I may be able to come into possession of a module that will shut off your engine if you idle for longer than 20 second or so. The whole purpose of this module is to save you gas. It will then start your engine when you want to start going again.

I don't know the specifics of the device, but I know it was made by Zemco and it's called the Zemco Fuel Saver Kit.

Anyway, I was wondering if this would actually be counter productive in the long run. It would obviously give more wear to the starter. I'm also wondering if a larger amount of gas is used to start the engine. In other words, how many minutes (assume warm idle) of gas does starting the car use?

 

The $$ you save on gas will probably be spent in Batteries.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HumanResource &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The $$ you save on gas will probably be spent in Batteries.</TD></TR></TABLE>

A very valid point as well.

 

it takes a long time to get to op temp. around 15 min? if your injectors are 240cc then i'm sure you could figure out how much gas is used.

 

That's going to be very hard on the starting/charging system.

 

Someones got some time on their hands

 

are u refering to me?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chewbacca &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Someones got some time on their hands </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

20 Seconds doesn't seem nearly long enough.... I've been stuck at red lights far longer than that. It seems like it would become annoying after a while, and your battery would be sucked dry in half the time i'm sure.

 

thats the worst idea i've ever heard
if you're sitting in a drive-thru line too long. turn it off and push your car through
thats the beauty of owning a CRX. they're light enough for one person to push. LOL
Better yet, just push start your car after you shut it off, that'll save your starter and you'll get some excersize.

 

The VW lupo shuts down it's engine after 3 seconds of idle and restarts seemlessly when you hit the gas, you'd never even notice if you couldn't hear it. It also gets 115 mpg, so I dunno why the hell it's not a good idea on this car or why 20 seconds is a bad number. Possibly because we are not thinking like europeans who can design a car to be like that.

 

every car takes 9 1/2 gallons of gas to start. ita a proven fact

 

this process is used in the insight, but since the electric motor is used as the starter, it isn't taking such a toll on the charging system.

 

****! 115mpg for a vw lupo ?!

 

The battery can only be depleted so much, so the system would need to read the battery amperage before it shuts down. That still doesnt help your starter though.

I have a somewhat related idea for an electrical device that could recapture lost mpg and HP if you have an air conditioner. Basically, it doesnt ever allow the ac compressor to work while you have the clutch down, or ar in first or second gears. These are critical times that your car is already at its least efficient, and they are usually for a brief time... the idea is the same as if every time you were about to take off, you pushed the AC button to turn it off till you got to third gear...but it happens automatically.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fireant &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The battery can only be depleted so much, so the system would need to read the battery amperage before it shuts down. That still doesnt help your starter though.

I have a somewhat related idea for an electrical device that could recapture lost mpg and HP if you have an air conditioner. Basically, it doesnt ever allow the ac compressor to work while you have the clutch down, or ar in first or second gears. These are critical times that your car is already at its least efficient, and they are usually for a brief time... the idea is the same as if every time you were about to take off, you pushed the AC button to turn it off till you got to third gear...but it happens automatically.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I was actually thinking of installing a rigged setup that I read about on an insight forum. The basic idea is you can get a vacuum switch that will determine how much air is going through your vacuum hose. If it is above or below a certain amount, the switch is on or off (customizable). Hook up the vacuum switch to your A/C compressor. It will essentially turn off the AC if too much gas is being used. It could be set up to work at higher RPMs, which would most likely rule out 1st and 2nd gear.

It's actually a brilliant idea if you ask me, and only about $6 worth of parts.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SkipMic2006 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">****! 115mpg for a vw lupo ?!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, they drove it "around the world," or on all the continents for 24k miles and averaged 55 mph and 115 mpgs, pretty neat.

 

And oh yeah, simateoako, are you gonna document /do write-ups on all this crap so I can try to keep up? Haha, you're going at some pace.