PT Air Filter as clean as new????

A while back I posted that my PT mileage has drastically dropped from
about 15 mpg down to 12.
The spark plugs had been replaced less than 1000 miles ago. Someone
said to disconnect the battery to allow the computer to reset itself. I
decided then to check the air filter. It was put in about 10,000 miles
ago. And it was clean!! As clean as it was when it came out of Auto
Zone.
Any ideas on this??

 

The air intake snorkel is taking in air from the side of the vehicle and not
directly in front of the car, I believe this helps in keeping these filters
clean.
As far as disconnecting the battery to get better mileage......... That's
funny.

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

And have you checked the number one reason for poor fuel mileage? Your tire
pressure!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm unfamiliar with the PT, and we rented one a couple of months ago in
Tennessee and Kentucky. Never checked the gas mileage, but it seemed
mediocre compared to a Toyota Avalon (6 cyl) which gets 28-30 on the road.
Even the Avalon's city mileage is at least 15, probably more like 18.
I don't understand why a PT Cruiser's mileage is so poor.
Comments? ask Dr. Z?

 

My 2001 PT, with automatic and 48k miles on it, has never been on a long
highway trip so I don't know what the mileage would be like in that
situation. However, around town it averages 18 with A/C on, 20 without A/C.
Mixed driving, it gets 20 with A/C on and 22 without.

 

The Avalon is a totally different vehicle than the PT Cruiser. I would not
expect the two to provide similar MPG.

The best highway MPG I've gotten with my non turbo 2006 Cruiser is 25.5 mpg.
Around twon I get 20 MPG.

Things I have found that effect PT Cruiser MPG.

Tire pressure
Driver technique
Top speed.
driving conditions including outside temp / humidity

..

 

I was always wondering about the poor mileage myself. I would get
around 17-21 around town, on the road, around 24-26, never more. I
then got the K&N airfilter, changed to Mobil1, kept the tires at
exactly 35, and now I am getting consistently 21 around town, and just
recently got 32 mpg running at 65/with ac on driving on I-95 from
Charleston back to Florida.

 

But would you expect that a six cylinder engine with 210 horsepower and
weighing almost a ton more would get better mileage than a four cylinder,
small car?

Also, parenthetically, I can drive the Avalon at 80 mph and feel rock
steady, but the Cruiser I rented felt skitterish at or above 65. And a
trip of over 200 miles was tiring and a little nerve-wracking, whereas the
Avalon is only getting warmed up at 200 miles....after a day of driving 400
miles I'm ready to go dancing (if I danced.)

My Avalon has gotten up to 31.5 mpg on the highway (per its onboard mileage
computer.) If I got only 25.5 on the highway, it would go in the shop for
a tuneup, or I'd think that my tires were underinflated, or the brakes were
dragging.

 

But would you expect that a six cylinder engine with 210 horsepower and

It has been said here that the PT Cruiser's body aerodynamics are not to the
benefit of MPG.
Maybe the non turbo 4 cylinder is not enough HP to lug it around without
straining ?

A big old V8 limping along at 65 mph and 1500RPM might do better than the PT
Cruiser mix.

MPG numbers of my own. All cars 32 PSI tire pressure and Mobil 1 oil

1988 New Yorker, (K-Car) 3.0 140 hp Mitsu v6, 3 spd auto 32 mpg highway
2000 300M 3.5, 250 hp v6, 4 spd auto, 28 MPG highway
1995 Ford T-Bird (MN12 body style) 4.6 SOHC V8, 4 spd auto, 29 mpg highway

The seats in my Cruiser are firmer than my other cars. With tires set at 32
PSI I feel comfortable on the highway at 80 mph
At 35 PSI every bump is felt and it feels like the wheels are lifting off
the road and the car slightly twisting left or right, much like an older RWD
solid axle rear on a corner with bumps.

And a

The 300M and T-Bird seem easier on me on long trips, but I'm an old fart.
The New Yorker is too soft.

I wonder how restricted the exhaust system is on the PT Cruiser ?
The 300M is said to get an extra 5 mpg highway if you change it over to a
muffler back dual exhaust ?
I wonder if a simple scavenger tip on the tail pipe of the PT Cruiser would
help ?

 

After seeing the episode on 'Mythbusters' challenging its effectiveness, I
tried adding about a tablespoon of PURE acetone to a full tank of gas in my
'02 PT Cruiser, which had been hanging around 20 MPG in mixed driving.
After that tank was used, which didn't seem to have improved mileage, I've
noticed a better average, about 22-23 MPG mixed, on all the subsequent tanks
ever since.

Allegedly, adding acetone in very small amounts (only PURE acetone), like I
mentioned before, breaks the surface tension on gasoline, much like soap
breaks the surface tension of water, which makes if vaporize into smaller
particles when injected into the cylinder.

I only added it for that one tank and the results haven't wavered from that
second and subsequent tank. I haven't done anything else since trying this
several months ago, so it seems that either a very small amount of the
acetone still lingers in the tank (still breaking the surface tension) or it
might have cleaned the injectors or something.

Anyone wanting to try it, use caution with the amount as there was some
speculation, according to Adam and Jamie, that too much or too frequent use
of acetone could damage rubber seals or gaskets.

FYI, the episode results indicated that the myth was busted. I don't know,
however, if they tried running their test car any more after their initial
test to see if subsequent gas mileage improved. Even if they did notice an
improvement some tanks later, would they have been able to update their
findings, or would the episode have already been edited to a degree that
would not permit it?

No one will ever know.

 

Were does one go to purchase pure acetone?

 

My local hardware store carries it. Or at least used to. It may be deemed
too
much a hazard now.

 

The only thing that acetone would do to the combustion would be while the
acetone was actually present.

If it affected how the engine worked AFTER it was used but no longer
present, it did one of two things. (And I would suspect acetone is no
longer
in your tank. Gasoline mixing products are not homeopathic medicines.)

1) It cleaned something so that it now worked the way it was suppose to
work.

2) It changed something.

If '1', then I would suspect it had cleaning properties to the injectors, or
maybe
some other valve of some kind in the fuel rail. In any case, it would
probably
result in your engine working the way it SHOULD be working. I also suspect
that a good fuel injector cleaner would probably have done the same thing,
only with less long term damage. Damage?? Well, do YOU know how the
nylon, neoprene, rubber, and other compounds present in the fuel system are
going to react long-term to your adding acetone? You could have just
cleaned
your injectors, but made rubber seals turn gooey in 10K miles instead of
hard
at 50K miles. The effects remain to be seen.

If '2', then it might be something similar to the detrimental effects on the
seals
I mentioned above. They would appear to work better for a short time, but
then have a drastically shortened life. And also don't rule out products of
combustion. Acetone when burnt in a combustion chamber could have
products that affect things like O2 sensors. Yep, you could be getting
slightly better mileage that sometime in the future will start tapering off
and be REALLY bad. Unless you replace parts...

 

Acetone is the primary ingredient in nail polish remover.

Acetone is also used in Berryman's Total Combustion System Clean-Up and
Beryman's Total Fuel System Cleanup, see the following:

http://www.berrymanproducts.com/Default.aspx?tabid=120

Using Acetone to get past emissions checks on a car with high HC is
an old trick. The usual method is to run the tank down to the last few
gallons, then dump in a quart of acetone, run it past the inspector,
then go fill the tank with gas. This trick DOES NOT work if the engine
is burning oil (such as if the rings or valve seals are bad) it only works
if the
high HC is a result of a failed catcon or some such.

Another trick with Acetone is to use it to get rid of old gasoline. It's
common with power boats that sit unused all winter long to have the
gasoline go bad in them, boat repair shops usually have a barrel of old
stale gasoline around from draining boat gas tanks. The usual trick is
to add in 2-3 oz of acetone per gallon of old gas, then add in 1 or 2
gallons of treated old gas into a tank of fresh gas in your car. There's a
fuel
"rejuvenator" product called Startron that Walmart sells now that
does the same thing.

Acetone can also be used with turpentine to make lawnmower fuel.
I think the ratio is something like 70 turpentine, 30 acetone. I don't
know if this will save anyone any money, though, it's probably cheaper
to just buy gas.

I doubt that acetone will boost mpg except by merely cleaning your
fuel injectors, thus putting your mpg back to what it's supposed to be.

Ted