[bluefront]

I've never tried the technique before. Seems to me somebody here was trying it out.....haven't heard anything however. I know it sounds like snake-oil, but the thing didn't cost much.....and it can't hurt anything.

Here it is on a Duratec 2.0. The idea is to place the magnets on the fuel line, as close as possible to the engine. Nice spot for it. I got it recently at Harbor Freight. If I see any MPG gain I'll post about it. []

 

[lukeykookey]

Its bolleux Im afraid.

 

[arrestmespi]

your problems:
A.) You got it from Harbour Freight, almost anything that place sells is complete rubbish, from breaking jack lips, to fuses that blow up that company sells cheap cheap chinese made rubbish. Nothing of there's ever works well for long at least. The company has a section of if its web page dedicated to recalls for a reason.
B.) Magnetts do not effect fuel economy in the least. Sorry anyone who says it does is how do I say it, lacking in the intelectual ability.


So its rubbish, a complete hoax and may blow up your carr

 

[jmkreege]

you wasted your money on that but i tell you what will work...fill your tank to 3/4 and top it off with water.

 

[jboylan]

There was a product kind of like this that was tested on Horesepower TV with pretty positive results. Not sure if it was based on magnets or not, it just looked like a huge fuel filter. Basically you could run your car on 87 octane and it would run as good if not better than it would on 89 octane. I can't remember the name of it, but it should be in the marketplace section of their website.

 

[viney266]

Horsepower TV is run by complete advertising whores. If your company is running 3 30 second spots during their show, I guarantee your product works...Not to single them out 90% of the U.S. car magazines are the same way, sad to say.

 

[HawkeyeFLA]

Adam Savage frowns on this thread.

 

[briandg510]

I've never tried the technique before. Seems to me somebody here was trying it out.....haven't heard anything however. I know it sounds like snake-oil, but the thing didn't cost much.....and it can't hurt anything.

Here it is on a Duratec 2.0. The idea is to place the magnets on the fuel line, as close as possible to the engine. Nice spot for it. I got it recently at Harbor Freight. If I see any MPG gain I'll post about it. []

I think this a good myth buster to anyone who is wanting to try this out. Good job on sharing something like this. This will test your observation skills, lol. Even though, others said it is a waste of money, but, you may prove them wrong. So give us an update on your findings.

 

[zantar]

I wonder if you would get better gas millage at the north or south pole?

 

[bluefront]

Heh....As far as Harbor Freight is concerned, at least you know the pieces they sell are imported (notice the word "Harbor"). This is quite unlike our biggest Ford dealer who brags about his "American" cars. My Focus may have been assembled in the USA, but a big percentage of the parts are Asian.

And it's a magnet....very much like other magnets made everywhere. I'm not worrying about a magnet failure. [histerical]

Much of what you read on this subject, positive or negative, is only speculation/advertisements/guessing/etc. Who can say for certain what this magnet will do on this Focus, at this location, using this brand of gas. After all....there are magnets of all sorts, in many places in all cars, that do their tasks just fine. Your car wouldn't even start without one.

Installation was easy, cost was minimum, and positive results could be beneficial. Worth a try anyway.....[]

 

[viney266]

By the way, just so you all know. JC whitney was selling these magnet things for VW's bug back in the 60's...Been there done that, doesn't work, at all. But as someone said, at least it won't hurt anything!

 

[focusmaniaczx3]

what? 3/4 tank of gas and top it off with water? you must be crazy! i really hope you were joking about that. please please please tell me you were joking

 

[bluefront]

Well...the thing to keep in mind is that every car is slightly different, and cars from the '60s had carburetors, and no fuel injection. So what works or doesn't work on a particular car, may not perform the same on another.

Now if this little magnet mod were difficult or expensive, I may have had second thoughts about doing it.

When I first got this Focus, I went through a whole tot of trouble/testing, trying to raise my MPG from the 25.5 MPG it started with. I did everything which people recommend....a big list of stuff. Nothing worked until the very last Steeda mod, which I was going to at the start, but waited till I did all the cheap things.

Since then my mileage has remained fairly constant, despite the cooler temperatures. I don't expect the +3 MPG I got with the Steeda, but would settle for a one MPG gain.....and be happy. You never know....

 

[whynotthinkwhynot]

<-- The magnet expert.

In opposition to another show funded by advertising (though not as bad) I made my own magnetic fuel saver.

I'm sorry to inform you that it's not going to work BlueFront. The idea is sound, however you need more powerful magnets.

Someone mentioned that there was a company which had one the size of a fuel filter or oil filter. That's correct, but as far as I know that company is no longer in business. They used 3 large neodymium magnets in a triangular configuration, and it cost close to $300. The biggest problem was that it was sold in a MLM framework, so most people didn't trust it. One of our newspeople here in Memphis found a person who'd been keeping track of his FE since he bought his Toyota 4 Runner. They also took it to a dyno. The dyno showed no increase in hp, but did show leaner fuel trim, and lower emissions. Using division at the pump, they noticed a 5-6 mpg increase from the lowest mileage he recorded in the life of the truck. The video used to be online, but I can't find it now. If you want to search try Channel 3 news, Andy Wise, Memphis, fuel saver. Maybe your google is better than mine.

I tried it myself with N38SH magnets made for temps up to 300F. That is the drawback of Neo Magnets: they lose magnetic potential when exposed to heat above 160F, special coatings can help, but these are difficult to locate. I can no longer find the ones I used before, and for my latest project have decided to use Metal Shield and relocating the magnet structure to a less high heat location under the hood.

Now, the magnets I used on the D20 with the stock fuel line that runs right over the exhaust manifold lasted for approx 6 months. I noticed a tad increase in power that could've been in my mind, and 3-4 mpg difference at the pump. The idle was much better also (more steady)- but that might just be my car. After those magnets died, it's been over a year before I'm going to try again- I just haven't had the time. Keep in mind that although these magnets are dead, they will still lift 20 lbs each. You need extremely powerful neo magnets (sadly SmCO magnets aren't powerful enough) held together in a structure built out of aluminum or SS to go around the fuel line with the polarity pointing towards (repelling) the same.

This is no sissy project, if you put 4 of the magnets I use on one side of your hand, and 4 on the other side- it would crush your bones. You cannot pull these magnets straight apart from each other, they must be slid until there is not much magnetic surface touching, and you must be careful of anything magnetic or ferrous nearby. One of the older magnets shattered when I got it within a foot of a 1 1/8" wrench which flew up to the magnet- kablam. The shards could've put my eye out, so be careful.

If anyone wants to know how to make the calculations, what to do and where to order, contact me and I'll share the information. I can't make them for you since that would be against FF rules, but the math is simple, and if you use aluminum- it's easy to cut and find at hardware stores. I do have pics too, but no time to post at this moment.

BTW, I tried this on my van with the magnets mounted approx 6' away from the engine before the fuel filter (only place I could do it without moving the fuel lines). I noticed a 4-5 mpg increase in fuel economy, but unfortunately, the van has developed a head gasket or intake manifold gasket leak due to overheating when a screw banged around inside my fan shroud during spring. I'm not even sure if those figures are accurate as a result of the coolant leak. The Focus will come soon- too many other projects at the moment.

Sorry BlueFront, I wished you would've asked me first. There is real tech behind some of the crap tech out there, but you have to search long and hard to find the pertinent information. No magnetic fuel savers for sale are powerful enough to do the trick, you must build your own, and for a D powered Focus, I highly suggest relocating the fuel line away from the exhaust- but I'm not completely sure where yet since you should stay a good distance from electronics.

 

[arrestmespi]

Yeah I want to see some real scientific evidence of this.
Also depending on the tesla strength of the magnets you could create harm to your car, as the new ethanol gasoline is disolving ferrous deposits and walls in the case of older tanks and put ferrous oxide particles into your fuel. Which the magnet could attract and create a stoppage or blockage in your fuel line.
Bah I'm tired
if it really would work they would probably be government mandated on cars

 

[Weldman0730]

I can tell you that there are no magnetic particles in gasoline....therefore nothing will happen. If you put the magnet near the fuel injectors it could mess with the electric field that opens and closes the needle inside the fuel injector, which is probably where this myth got started, however you risk messing up the fuel ratio your car wants. This is kind of like placing a magnet on a steam pipe at a power plant with the hope the same amount of power will be produced with less steam... I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that it wont work...

If you want to save fuel, have your car tuned for fuel efficientcy and drive like a grandma. Or the best way to have fuel efficientcy and performance, buy a motorcycle.

 

[bluefront]

I'm not going to get technical, but the effect doesn't rely on magnetic particles in the gasoline....... Whether this magnet is powerful enough to do anything remains to be seen.

It'll take quite a few tankfuls of gas to see any difference, if any. So don't expect an answer any time soon. Maybe by the end of the year...

 

[Weldman0730]

Whats the threory behind the magnet then? Im sorry if I came off as negitive i didnt mean too.

 

[whynotthinkwhynot]

^^ It's an old water purification experiment done in the early 20th century. Basically what the theory says is that like molecules clump together due to the magnetic properties. Even non-polar molecules are affected by magnets that are strong enough- it might not be enough to hold a magnet like ferrous molecules, but there is an effect. So what you're doing with gasoline is your jolting the fuel with magnetic energy that pulls it apart. The magnets must be mounted to repel each other, so same polarity facing, and the gauss (have no idea about Tesla, but Gauss is the density/magnetism measurement for magnets) must be high. The magnets must be very strong to affect gasoline at a molecular level.

The original magnet experiment I tried used N38SH magnets (maybe N36, can't remember) that were 1/4 x 1/2 x 4", and magnetized through the 1/2 width. I used a triangular configuration with 2 magnets at each location in the final device. I had tried a single magnet, but that was not enough. The magnets I used were 12.5k gauss. After 6 months, the effect diminished- however the magnets are still very strong and capable of lifting 15 lbs each.

I have a new approach, I'm trying N42 magnets and using my own heat treatment. These should be stronger, but I'll have to relocate my fuel line away from the exhaust, and also keep the magnet structure away from sensitive electronic parts. Last time, the end of the magnets was 6" away from the cam sensor- no effect. It's difficult to find a place where there isn't any electronics.

 

[Weldman0730]

^^thanks

Ok, but what happens the second the magnetic field is gone(the gas passes through the fuel line past the magnet), wouldnt it clump right back together? Molecules will always go to the state of least energy possible, unless work or heat are added to them via chemical reactions and mechanical/electrical means. I mean it would take a lot of energy to break the bond which creates surface tension in water, same with gasoline. So I guess that brings me to my next question; why is it good that the molecules are separated, like whats the benfit of it, especially since that fuel injector is going to atomize the fuel anyways?