Good suggestions.
I have a question on the timing advance. Old Honda CRXs get 50 mpg, but comparable newer cars don’t even approach this figure. Is this because of retardation of the timing to achieve emission standards?
As for the knock sensor, that can be overcome with a flashed prom or different chip?
In the end, I still can’t help but suspect that a little HHO would cause a more efficient burn. The trick is getting the rest of the car’s programming to utilize it properly. Probably why most of these homemade units are being installed on older carbed cars.
I don't know, but my guess is that they retarded the timing (if that is what they did) to save the engine. Advancing the timing is always good until the engine blows : )
As for the knock sensor, that can be overcome with a flashed prom or different chip?
Sure, but it would be very, very bad to ignore it. Once the engine starts to knock or ping, the timing has to be retarded, instantly.
In the end, I still can’t help but suspect that a little HHO would cause a more efficient burn. The trick is getting the rest of the car’s programming to utilize it properly. Probably why most of these homemade units are being installed on older carbed cars.
Hmm, I suspect they do it on older cars for two reasons. First they are cheaper to fix and work on and second they are more likely to be out of tune.
I am pretty sure that adding HHO won't affect the burn at all, because the HHO will combine with itself, it won't combine with the gasoline. The engine and air intake system is designed to get as close to the stoichiometric (perfect burn) possible. Good ignition systems adjust for temp, altitude, humidity, octane, etc. Basically it tries to match the volume of fuel with the volume of air to get a perfect burn.
If you really want to increase the efficiency increase the compression and operating temps. That is why ceramic engines have such appeal. Nitrous oxide will boost performance : )