As they say here, right by where the drive in movie used to be (before it blew down)Quote:
Originally Posted by dalej
South Coast, 10 miles east of Georgetown.
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As they say here, right by where the drive in movie used to be (before it blew down)Quote:
Originally Posted by dalej
South Coast, 10 miles east of Georgetown.
What does the ProDriver measure to get you the fuel mileage? Are there sensors that come with the ProDriver that you put on the fuel lines?
GregM
Greg,
The ProDriver is connected to the DDEC computer and gets its readouts from that. Several of us have installed them, there are just 4 wires, power, ground, and 2 attached behind the port where you would plug in a reader for the DDEC codes beside thew driver seat.
You can often buy them on eBay for about $300. The amount of info depends on the version of DDEC you have.
Also gives you cruise control speed setting, miles to oil change, trip odometer, gallons of fuel used, error code readouts if you experience any, etc.
The DDEC controls how many atoms of fuel is injected with each piston travel and provides the data to the ProDriver which is able to display it.
I will help you install one if you like.
My Beaver display panel has a fuel used gauge but not very accurate, I'll check what it is using for data retrieval and start looking for a ProDriver.
Thanks Peter
GregM
I have always recorded every gallon of fuel I have added to my buses.
Because of data that has been recorded for years I can very accurately calculate MPG if it wasn't for devices called the generator or the Webasto.
Since I keep a log book of maintenance on the bus and the generator I can make reasonably accurate adjustments to reflect fuel used by the generator, again going over a period of time that can be expressed in years. I have almost no ability to quantify Webasto use, but because we avoid the cold weather now, that fuel use over a long period of time is unlikely to skew the numbers. I know from calculating the Pro Driver is very accurate. I have come to rely on it and for those who want to know what affects your efficiency I think the following ranking is accurate.
Drive fast, lose mileage. There is obviously a compromise required here. The best speed may be real slow, but we have to consider other drivers. But it is clear 70, 75 or 80 really increase fuel consumption.
High head winds make a big difference. I watched an average Pro Driver mileage based on about three thousand miles of driving get pulled down by about 1/2 MPG within about 600 to 700 MPG just because I was in headwinds of about 15 to 20 MPG.
Hills also drop the mileage a lot. No matter what you make up by coasting downhill, it is never enough to offset the fuel used during the climb up the hills.
Towing heavy vehicles, or even just having a heavy coach. Weight is the enemy. The lighter the Toad, the lighter the bus, the better mileage.
Cold air also has an effect. It is small and since I do not record temperatures I cannot provide a value for the impact cold outside temperatures have on mileage, but it does adversely impact it.
So the solution to fight high fuel prices and low MPG is to drive slow, only with the wind, going downhill, with a Smart car for a toad in the summer in Phoenix.
Jon, I just got back to Amarillo from Visalia and this time I didn't tow my Tahoe and drove about 1300 miles @ 68 mph and got 6.9 mpg. I almost always tow and get 6.1-6.2 mpg. I guess this is quite a surprize for me. Just thought you would like to know.
Today driving through NY, PA and OH, I got 7 plus on the pro driver, not towing, full fuel and 1/4 water. Cruise was set at 64 mph, 1750 rpm. Not bad for a poopy 8V!:eek:
Attachment 4904
Tom, is what I posted good for a 60 ?
Experiment Sid. Your bus is probably as heavy without a toad as ours is with one 47500 and you had some climbs? If so that ain't bad. Try going 63 and note the difference.
Are you keeping that beautiful powercoated Thompson oil pan shined up, there may be a czar for that now.
Tom,
I hate to bust your bubble, but take the picture again after the ProDriver has a trip length of 3000 to 5000 miles. 300 miles ain't nothing.
On any given day, when driving on the flat with few hills, with no toad and with a tailwind, even as small as 10 MPH while driving around 60 MPH I can see ridiculously high MPG figures. But if I encounter average conditions, such as hills, towing something and the normal winds, including those on the nose I end up at 7.7 to 7.8.
FWIW I think the change in fuels has resulted in a .1 or .2 MPG loss.