Ethanol

On Nov 26, 2:36 am, Sarah Houston <SHo... RemoveThis @pndfnospam.com> wrote:
> You know, someone here mentioned that they took a hit in MPG from
> ethanol, and I was wondering what happened to the car this fall. I was
> averaging about 26.5 MPG in my work, which is mostly city driving, and
> then all of a sudden I started getting about 23.5. In fact I even took
> it in about 10 days ago for them to check the timing, thinking something
> might be wrong.
>
> Ethanol.
>
The one thing I can say is that ethanol production in the US causes
increases in food and fertilizer prices worldwide. Brazil does it
better by raising sugar cane for ethanol production.

Ethanol just keeps the internal combustion engine alive and well.
Most of us can go hybrid or electric without major issues.

"Sarah Houston" <SHoust.DeleteThis@pndfnospam.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9B62A8CB9BB55SntzldfrdSntzldfrdco@216.196.97.142...
> ransley <Mark_Ransley.DeleteThis@Yahoo.com> wrote :
>
>> I dont remember when pure gas was sold here in the midwest, maybe
>> 20+
>> years ago? All gas here has had 10% alcohol for years. E85, thats
>> 85%
>> Alcohol? your car wont run on it. In Sept winter blends are out
>> that
>> reduce milage a bit. Timing is just one thing that reduces milage,
>> cars dont tell you when components go bad that affect milage, get a
>> good local mechanic to go over things and put it on a scope. When
>> my
>> old camry would drop 3 mpg I would go over everything since any
>> small
>> issue affects milage in a big way. In winter your milage will drop,
>> a
>> bad thermostat will make it worse, sticking brakes, bad O2 sensor,
>> air filter, plugs-wires- rotor-timing, even old oil in motor. has
>> the
>> differential ever been even checked, no, nobody does it, unless you
>> demand it and watch them, has it been changed.
>
> Differentials can make a difference in MPG???

Yes they can, particularly in rear wheel drive cars. Almost all rear
wheel drive differentials use hypoid gears. This is done to eliminate
noise and clanking. Hypoid gears don't have perfect rolling contact
like you theoretically get with straight cut gears. Instead there is a
significant sliding component to the meshing. Sliding means friction
(but it also means the gears are tightly meshed eliminating noise and
most play in the gears). Friction means heat, which is lost power.
Reducing the friction with the proper lubricants will reduce the power
lost, without introducing additional clearance (and noise). Front
wheel drive cars usually use different style of differentials, but
hypoid and/or helical cut gears may still be involved. Helical cut
gears also involve some sliding friction, so they also "waste" some
power. On the other hand, they are stronger and much quieter. Straight
cut gears are more efficient at transmitting power, but they are
usually noisy as heck.

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoid .
http://www.engineersedge.com/gears/gear_types.htm

Ed