I was reading about neodymium magnets being arranged in a triangle around the fuel injection line to help the MPG. I think this is hooey, because if it worked, why don’t they install it on all cars?
I searched the Dope on it, and came up with nothing. Can anyone give me a definitive answer on if these things work, and if so, how?
Thanks!
Well, here are some columns by the Car Talk guys that mention this kind of item:
Summary:
Tom: “We make it a point to say that none of these products work, Tony. Then the companies that make them send us free samples to prove us wrong, and we get to try them out on our cars.”
Ray: “So far, we’ve concluded that none of them work.”
So, there you go. For whatever that’s worth.
Oh sure, Anthracite, post while I’m copying my links. But look at the quality of the links! Who are you going to trust, some government agency devoted to protecting consumers from unfair trade practices, or Click & Clack? Huh?!
red_dragon60, my link is a document from the Federal Trade Commission, if that isn’t clear from the URL. A somewhat reliable source. It also covers several other types of “gas saver” devices.
Thanks for the help!
I bought 40 Nd magnets off of eBay for fun and wondered about some of the claims they make.
They dont work, but they make for some damn good conversation. I bougth a pair of cow magnets and duct taped 'em to the fuel line on my '65 Lincoln (email me if you know where i can find parts for one). After about 2 or 3 weeks i looked at my fuel numbers, no gain.
I can tell you that in a larger older engine, straight-6 or v-8, octane boost and premium will help mileage if the timing is set for them. I presently use 93 octane and a bottle of 10-point octane boost, and get 10 - 12 mpg versus the 9 - 10 i usually get.
I have never seen magnets of this type used to increase fuel efficiency, but the configuration and placement of magnets mentioned above are often used in an attempt to beat emissions tests. I live in an area of Ohio that has mandatory auto emissions testing, and local Urban Legend suggests that magnets on the fuel line gives one an advantage in passing the test. I can’t imagine that it really works, especially because the emissions workers do not inspect the engine for magnets- which I imagine they would do if magnets could be used to beat the test.
You are correct. The magnets do not affect the combustion in any way, thus they will have no impact on the emissions of the vehicle.
Sometimes you have to wonder at the stampeding ignorance of people who almost deify the Power of Magnets. Magnet makers are probably making a fortune from the almost New-Age-Spiritual-Like powers that people attribute to magnets when used in virtually any application. I really, really think somedays that I should have invested in stocks of industrial magnet makers.
I just love magnets… I don’t know why. Perhaps it is the wierd, gravity-defying force they exert on each other.
I collect them.
But I don’t bring them in THIS room.
They do not cure pain, they do not effect your gas milage, but they will wipe a running hard drive.
Yes, but they Move Around Like Magic! If they don’t heal your feet and they don’t help your gas milage, they must do something. Oooh, I know, maybe if you eat some, they’ll suck the fat out of your food and make you lose weight. [sub]I’m going to make a million before the FDA catches me. No stealing my idea.[/sub]
They aren’t even all that good at wiping a running hard drive. Being engineers, when a hard drive died at work we of course decided to open it up and take a peek inside (and you other fools simply toss them - ha! all the fun you are missing). We found pretty much what we expected to find. The platters were a lot thinner than I expected, and the heads a little different than what I always pictured, but the differences weren’t exactly dramatic. The only surprise came from the honkin big magnets that were inside the thing. They were fairly small, and if you stuck them to a file cabinet it took some major effort to get them back off again.
We were impressed.
We were also quite certain that if this big of a magnet lives that close to the platters every day, a small fridge type magnet stuck in similar proximity probably isn’t going to do much.
The only saving grace of course is that you can’t get a normal magnet too close to the surface of the platters. If you do manage to get a magnet close enough to erase the platters, you’ve already opened the case and subjected it to dust and other nasties which would ruin it anyway.
Nothing a Cobalt Samarium planar magnetron array can’t fix. (It’s physically difficult to pry apart a pair of cubic centimeter size CoSm magnets.)