With the rising price of gas, some areas having risen to more than $3.00 a gallon, I'm getting a lot of questions about fuel saving devices. People want to know which ones work and which ones are a waste of money.
Types Of Devices: Oil Additives...
These gas saving devices fall into specific categories. With the hundreds of devices on the market, they are all variations on a theme. Additives are the most popular. There are hundreds of different additives made by many different companies. These additives either go into the gas tank or the oil pan. Probably the most well known was zMax oil additive. Their claim was to virtually eliminate friction inside the engine and as a result increase gas mileage and increase horsepower. Perhaps you've seen their infomercial where they installed their product and ran the engine to circulate the additive and coat the internal engine parts. Their claim was to make engine parts to "Slide like wet ice on wet ice".
Then they took the oil pan off and started the engine to demonstrate the engine will run with just the coating of their product on the engine parts. Then they take a hose and shoot water up into the engine to show that it would keep running and not heat up even when water was soaking the engine interior.
Well, as for the engine parts heating up, using water is a very efficient means of cooling things. So by spraying water into the engine they are keeping the parts cool. Water also acts as a lubricant, not as good as oil but it does lubricate. So the water not only kept the engine parts cool, it provided enough lubrication to keep the engine going. So you see, they HAD to spray the engine with water to keep it running because they knew their product certainly would not.
ZMax was taken off the market when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued them for "misleading advertising". It has since been reintroduced under an agreement with the FTC to stop making any claims it cannot substantiate.
Types Of Devices: Fuel Additives...
There are many types of fuel additives that make the same claims. These work with varying degrees of effectiveness. The most common are the fuel system cleaner types. These products claim to clean the fuel system and help keep fuel injectors operating at peak performance. It's a good idea, and some do work, but most are of questionable effectiveness at best. Now the rub here is if you live in a state that mandates all fuel sold contain a 10% ethanol blend, as I do. In that case, you are already getting the active ingredient in a fuel line cleaner: ethanol. Ethanol, or methanol, is also the ingredient used in fuel line antifreeze.
Types Of Devices: Magnets & Catalysts...
These types of devices supposedly "line up the fuel ions" in order to make the fuel burn more completely and efficiently. They wrap a magnet around the fuel line and as the fuel passes by, it changes the burn properties of the fuel. The only problem is, magnets have no effect on fuel or the fuel "ions". I tested one such product that sold for over $300.00!!! The other type is a fuel catalyst. This type fits into the fuel line and as the fuel runs through it, special materials cause the fuel to "improve fuel performance in the areas of decreased fuel consumption reduced exhaust emissions and restored fuel properties."
Southwest Research Institute San Antonio Txtardec Fuels And Lubricants Research Facility (SwRI/TFLRF) tested three such devices and found "Under the conditions tested no fuel economy benefit was observed for the baseline device".
Next time around I will go into some other types of devices. but before I go let me leave you with this: the best way to improve gas mileage is to keep your engine well-tuned and check your tire pressure every time you fill up.
