Ping Mike Simmons

From : jmc

Q: when they start using ethanol more will that raise the octane slow the burn so they could raise the compression ratio and get the economy up seems it would be better to get the economy up with supply going down. ky ky what causes that is the no restriction. all engines are heat engines and the more heat you can generate from a given fuel charge the greater the air charge expansion and more power but when temperatures exceed 3500 degrees f in the chamber the nitrogen in the air charge will combine with the free oxygen molecules and create no in the exhaust gases. by reducing that peak temperature below 3500 it drastically reduces the no. hence we have egr and lower compression ratios. this introduces thermal inefficiency and we have poor economy. its a trade off. steve funny how back in the 70s i had a 71 ford torino gt351 cleveland factory holley 4 barrel with vacuum secondaries and stock off the lot it got 28 miles to the gallon on the highway and in those days i rarely dropped below 90. my dad told me i was lying until he and i drove it to miami one week. he hasnt stopped talking about that car since. after the octane dropped below 100 it wasnt drivable so i sold it. ky joe cool wrote i have a 97 dodge dakota i installed dual exhaust and was wanting to know if anyone knew of some simple power mods that can be done to give my weak 3.9 a little more power i saw a spacer that goes between the air intake and the intake manifold in summit catalog that claims a power increase has anyone in here ever installed one of those and recieved the claimed power increase would a hotter ignition coil help maybe thanks ! the air spacer doesnt work. ive never seen a single dyno sheet that proves it. theres no fuel in that area so all it does is change the air flow. in the old days - carb days - getting more power from a stock engine was pretty simple. the factory has a very conservative tune so you just made it more aggressive. add timing add fuel. that has to be done by reprogramming the computer. check with jet and hypertech. moving the air in and out better is usually worth something. the factory exhaust is pretty good. after market systems will improve power at the top end. but you dont get a lot of nag for the buck there. a cold air induction is actually worth some power. the factory intake is kinda restrictive. a drop in k&n air filter wont help at all though. another tried and true method is changing the rocker arms to a bigger ratio. increasing the rocker arm ratio is like adding a slightly bigger cam. all magnum engines use the same design rocker arm. the 3.9 5.2 and 5.9 use exactly the same parts. but the v-10 uses a longer ratio. swap in the v-10 parts and gain some noticeable power. i have a set for my 5.9 sitting in the garage waiting for me to install them. dont forget the non-engine improvements - lower gear ratio lower weight better aerodynamics low drag tires. -- .bob 2006 fxdi hot rod 2001 dodge dakota qc 5.9/4x4/3.92 1966 mustang coupe - daily driver 1965 ffr cobra - 427w efi damn fast. .

Replies:

From : mike simmons

hi tom! i was thinking that the clutch may probably be sticking. think ti might try pulling that relay next time it happens to help isolate whether electrical or mechanical problem. fred if it resets and works normally after you turn off the ignition the relay would be my first guess. a sticking clutch or bad ac controls would probably nothing is for sure you know....- keep it on all the time. ed .