 14MPG :eek:. I stated trying additives like Powerservice, and 2-stroke oil. Just started with the 2-stroke and don't have any data on it, but the Powerservice made a big difference in how the truck runs. Its quieter, almost eliminated the smoke(really just a haze) even under heavy load, has more power, and raised the mileage from 14MPG to almost 16MPG. I know that doesn't seem great for some people on here but thats 12% increase.

I am playing with some of the hypermiling techniques I have been reading about on here. I will see what I can come up with. I know of one guy with a truck similar to mine that gets 26MPG. I know thats not going to happen with mine considering the aerodynamics and weight but I think I could get it up to 20MPG. Not bad for an 8000lb truck with the aerodynamics of a brick.

Hopefully I will be back on the bike soon and this will be a moot point. With the price of diesel I am going to have to make a run up to LA and pick up some Soy Bean oil, especially if I have to have foot surgery. :(

Have you looked into any of the "performance" chips for the turbo diesels? These advertise better FE (and more power on demand when you need it). SpikeTV's Trucks aired an episode just last wee (around here at least) that put one to a dyno/FE test. Don't remember exactly who's module they were testing though.

Hi TheTonka:

___I have long forgotten but what do you need your PowerStroke for? You could purchase a Yaris outright for the cost of fuel per month if you have to drive that beast for any kind of distance daily?

___A bit OT but Ford, Dodge and GM Truck Diesels here in the US are fuel sucking pigs no matter how they advertise them. The International, Cummins and GM Duramax diesels could have been designed and built with much more fuel efficiency in mind but according to the HD Truck commercials, everybody has to be able to pull 15,000 lbs every time they start their trucks up ya know :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Well I know a number of people who have newer Duramax's and Cummins(before the new emissions) that get over 20MPG empty. The old 7.3L I have is not the most efficient, but its very reliable. I have 239K on it now and no work on the engine itself, that's downright unamerican :flag:. I know one guy on one of the diesel sites that, like I said, has done a lot of work on his truck. Its lowered, regeared, a 6-speed like mine, and even has a fast back aero setup in the bed and a front fairing. He gets 26MPG. :woot:

I have to truck to tow my big toy hauler. Its just shy of 15,000 lbs. Like I said I don't normally drive it, usually less than 100miles a month not including trips. I have a Suzuki DL1000 that I usually drive everyday, rain or shine. I am actually pretty obsessed with riding that bike, I LOVE IT. Still working on some upgrades to get it up over 50MPG consistently, hoping to get over 55MPG.

Have you looked into any of the "performance" chips for the turbo diesels? These advertise better FE (and more power on demand when you need it). SpikeTV's Trucks aired an episode just last wee (around here at least) that put one to a dyno/FE test. Don't remember exactly who's module they were testing though.

I have custom programming in my truck currently. Its an economy/tow program. I got about 1 mpg increase from it and a huge increase in performance, plus the engine runs SOOO much smoother and cooler. I am currently fighting a wastegate problem that is keeping my EGTs high and my boost low. Fixing that should help as well.

Most of the generic modules you see on the market are compromises. Thats about all you will see on shows like Trucks. They like to push the big companies like Edge, Bullydog and Banks. I have had Bullydog products and was very unhappy with the quality, great customer service though. Banks is overprice, overrated, and the employees and owner(Gale Banks) are arrogant jerks :mad:. Edge is pretty good stuff but still a compromise. I get my programming from a guy on the east coast named Jody Tipton, his company is DP-tuner (http://www.dp-tuner.com/). He is one of the best. There are a handful of others out there that do excellent programming as well. The custom programmers write programs for your vehicle with everything you have. For me that is currently an upgraded turbo, upgraded exhaust, upgraded CAC, a 6-speed, and a few other upgrades. The generic ones can not take these upgrades into account and will not give me programming to take advantage of the freer flowing exhaust, and CAC, or any of the other upgrades I have planned.

There are similar products for the other diesels from companies like Diesel Innovations, PPE, Elite Diesel, SCT, and many more.

A neat thing about the 7.3L powerstroke is the computer accepts flip chips. With the F5 flip chip (http://www.shop.dp-tuner.com/category.sc;jsessionid=F3C76607F871D54FAEF0F4D858558FAB.qscweb25?categoryId=5) from DP-Tuner you can have 16 different programs for the truck. These programs can be selected on the fly as you are driving. So I can go from a super ecomony tune to a more aggressive tune like for passing and then back to the super economy tune at the push of a button. When I put in the AC injectors(MUCH more efficient single shot compared to the stock split shot) I will need new programming and will be getting an F5.

Like most vehicles there is always a LOT of improvement potential in the modern diesels.

This is my daily commuter:
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/571/Brand_new_bike_small.jpg
This is the dork who rides it:
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/571/Brand_new_bike_and_me_small.jpg
This is why I have the tow rig(yeah I know its stupid, but it's what the family likes to do):
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/571/PICT0001-01_1_.jpg

Since that last pic of the truck the shell has come off, which helped with the mileage. I really need to make a trip up to LA and get me some Soy Bean oil. These diesel prices are stupid high. Hopefully I can fix my boost problems, get some AC injectors and new programming, put on a bed cover and get my SVO setup installed my this time next year. That should put me close to 20MPG on diesel and probably 18-19MPG on SVO.


I'm still not gonna drive it everyday, thats still 30+ gallons a week. :eek: I really like my < 10 gallon a week bike. :woot:

Hi TheTonka:

___That is a serious heavy haul you have there :rolleyes:!

___Have you considered making your own Bio w/ the base stock coming from a local Chinese restaurant? In the spring/summer/fall when temps are above 40 degrees F? 30 gallons is a good sized batch using two fresh drums or clean hot water heater tanks. From the calc’s I have seen, if the base stock (fryer grease) is free, $0.60 for the Methanol and Lye per gallon should just about cover it? Other then your own work of hauling it home and making the batches and disposing of/consuming the glycerin for heating the process tank of course? An SVO conversion sounds a lot easier however ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Yeah, unfortunately of the 5 chinese food place nearby only one of them will give me their oil and its hydrogenated. I have read it can be used but is a PITA. The other ones have some contract with some secret company in the area that is buying up WVO. Can't get much info on it. I have a lead on brand new Soy Bean Oil in LA. Its sub food grade, what I was told is it brand new clean but for some reason barely fails the food grade test. I can get a pallet of 4 55 gallon drums for just less than $2 a gallon.

The nice thing about the 7.3L powerstroke and the HEUI injectors are that it is perfect for SVO. One of the design features of the 7.3L(and the 6L actually) is that the fuel is supplied to the injectors from passages in the cylinder heads. This is actually bad when you replace the crappy stock fuel system with a regulated system(improves performance and mileage thru better control of fuel pressure and elimination of air bubbles) the fuel is returned to the tank heated. For SVO/WVO this is a good thing as it keeps the oil heated.

Another design feature that can be exploited is the dead head setup. The fuel is supplied to the fuel passages at one point and the other side is plugged. The regulated return setups make the passages pass thru and put the regulator on the return unlike the stock setup. Dino Fuel Alternatives (http://www.dinofuelalternatives.com/) has a setup where you supply one end of the fuel passage with petro diesel, the other with SVO/WVO with check valves on both ends. The WVO/SVO fuel pump is adjusted to a bit higher pressure than the petro pump. You start with petro diesel, then when the oil is heated up(via in take heater) you flip a switch and the petro is pushed out the fuel passage into the injectors and the engine is supplied with WVO/SVO. When you stop you just flikp the switch to turn off the SVO/WVO and the passages is filled with petro. This pretty much eliminates many of the problems with running WVO/SVO.

This is what I want to do, just don't have the money right now. Of course if I had enough money this truck would run exclusively bio/SVO and have a retrofitted hybrid setup. But I got bills to pay.

Here is a description of the heating advantage.

http://www.dinofuelalternatives.com/HEUI.php

Link to some pics of the guy who gets 26MPG in his truck. He belongs over here.

http://powerstrokenation.com/photopost/member.php?uid=175&protype=1