On 2006-07-18, barry > wrote:

> i recently added a magnetic system to my 1990 (approaching
> 199K this week) in an attempt to improve mileage. (the basic
> premise is that if you magnetize the fuel positively and the
> air negatively (or vice versa),

That's utter crap. The phrase "magnetize something positively"
or "magnetize something negatively" is meaningless in this
context. It may be possible to mathematically describe such a
condition, since magnetic monopoles do appear to be predicted
by some GUTs, but they doesn't exist the the physical world.

Magnetic monopoles _do_not_exist_ in any practical terms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_monopole

> they'll remain combined after compression in the chamber
> resulting in a more efficient burn.

Hogwash.

> has anyone else had any experience with this?

It's 100% pure bull****.

> after about six weeks, i've gone from about 26 mpg to about 30 mpg
> (all city).

Something else has changed. You're probably driving more
conservatively -- possibly as a result of unconscious
confirmation bias.

> at $3.20 a gallon nowadays, that makes me pretty happy.
> the thing is, the car now overheats anytime i sustain anything above
> 4000 RPM (or about 80mph) for 2-3 minutes. (i live in LA and the 210
> seems to average about 80 in the middle lane when i'm on the road).
> generally cranking on the heat full blast gets the needle back to
> center, but the dash still feels *really* hot, and everything under
> the hood is still *extremely* hot when i've arrived & looked under the
> hood.
>
> while i suspect that the hotter burn is the primary factor
> (the accompanying literature suggests that 87 would burn like
> 100 with the magnets),

A) You misspelled "The accompanying lies".

B) Higher octane doesn't burn hotter. It resists pre-ignition
and knocking/pinging better.

> i should mention that i recently replaced the front license
> plate - have driven without it for eight years, finally got a
> (parking!) ticket, and the outside temperature has been in the
> 90's & 100's most of the time - which i though might be a
> factor, but i've seen the temperature come back down to normal
> while at a dead standstill while cranking on the heat full
> blast.
>
> so i guess my main purpose for posting is to solicit comments
> about:
>
> - magnetizing the fuel/air to improve mileage & performance;

Simply not possible. You can't magnetize a gas, _even_if_ the
individual molecules do have a magnetic dipole moment (which O2
and N2 do not). IIRC, gasoline does have a magnetic dipole
moment, so the molecules will tend to align with a magnetic
field, but as soon as they leave the field they will resume
their normal random orientations.

> - the impact of running the equivalent of 100 octane

A moot point question, since you're not.

> (i have noticed a little more HP on acceleration and i still
> am usually still in 3rd gear when pulling on the highway at
> 65mph) in a 16 year old car - is it within the recommended
> tolerances?

If you have pinging/knocking using lower octanes, then higher
octane will improve performance. If you don't have
pinging/knocking (or timing being automatically retarded to
prevent pinging/knocking), then higher octane is useless.

> - should i go ahead and maybe replace the thermostat anyway?
> (i *do* plan on flushing the radiator);

Probably. It's easy and cheap.

--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! NANCY!! Why is
at everything RED?!
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