Improving my old cars fuel use with magnets ?

locutus12 · 28 May 2008 at 1:22AM

Hi all,

ive been reading up on these motoflow magnetic devices that go on your fuel lines, and whilst most people seem to think they will make little difference on a modern car, mine is a 20 year old 1.4L Nissan Sunny (The one clarkson set fire to with a jet engine whilst proclaiming it the most boring car in the world...) with 105K on the engine.

Its my first car and with the cost of fuel and my low income i cant afford to use it much to get to work and back and i cant afford to change it either. I was just wondering if anyone has had any success with these on old cars ?

Thanks,

Lord_Lardington · 28 May 2008 at 2:01AM

With the very greatest of respect, how can these magnetic devices possibly work?

I appreciate that we're all trying to cut our fuel costs at the moment but let's not get carried away and start buying thee ultra-bogus devices. They do not work.

Markyt · 28 May 2008 at 6:35AM

One made no difference on an old (30 years) Landrover I once had. Not suprisingly.

roddydogs · 28 May 2008 at 6:54AM

If they worked, dont you think the manufactures would fit these as standard?

steveo3002 · 28 May 2008 at 9:06AM

yeah absolutley...if car makers could boast another few mpg by fitting these they would

rip off...keep your cash in your pocket

AdrianHi · 28 May 2008 at 1:07PM

I did find someone once claiming that on one of the 3 or 4 cars he tried it on it did improve MPG. On some other motoring journalism sites who set out to specifically test all these "magic gadgets" including magnets for saving fuel they were all ineffective or worse still, increased fuel consumption and some were even dangerous.
You could use some redex or similar which would help clean out and keep clean the inner workings of the engine and fuel system which might recover some lost MPG due to age of the vehicle, but it's not very likely to save you money.

locutus12 · 28 May 2008 at 3:03PM

This is so annoying

im just about to start out my driving life and i just cant afford to drive!

I wouldnt mind taking public transport but i live in Coventry and work in leamington and have to take a 45 minute bus to the station then 15 minutes on a train then a 15 minute walk, and then do it again on the way home with a total cost of £6.70 and a daily commute of two and a half hours round trip, and thats barring traffic and relying on the bloody train and bus to be on time.

First i couldnt afford a house, more recently i cant afford to heat my flat im renting, and now i cant afford that one little bit of independence that we should all have a right to.

well done labour, keep up the good work, by the time im 30 i wonder if i will be able to afford food. :T

AdrianHi · 28 May 2008 at 3:42PM

locutus12 wrote: »

i cant afford that one little bit of independence that we should all have a right to.

Why is driving a car a right for everyone?

anewman · 28 May 2008 at 3:55PM

locutus12 wrote: »

This is so annoying im just about to start out my driving life and i just cant afford to drive!

I wouldnt mind taking public transport but i live in Coventry and work in leamington and have to take a 45 minute bus to the station then 15 minutes on a train then a 15 minute walk, and then do it again on the way home with a total cost of £6.70 and a daily commute of two and a half hours round trip, and thats barring traffic and relying on the bloody train and bus to be on time.!!

£6.70 a day is about £1,742 a year excluding any time off 5 days a week.

Be lucky you can get yourself a car for £0, or even a car for £300 would probably be ok, then you have insurance - possibly £1000, but it is possible to pay monthly with some insurers, MOT cost varies, Tax - about £120 a year. Then the biggest cost really is the petrol. I make the distance you say about 20 miles at most, so 40 miles round trip at most. I make that around £25 in petrol (assuming 40mpg) depending on fuel efficiency of car and fuel price, say £30, which is just under what you pay for public transport at around £1,560 a year. So basically the main extra costs to you are insurance, purchase price (whatever that may be), and MOT with any repairs needed (handy to get yourself a haynes manual and do work yourself).

You can get a car for cheaper than you think :cool: you don't have to drive around in the latest greatest car and be a poser, £300 will get you something decent if you choose carefully :beer:

Edit: just noticed you are OP and already have a car. Therefore if you can get 40mpg and the distance is 20 miles each way, petrol will be cheaper than public transport. The absolute best way to improve fuel efficiency is to have the car serviced properly. New spark plugs, air filter, oil and oil filter change, plus a dose of redex, would help the car along - much better than these little magnet things. If it is an over head valve engine, setting valve clearances will also help with fuel efficiency - a Haynes manual would tell you if this needs doing and probably have equally vague instructions on how to do it as the Haynes manual for my car.

AdrianHi · 28 May 2008 at 4:00PM

AdrianHi wrote: »

Why is driving a car a right for everyone?

OK I'm sorry, that was not constructive.
Lets just accept that driving a car is and always has been a privilege for those who can afford it rather than those who need it.
Let's rise to the challenge with a little more creative thinking:
When your current rental agreement is up for renewal can you move close to work so you can have a short walk?
Can you make use of your commuting time on the bus etc. for studying and improving career prospects?
What about buying a 100cc motorbike to cut your commuting time down and sell/not buy the car?
What about clubbing together with someone you trust to buy your first property?

These are the sorts of things people did when I first started my career in 1991/1992 after 7 months of doing a Pizza delivery round because it was recession time and I couldn't get a job in IT. Sky high interest rates and a property boom that just went bust were there at the same time. I also worked with someone else in IT who came home from his day job to do the Pizza round with me in the evening because it was the only way he could keep up his mortgage payments. Doing the Pizza round on a 90cc motorbike also gave him the idea of selling one of their cars and getting a bike instead.
When times are bad like now these things are necessary, when times are better prepare for the next time they are bad.

bryanb · 28 May 2008 at 4:01PM

The magnets don't work, but being lightfooted does. You can help this by fitting a vacuum gauge, reading inlet manifold vacuum.

Improving my old cars fuel use with magnets ?

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