Free & Cheap ways to free up horsepower in your engine

This article is not mine, in fact it's Nathan Morris's article, but I find it quite interesting. I want to share it with you.

Check the original article at :
http://www.ultimateresourceguides.co...-freemods.html

If anyone of you know another cheap and almost "free" way of increasing horsepower, this could be a very good thread to add it so anyone else can see it.

Thank You.

Mario Calero
Managua, Nicaragua.

******* The article begins here ---- written by Nathan Morris

I want to share with you 6 cheap or in some cases, even free
ways that you can gain horsepower.

Modification Number One: Index Your Plugs

The next time you are doing a tune-up on your ride, be sure to
take note of this modification. By simply installing your plugs
in a particular way, you will pick up roughly 1 whp, dyno
proven time and time again. In order to perform this mod, mark the side
on which the "open end" of the spark plug faces. Proceed to install
them as you normally would, except when the plug is hand-tight
(that is, you've screwed it in without a ratchet as far as it'll go), use
your ratchet to tighten the plug until the open end of the plug,
faces the intake side of your cylinder head. That's it!

Modification Number Two: Insulate Fuel Lines

Under-hood engine heat is a serious performance robber in almost
all cars. Not only does the under-hood heat cause performance
loss by heating up the intake air, but it also causes
performance loss by heating up the fuel lines. Cooler fuel will
help cool the intake charge, as well as provide for a better
overall mixture.

In order to get this stolen power back, simply go down to your
local hardware store and purchase a roll of refrigerator and
air conditioning insulation. Wrap all of your under-hood fuel
lines with the insulation to keep the cool in, and the hot out.


Modification Number Three: Relocate IAT Sensor

In most fuel injected vehicles you will find a sensor that
measures intake air temperature. You will need to refer to your
factory service manual to find its location.

At any rate, it is very typical to find the IAT sensor mounted
inside the intake plenum that is very often heated heavily by
coolant and the cylinder head. This is fine of course, since
the original equipment manufacturer designed it to work this
way. However, there is a way to "trick" the engine computer
into thinking that the incoming air is a little cooler than it
really is, and therefore get the ECU to advance the timing a
small amount and increase fuel supply at the same time.

In most mildly modified vehicles, this will create a more
desirable fuel and ignition map and create a few extra
horsepower.

In order to perform this mod, simply locate the sensor and
remove it from the intake manifold. Fill in the hole with JB
weld and proceed to remount the sensor somewhere in the intake
arm. Seal everything up well, and you're done.

Modification Number Four: Synthetic Oil

In the past 3 years I have been running various types of oils
through my engines and have found that for the most part -
all oils are the same, power wise. However, Synthetic oils
definitely make more power over standard "dino" oils. In fact,
I have consistently seen anywhere from 2-3hp across the rev
range from using a true synthetic versus a standard oil.

Therefore, next time you change oils, switch to synthetic.
Even on a high mileage engine, it works wonders. It is also a
far better lubricant and protector of your engine.

Modification Number Five: Increase H2O Ratio In Coolant

If it weren't for corrosion and freezing concerns, automotive makers
would use pure water to cool your vehicle. Straight water cools
better than coolant any day of the week, and a cooler engine is
always going to produce more horsepower.

Instead of a typical half and half ratio, try 40/60. However,
NEVER use pure water, as this may cause premature corrosion which
will cause a costly repair bill. You may also try water wetter
to further enhance the effect, but be cautioned that water wetter
should only be used for track purposes.

Modification Number Six: Throttle Body Coolant Bypass

This one I saved for last, and for good reason. This is
perhaps one of the best modifications that you can do for
basically nothing. I got back almost 10ft-lbs of torque over
the entire rev range. 10ft-lbs that was present in the engine
when completely cool, but once at operating temperature was
no longer available. This is good for about 0.2 seconds in
the quarter mile in my particular vehicle - needless to say
I'm very pleased with this modification.

All you need to do on any vehicle is to take those two
coolant lines, disconnect them from the throttle body and
connect them with a coupler available in the vacuum hose
section of your auto parts store. It's basically two nipples
connected to each other that allow you to connect two pieces
of coolant hose.

If you have problems with erratic idle afterwards. You will
need to find your fast idle (or idle air control valve),
and disable it by blocking it off or somehow keeping it closed.
This occurs mostly in Hondas to my knowledge, and it's pretty
hard to explain in a "universal" manor.

Be careful not to overtighten the plugs when trying to index them.

Also you may need to use different washers on the plug... I read that somewhere.

BTW on the issue of plug washers. Some plugs have them, some don't. Will removing the washer cause the plug to go too deep into the combustion chamber... will any extra protrusion into the cylinder be benificial? Would it effect the heat rating of the plug?

I know on the NGK site the plugs that have more surfance exposed to the combustion chamber bleed heat slower and heats up quickly.
But its at the tip that there is more surfance area.
Simply screwing in the plug deeper might not have the desired effect.

People have stated time and time again that BOSCH +4 plugs foul out. Bosch Plugs use a thick washer, would removing the washer help increase the amount of heat the plug picks up and reduce how much is transfered off into the cylinder head?
Fouling out can be cause by the wrong heat range of plug. If we got a hotter plug Then it might not foul out as much. Being that the metal is platinum, it should withstand the added heat anyways.
I've never seen a different heat rating for the +4's but the regular plugs do have different ratings.
+4's - 4478 EFI
+4's - 4478 Carb
Copper - WR8DCX (Cooler Plug) EFI
Copper - WR9DCX (Hotter Plug) Carb

NGK offers a lot more in terms of options.

Some people will say changing the heat range of the plug will gain HP.
That is something you can experiment with at your own risk.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by My 3Geez Pal

A 100% efficient engine will lose no heat durring combustion and thus will require no cooling system, it will also be frictionless... unfortunatly that is not possible we can only try to be as efficient as possible.


There are common engine power lossed due to a few things
Pumping Loss from evacuating exhaust gasses out of the cylinders and thru the exhaust system.
Friction Loss Any moving part that comes in contact with another part; Valves, Camshaft, Crank, Piston Rings, etc.
Accessory Loss Belt Driven accessories like AC compressors or power steering pumps.

Keep Heat Out To Increase Efficiency
- Coating the intake manifold ad TB and intake pipe will reduce heat transfer to help manitain Intake Air Density

Keep Heat In To Increase Efficiency
- Engine Coatings will help block heat transefer so more heat remains in the combustion chamber to increase efficiency, and less heat escapes into the head, block and cooling system.
- Exhaust Coatings help maintain Exhaust Efficiency

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mario! i was just wondering where you went the other day. haddnt seen you on in a while.

do you have dyno numbers to prove the synthetic oil claim? i had read a few articles claiming no power gains through use of synthetic oil.

good write up though :)

definately interesting. would it be dangerous at all to do the TB coolant bypass... how hot do ours get??

I cannot answer your questions since I didn't write the article and, to be honest, I hardly understand it since I' hispanic and speak Spanish all the time and that article is too much difficult & technical for me to understand it. Sorry for me.

All I want to do is share with you this nice article and start a friendly thread between you experts guys, I'm just a newbee.

Thanks for the info Mario. Sharing the word is how we all learn.

Quote:

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Modification Number One: Index Your Plugs

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This only works if you have other factors optimized in the combustion chamber. And, simply screwing them in until they all point the same way is not really correct. The "open" side of the plug needs to face into the chamber in such a wa y as to help propagate a even flame front across the c.c. Do this and equalize the volume in the chambers(known as cc'ing the head) and you gain hp. I have done this on other cars and to do it right I had to make a "correct thickness" spacer for each plug.

Quote:

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Modification Number Two: Insulate Fuel Lines

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Not enough, but this is what cool cans are for.

Quote:

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Modification Number Three: Relocate IAT Sensor

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It won't move the timing on our cars, but it will make it run a bit richer.

Quote:

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Modification Number Four: Synthetic Oil

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A must for high hp cars, or race cars. Redline has zero weight oils now to help gain that last little bit.

Quote:

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Modification Number Five: Increase H2O Ratio In Coolant

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Well, for most of us, just run a lower temp 'stat. Works better.

Quote:

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Modification Number Six: Throttle Body Coolant Bypass

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No comment. Members?

This is all just my expeireance, and I am sure people have other opinons. Just thought I'd share.

when i saw the title i was like "sweet, free horsepower", but as i read, it seemed like these things would work..in conjunction with other mods. So in reality, its not free unless you have other mods?

I read what others had to say, and it seemed like i was sorta on the right track. Its like that intake manifold plate that hondata sells...'up to 5 hp'...but you'd probably want to update the manifold as well, and get their chipped ecu, and get their icebox intake...so thats like$ 1500. Sorry for my rant, i'm just wondering.

Careful because they say those heat spacer plates can warp after a while.

thats lame. i dont think i want one anyway...its like $60 plus shipping for a piece of plastic

Quote:

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Originally Posted by getready

thats lame. i dont think i want one anyway...its like $60 plus shipping for a piece of plastic

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Read post #2
https://www.3geez.com/showthread.php?t=40844

yeah my friend with a type-s rsx just sent out his ecu. He's also getting the icebox, and was thinking about getting that plate, as well, but they're sold out. I dont know, something about it has bothered me about it since i heard about it. It seems ridiculously overpriced, and now i learn that they warp/need to be replaced a lot...i dont know, i can think of another way to spend that money

seems like to me that you would want your engine running as hot as possible. since the cold air expands when it heats up, the hotter engine parts would transfer the heat after the intake valve was closed and it would act like the incoming air were even cooler because it has the heat to expand it more, causing higher compression. that's what causes predetonation when you're running too hot. seems logical to me. i do know it is good for fuel economy, and that most things that you can do for fuel economy can also be done for performance.

You want to keep the air cool, thus you get more air. If you could you wouldn't want any heat transfer you would wait till compression and burn it all then and use all that energy to move the piston... unfortunately some of that head soaks into the metal and is wasted.

I think the thing about a hot engine is, once the engine is hot less heat goes to the metal because there is less temperature difference between the combusted gasses and the engine, so you have less energy bleeding off and you get more power.

Thing is the engine is bleeding off heat to the engine bay air ad to the cooling system... thus that heat is wasted too.

If you could you would want to contain all the heat in the combustion chamber with no loss. But you can only get so close... you'll never get 100% there is always energy being bleed of somewhere.

i freed up hp with 2 150 shot nitros tanks and propane.

well, i meant to have the air as cool as possible and have the engine itself as hot as possible.

EXACTLY. that's part of why i'm so willing to try water injection. it not only cools the intake charge as it evaporates, but it also helps keep predetonation at bay when tuned properly. you get to run less fuel when you're injecting water as well.

it's a lot more complex than that, man. in order to have enough pressure to use a fuel injector, you're gonna need at LEAST a 30 PSI pump that's compatible with water (most fuel pumps will rust out), a way to tune the system, some tubing that will take 30 PSI without busting, and a water tank large enough so that you only have to refill at every fuel fill.

a carb fuel filter won't do much for you. run distilled water with some alcohol in it to kill the bacteria.

you also need a way to automatically engage the system. you should be injecting water most of the time, but always in varying quantities. you should either go completely passive (carburetor type) or fully pressureized and computerized. a passive system can be built for almost nothing, but a computer controlled system is upwards of $500.

yeah, being that it's a fuel itself :p

yeah, personally, i'd just run enough to keep the water from freezing and bacteria from growing too much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mario Calero

I cannot answer your questions since I didn't write the article and, to be honest, I hardly understand it since I' hispanic and speak Spanish all the time and that article is too much difficult & technical for me to understand it. Sorry for me.
All I want to do is share with you this nice article and start a friendly thread between you experts guys, I'm just a newbee.

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esta todo bien. Si tu necisitas ...otros cosas (?)...mas personas aqui hablan espanol, y mi esposa.

wo de xawen hen bu hao keshi di yi nian wo xue zhong wen.
my spanish sucks becasue i studied chinese and forgot it all.

actually, a low amount of antifreeze is sometimes used to keep the water from freezing up, but denatured alcohol is considered to be a better alternative.

I'm a pretty cheap ass bastard when it comes to saving a penny on horsepower. The only thing that applies to me is synthetic oil. All that other stuff is your call. I've heard of relocating the IAT sensor before, not sure if it is a increase in H.P. or not.

Edit- all that bypass coolant shit, not trying it....

Water injection was first used in the '60 & '70 to cool the intake charge on high compression engines to avoid detonation. It was mostly the drag racers with the big V8's.
People would hook up windshield washer pumps with push button switches under the gas pedal to activate it at WOT. I never heard about using anything but tap water, because you would squirt through a bottle full pretty quickly if you raced alot. Octane ratings started to drop in the 70's and this was a way to try to make up for the loss. Cool cans, water injection, all this was used to promote a denser intake charge.
Automakers nowadays try to run as hot an engine as possible to promote better atomization of the fuel which helps with a more complete burn, thereby needing less fuel to make the same hp. It's all about MPG.

yeah, but are we really going to get up to those temps without other problems? maybe in a high compression engine where you can ignite it more my compression than by spark, sure, but i'om not too sure about it in a low CR spark-ignition engine.