Auto Repair Information Blog

This weekend I assembled the water 4 gas fuel heater. It didn’t take much effort. I went to the local hardware store and got the brass pieces and fittings needed and put the device together with some pipe sealant.

This is considered phase 2 of the water 4 gas system. A quick review of the theory behind this device. It is used to heat the fuel before it enters the combustion chamber. Basically, the plan is to buy the fuel cold and in a condensed state and then heat it, forcing it to expand before it enters the combustion chamber.

I have no idea how this will work in increasing my fuel economy. I have also found very little information on the Internet supporting or denying the validity of this claim that heating the fuel will increase fuel economy.
Back when I was in automotive training in the early 80s. Our teacher told us a story I will share with you but cannot verify. The shop class instructor specialized in carburetors. Since the year was 1982 the carburetors where computer-controlled with MC (mixture control) solenoids.

Our instructor told a story about a computer controlled carburetor that had a base plate gasket that contained a fuel heating grid below the throttle plates. The teacher stated that this fuel heating grid heated the atomized fuel as it passed from the throttle plates into the intake manifold.

The Instructor said that this carburetor setup was responsible for 50 plus miles per gallon on a 302 V-8 Ford LTD. He did indicate that (more…)

I have received a lot of e-mail, and some great responses from my posts about the problems with the water for gas system. I have received many comments from highly educated experts in the chemistry field. I would like to thank these individuals for reading my posts and taking the time to provide their opinion on the water for gas system.

I would like to address two areas of the water for gas package in today’s Post. First I would like to talk briefly about the main part or component of the water for gas system. This is known as the hydrogen generator, and by far, has the most controversy surrounding it.

The hydrogen generator uses an electrolyzer to release the hydrogen from the distilled water and baking soda mixture. It seems that most educated people feel that this system is not worth the time to build. In fact, the chemists quoted units of energy used as opposed to units of energy created. While I am not a chemist, and I do respect their research on the subject, the electrolyzer seems to be the main reason that these chemists feel the (more…)

I don’t want this to become water for gas blog, but my post from last week has brought a lot of e-mail questions and a few comments that I would like to answer. You can read last week’s post for more information about the problems with water4gas.

Is water for gas a scam?

The answer to this question depends on how you use your vehicle, and also what kind of vehicle you have. Without writing my own book about the subject, what it boils down to is if you have a four-cylinder car and have long highway commutes, this system is ideal for your application.

If you have a V-8 muscle car and do a lot of city driving than this system is not for you at all. Let me explain the above statement a little further. The water for gas system has an on/off switch and does not regulate the hydrogen fuel as related to throttle position or speed. The system operates best when the vehicle is operating at UN interrupted highway speeds. When the vehicle is at a stoplight or an idle condition you’re supposed to reach over and turn off the hydrogen generator.

So if you were in city traffic are getting stopped at multiple traffic lights. You would constantly be reaching over to turn on and off the water for gas system.

Water for gas problem

Next I will address why the water4gas system works better on a four-cylinder engine. The container recommended for (more…)

Is water for gas a scam? The hottest debate in my automotive niche that I have ever seen is about the new water for gas product. With gas prices reaching record highs and digging deeply into everybody’s pocket, Naturally people are looking for answers. When the necessary task of driving up and back to work costs 15-30% of what you will make that day, People are willing to take a chance on things that may seem far-fetched.

Enter the water for gas scam

This product seems to take advantage of the current skyrocketing fuel prices and offers people the solutions to what they need most, which is better fuel economy. Me being a certified mechanic, and also suffering from high fuel prices, I couldn’t help but be curious about the water for gas system. So I purchased it!

Not only am I a certified mechanic, but I am also certified in alternative fuels. The water for gas product includes two e-books that explain how the system works and hooks you up with places to buy the parts to build your own on-demand hydrogen gas system. Yes I do believe that the books were well written and a lot of effort was put into creating them.

The system has a few problems, which I will discuss. I have collected the necessary parts and started to build my own system. The first thing I discovered is that (more…)

Diesel pickup trucks have not had a large market share in the present or recent past. The automakers will try to change this in the very near future. The American pickup truck market has been the strongest sector for American-made vehicles during the last decade. Chevy Ford and Dodge have been supplying well-built long-lasting trucks to the power-hungry pickup truck market. The power plant in these vehicles has mainly been a large gas engine.

With the increasing need for every vehicle built to obtain the best possible fuel mileage, something has to happen. The most logical choice at this point would be to install a diesel power plant to preserve the power yet increase the fuel economy. The pickup truck manufacturers are betting that diesels will be a better answer for the power-hungry buyers in their market than a hybrid or alternative fueled truck.

The American buying public has resisted the diesel pickup truck for many reasons. Some of the leading reasons for this resistance would be (more…)

New York City has taken a leadership role in working with today’s alternative fuels. The state of New Jersey has also been a large supporter of several different programs at the municipal and state government level. Both areas of the United States cited three basic reasons for continuing to push their programs forward. The three reasons cited are to clean up the air, create local jobs, and reduce dependency on imported fuel. Just as was desired by President George Bush senior in 1988 through 92 and again with Bill Clinton in 92 through 2000, and even continued on with our current President Bush.

Alternative fuels learn from history

With a history of more than a decade of alternative fuel vehicle use, what has been learned in these two states, and what works for government fleets. New York City’s Mark Simon of the department of transportation, assistant Commissioner Rocco D. Reiko of the Department of sanitation, and the New Jersey Department of treasury’s, recently shared insights from the relatively long experiences with alternative fuel vehicles. They cover the most popular and growing fuel choices, all of which provide a reduction in petroleum fuel use, better or as good emission levels, and minimal upset to existing fleet procedures and operations.

Both New York City and New Jersey were early adopters of hybrid light duty vehicles in 2001. Both have a mix of Toyota previous and Ford escape vehicles. Both report that everything is going on about as advertised with these hybrid units. For the prius fuel economy in New York City was reported about 40 miles per gallon, whereas the New Jersey fleet reported about 48 miles per gallon. The New Jersey miles per gallon is surprising because hybrids have better fuel economy rating in city traffic. But the mpg figure reflects both the actual driving cycle and the amount of air conditioning used in the vehicle. The New York’s city fleet is enormous and has more than 1700 generation one and generation 2 Toyota previous hybrids and Ford escape hybrids.

New Jersey’s hybrid fleet is more modest comprising of only 91 prius and 44 Ford escape hybrid vehicles. Buying the Toyota prius was an expensive endeavor, but the fuel savings have been significant. In addition, service problems have been minimal, and no premature battery failures were reported in New Jersey or New York City. Reported savings of about 600 gallons per vehicle per year compared to a conventional vehicle. These results were significant enough for both states to receive approvals from local governments and city councils to continue this program.

Mark is a master mechanic and a member of the society of automobile engineers (SAE). You can learn more about hybrid vehicles at his latest report on the status of the alternative fuels vehicle.

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