It is relatively easy to convert a small gasoline engine to propane or natural gas. There are lpg/propane kits designed to make this conversion easy. They generally consist of a simple plate that sits between the carb and the engine. A regulator is usually attached to regulate the propane going to the spacer plate. The regulator is needed to supply more fuel as the load or power demand increases. Instead of the engine bogging down, the regulator supplies more fuel so the engine makes more power. Propane or lpg is already in a gaseous form, which does not have to vaporize and will not leave carbon deposits. Carbon is bad because it is hard and leaves deposits which cause engine wear. Carbon makes your oil black and breaks the oil down faster. Producing less carbon should dramatically increase an engine’s life. Power and fuel consumption are very similar to using gasoline. The power will vary depending on what engine it is being used on. Mileage will be similar, but could be better than a stock carburetted engine. Propane tanks are usually safe and are very resistant to impact. The tanks will vent if the internal pressure gets too high, for safety. Many people like to convert generators to natural gas/ propane. They use the same source as their home’s fuel source for heat. When the power goes out, they have a limitless supply of fuel without having to refill a generator tank up with gas cans. Conversion kits can be reasonably priced and bought online.
Naturally aspirated engines are simply engines that are not assisted with a turbo or supercharger. Most people that want their car to go faster will chose this way. Large power increases in automotive engines are not hard to get. Four stroke performance can be greatly improved over the mild factory setup. Four stroke tuning can greatly improve the power over stock conditions. The factory tuning is very mild because they need to pass emissions tests from the factory. Many people buy aftermarket computer chips with modified performance maps. This can improve many cars by 5 to 20 horsepower dependant on the vehicle. Aftermarket chips are also an easy install and can be purchased reasonably. As with all engines, moving air into the engine is the way to make power. Another easy bolt on performance modification is to install a high flowing air filter. Large gains can also be made with improved flow through aftermarket carbs or larger diameter throttle bodies. The import tuners usually purchase high performance intake tubes which try to draw in cool air. These kits usually give moderate performance gains. Most of the domestic car tuners do the same and tend to spend money on the actual intake manifold instead. Depending on the vehicle it came off the performance gains can be much larger some up to 40 horsepower on V-8 models.
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What happens when an engine gets flooded? Generally this happens to carbureted cars but could happen to fuel injected cars if there is a problem with it. Every engine needs a specific amount of air and fuel to work correctly. If there is too little fuel the engine is lean if the engine has too much fuel it is rich. Flooding can occur when the ignition system is weak and does not start the engine quickly. If the carburetor (gas petal) is pumped too much before starting the engine can become excessively rich to the point where it can’t ignite the fuel. As you continue to rotate the engine, more fuel is added to the already excessive amount of fuel. There are a few methods to start the vehicle first, just let the vehicle sit, the fuel will evaporate out after 20 or 30 minutes. Remove the spark plug which may be fouled out with black carbon any ways. Slightly fouled plugs can be wiped off, severe cases can be burned off with a propane torch. Severe fouled plugs will need to be replaced, make sure the plug is original and hot enough heat range. After the spark plug is out stick it back in the spark plug wire, lay it on a metal part on the engine, spin the engine and verify the plug is firing. This also helps to get air in the engine and excessive fuel out. The third option is to hold the throttle wide open. In a carbureted vehicle, the air moving through the carb won’t suck fuel when held WOT if the engine is not running. In fuel injected vehicles the ecm, ecu, computer won’t send any fuel through the injectors if the gas petal is held wide open. If the ignition is o.k. and the vehicle floods continuously, then the carburetor idle circuit may be too rich.
Aftermarket pipes will significantly improve a jet ski’s performance, especially two stroke versions. As with other two stroke engines the exhaust system can be the easiest way to gain a good amount of power. Whenever possible look for dyno graphs to decide which pipe that you will want. Compare this pipe to others, and don’t look only for the highest horsepower number that you can find. Many times the highest horsepower pipe has lost all of it’s low end torque, which can reduce acceleration significantly. Instead look for a pipe that keeps the torque or power comparable in the mid-range, yet has better top end power.
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The basic outboard marine boat motor is of two stroke design. This is due to the weight of the motor being less. The power of a two stroke motor is also higher versus a comparable weight four stroke motor. As emissions became tighter direct injection two stroke engines have been produced. They still have low weight and alot of power but are very complex. Direct injection two stroke outboards are actually very clean motors and get excellent fuel economy similar to four strokes. As the technology of four strokes evolve, they have become much lighter and have flooded their way into the market. Although pricy four strokes are very popular and are getting closer to the weight and power of two strokes. Outboard motors started as two strokes with lower weight found on much smaller boats than boats produced today. Today it is not uncommon to see a 250 horsepower motor on the back of a bass boat! Many offshore boats may have twin 250 hp or 225 hp outboard motors on the back! Most mid sized ski boats generally use 115 or 150 horsepower outboards. Small john boats generally use 5,15 or 25 hp motors. Small skiffs use anything between 25, 40 and up to 115 hp outboards.
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Do you live in an area where you car has to meet inspection requirements? Normally your vehicle will also have to pass emissions requirements also. This article will help explain what emissions are and how to fix a possible problem your vehicle may have. The emissions test is normally done with a probe placed into the exhaust tailpipe. The emission sampler will sniff or sample the contents of the exhaust coming out of the tailpipe. Every road going vehicle produced, has certain clean requirements that it is required to reach. This requirement is specified by EPA to limit the amount of pollutants exiting the vehicle. Most samplers are five gas analyzers simply meaning they “see” or measure five types of gases. The five gases that will be measured are HC, NOX, O2, CO, and CO2. We will start with HC or hydrocarbons. HC’s are simply another term for unburned fuel that makes it through the engine and out the exhaust. HC’s cause smog and and are not good to breath. NOX means oxides of Nitrogen. NOX is a by product of highly heated and compressed air that has nitrogen in it.
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Testing trouble codes is easy. This is a basic how to, on checking trouble codes. All codes supplied here are for pre OBD-2 cars (1996), newer cars can be checked at autozone for free! First turn key forward but don’t start. If you know where the diagnostic plug is, you can use a paperclip to check the codes by jumping the top right (usually) two wires in the plug. GM-bottom of dash. Turn your ignition key forward, codes will flash on the check/ service engine soon light. The code will come up three times then alternate to the next error code, don’t worry about the first code 12. The car ignition is off = 12. A code of 13 will look like this 0 = flashes 0_000, 0_000, 0_000 (larger pause) then will alternate to the next code. Dodge, turn the ignition switch on and off twice, then turn forward (do not start engine) and keep it there. Check engine light will also be used for Dodge vehicles. Dodge codes work same as GM. Ford-under hood and find diagnostic plug labeled EEC Test. Use a jumper wire to connect the single external plug to jump to the main 6 prong plug. Look at the plug with the row of four at the bottom, next look at the next row of two on top.
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