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RV 1 Fuel Additive
I purchased some of the RV 1
fuel additive at the Oyster Fest Rally and did as Ken suggested if you weren’t
going to get your fuel polished. I doubled the recommended amount of additive, started the engine and generator,
let them both run for several minutes, shut both down and let everything set for about
12 hours before I left the next morning.My trip down from Exit 67 on TN
840 then I-65 south to just after Birmingham was windy, mostly raining and we
got caught in Birmingham rush hour, about a 20 min delay. I didn’t use the
cruise very much because of the weather and traffic. I was really trying to drive for fuel mileage.
I was trying to maintain 67/68 MPH letting it pick up a little extra speed on
the down hills and pull down a little slower on the up hills. We stopped at
Peach Park exit 205 for ice cream like always. By then the wind had stopped,
the rain had stopped, the traffic had thinned out and it was beginning to get
dark. I didn’t write it down but I think
my Pro Driver showed 8.8 MPG average for the trip at that point. After I got
back on 65 I set the cruise on 67 and it pretty much stayed there until exit 37. When
we got setup at our site I wrote all the related Pro Driver information
down.I want to state that I am not
100% sure my Pro Driver’s calculated MPG is correct, but if it’s wrong it’s consistently
wrong. My fuel gauge is reasonably accurate. The tank holds 220 gallons and
when the gauge shows ½ tank it takes a little over 100 gallons to fill it up
and when the gauge shows 1/4 tank it will take about 160 gallons to fill it. My
gauge was slightly under full when I left and about a needle under the ½ mark
when I checked it the next morning after returning home. So about 950 miles on
100 to 110 gallons of fuel if I was going to guess using the fuel gauge.These are the results for the trip to Bella Terra
Trip Average
Total miles 469 (my GPS
showed 475)Average speed 60.2
Average fuel economy 9.2 MPG
51 gallons of fuel
On Cruise Control
200 miles
9.68 MPG
20 gallons
Top Gear (meaning when
transmission is in the highest gear)443 miles
9.56 MPG
46 gallons
I cleared all the info in my Pro
Driver before leaving Bella Terra. We stopped at Peach Park exit 205 as usual
for lunch and ice cream.I wrote down the Pro Driver
info when we stopped because all driving conditions from exit 205 to Bella
terra and from Bella Terra back to exit 205 were the same. Cruise speed, wind temperature,
etc. I set the cruise on 67 when we got on I 65 exit 37 it pretty much stayed
set until exit 205.Results from Bella Terra to exit 205
Trip Average
Total miles 215
Average speed 59.9
Average fuel economy 9.45 MPG
23 gallons of fuel
On Cruise Control
155 miles
10.13 MPG
15.4 gallons
Top Gear
195 miles
10.2 MPG
10.2 gallons
The results from the Pro Driver
when we reached home. We stopped 2 miles before our exit and unhooked, it’s
easier.Trip Average
Total miles 467
Average speed 63.3
Average fuel economy 9.76 MPG
47.88 gallons of fuel
On Cruise Control
388 miles
10.11 MPG
38.38 gallons
Top Gear
446 miles
10.17 MPG
43.88 gallons
What does all this mean?? Not
much just based on one trip but it does look encouraging. Just running the numbers
in my head it’s about a 5% increase in fuel mileage which about cancels out the
cost of the treatment.I think the results from the “On Cruise” readings,
trip down and from Bella Terra back to exit 205 are the most comparable. They were
both captured under extremely similar conditions.I think some other members
purchased some of the magic tonic and I would like to know if anyone else has
any early results. Here’s a couple shots about 80 miles from home.
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15 Replies
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Where do we up this stuff? I’d give it a shot in my old two stroke. I average around 6.3 normally. Have gotten as high as 8.3 average when keeping speed around 62. Pretty good averages already for an 8V92, but I’m always up for anything that is an improvement.
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Parliament Coach, they are an advertiser on this site and
good folks to do business with. The retail price for the additive is $132
dollars per gallon. It’s available at a discount to PC members, $100 dollars
per gallon. Normally 1 ounce per 10 gallons of fuel.Dale let me know about those salvage coaches after you get
what you need. I’m betting one them is that burned red one that was Ebay
several times. Belongs to the dealer in Oregon.Let us all know how the additive works for you.
Parliament Motor Coach Corporation
Ken Robertson 888-571-5755
4455 Ulmerton Road Clearwater, FL 33762
ken@parliamentcoach.com
http://www.parliamentmotorcoach.com
Since 1990, the name Parliament has stood for quality and service in the RV industry. Manufactured with pride and focused on serviceability, the Parliament Prevost Conversion sets the standard in our industry for reliability and ease of use. Today, under new ownership, Parliament Motor Coach continues to provide unparalleled service to coach owners from around the country. Whether needing routine service work, collision repair and paint, remodeling, or upgrading any coach systems, RV owners know that they will receive the finest of everything at Parliament Motor Coach. Under the new ownership of Ken Robertson and Rick May, with over 70 years of combined experience in the RV industry, Parliament Motor Coach is looking forward to leading the Prevost Conversion Industry into the next generation of Luxury Coaches. Production will begin soon on the most innovative, exciting, and yet user friendly coaches our industry has ever seen!
General Manager Ken Robertson and Service Manager Rick May, and their staff of industry veterans have hundreds of years of experience making sure that your expectations aren’t just met, but exceeded.
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Home in Baytown with a little over 500 miles on RV 1. Ran 60 mph at 1280 rpm and got a little over 9 mpg. I usually run 65 mph at 1400 rpm and get 7.9 mpg. So I am pleased as my mech urges me to keep good additives for the injectors.
I have a stuborn miss at idle, just gives a spitt or two from time to time. Runs great, pulls great but a spit when idling the Cummins M11E set at 400 hp. So the RV 1 did not cure the spit yet.
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As long as Ken started this thread I will add to it because I am doing a full blown test on RV-1 because I have a base of perfromance data.
Ken has been “massaging” my coach so the benchmark for my reporting of the results of RV-1 will be the miles I have driven since my coach was last modified and my reporting will be based on miles driven since the fuel polishing and use of RV-1 starting with the refueling just north of Bella Terra at the Love’s at highway 59 and I-10.
Since my coach engine was last modified I want 6841 miles, refueled 9 times, added 1095.564 gallons for a fuel mileage average of 6.24MPG. That is the benchmark I will use for comparison purposes. What I cannot do is provide any subjective information about improved performance of my generator or Webasto. They both seem to run fine with no smoking or rough perfromance.
I have an odd situation that I cannot explain, but I will post it here just as a piece of information. The last 2019 miles have produced a much better fuel economy and I have no explaination. I refueled three times and the mileage based on 307.143 gallons added works out to 6.57 MPG. The jump in mileage leaps out at me because my coach up until the final three times I have refueled I was reasonably consistent with respect to mileage at around the 6.2 value. For purposes of evaluating RV-1 however I will use the 6.24 MPG value.
For purposes of consistency I use cruise control to the maximum extent. Whenever I can, regardless of the speed limit on the highway, from 55 to 70 plus I drive at 1500 RPM which gives me a speed of 62 MPH based on both the GPS and the speedometer. My MPG as shown on the message center is skewed to the high side and will be corrected to be more accurate, but for this test of RV-1 it will remain as it has been since my last engine modifications. Just as a bit of information it had been reporting 6.7 MPG prior to the reset after fuel polishing, after fuel polishing it has shown 6.8 but I am not attaching any significance to the added .1 MPG right now.
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I thought of something else I wanted to add to this discussion.
During the fuel seminar Saturday at Bella Terra “Fuel Specialist Ken” mentioned
diesel fuel being dead in 6 weeks from time of refining, I think. I never had a
chance to ask exactly what dead fuel meant. I filled up my coach last November
or so. Maybe that’s why I saw a noticeable increase in mileage, also I had double
the amount of additive in my fuel. That could also contribute to my increased MPG.
I don’t use my coach very much, my crazy employer expects me work 40 hours a week.
So it’s going be a long time for me to have any meaningful information. Thanks to
Jon’s OCDC record keeping his results should be accurate.Ken
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Fuel News
STORAGE LIFE
Under normal storage conditions diesel fuel can be expected to stay in a useable condition
for:
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12 months or longer at an ambient of 20oC. ……… Little more help for the PC Tenn. members = 68 deg.
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6-12 months at an ambient temperature higher than 30oC. ……….. More help even for guys in GA. =86 deg
As diesel gets older a fine sediment and gum forms in the diesel brought about by the
reaction of diesel components with oxygen from the air. The fine sediment and gum will
block fuel filters, leading to fuel starvation and the engine stopping. Frequent filter changes
are then required to keep the engine going. The gums and sediments do not burn in the
engine very well and can lead to carbon and soot deposits on injectors and other combustion
surfaces.
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What software,interface are you running on your tablet? The photo facinates me, I’m an info freak.
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Silverleaf, a great product and great support if you have questions.
Ken
Edit: Last night I remembered we have a PC member has designed a similar device and software for Apple products. It also gets high marks. Someone jump in and tell us who that is, I don’t remeber.
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Is anyone else impressed that Ken spins his engine at less than 1400 rpm to acheive 68MPH? Kudos, Ken. That is an awesome setup. No wonder you are at 9+ even without the magic juice.
p.s.: Be careful with the 70 MPH selfies. (Check out your reflection in the Silverleaf display.)
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Ken has installed a 14 liter engine in his coach along with a 10 speed transmission so he not only is able to extract some impressive mileage, I would not want to try to drag race him.
FWIW John Klopp had a 97 Royal with a 12.7L engine, unmodified, with the 6 speed Allison and he was able to get 9 MPG with careful driving. I believe he limited his speed to 65 and he did not tow.
Part of the reason for good mileage is Ken and John’s coaches are relatively light compared to the later model 45 foot coaches.
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Bryan I saw that reflection and since most of my face was
blocked by the camera I didn’t think it would scare anyone too bad.Jon is correct. By today’s standards my coach is light, a
little under 40,000. For that trip I was towing our ½ ton extended cab truck,
about 5,000 pounds.
I got lucky on the differential ratio. It had a 3:36 from
the factory and I thought it worked really well with 8V92 / 750 Allison. The Eaton
Ultrashift has a ratio of .74 for 10 th
gear. Which I knew would put me at about 1400 RPM at 70 MPH. Just in case anyone
is curious the top gear in the Allison is .64 which means you would need a 4:125
differential to get similar results. I think most Prevosts with the 6 Speed
Allison have 4:30 or 4:50 rears. I would like to try the new Allison TC10. From
what I can find it’s quite a bit larger than the Eaton, if that’s correct it
won’t fit in my coach, the Eaton almost didn’t fit.Ken
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Jon is correct about the MPG on the coach previously owned by John Klopp, I purchased that coach last year and I’m consistently getting high 8’s low 9’s @ 65mph. On one trip last year I averaged 10.3, WOW!!! Coming from towing a 34 ft. Airstream with a Super Duty 6.4 and only getting around 12 mpgs, just amazes me..
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Ken: Very impressive slideshow and video covering your re-engine/trans project. What a task to take on. Is that the same DD engine our late 90’s and early 2000’s coaches? If not, what kind of hp/torque do you have?
Anyone who hasn’t taken the link in Ken’s signature and see his project should!
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Dick it’s similar to the earlier 12.7s but there are several
differences. The main ones are, it had EGR, it’s a larger displacement 14
liters, it has a different gear train that drives the camshaft(known as Compact
Valve Train) and different injectors. The original HP/ torque was 515/1650, with
my modifications I would guess 600/1800. That’s just a guess, it’ll take a dyno
to find out for sure. I think 2005 is when the 14 liter started, it changed
very much in 2007 when DPF filters were added. Although the basic block and
head were the about same the engine controls and injection system was very different
and in about 2010 the Mercedes engine know as DD13, DD15 or DD16 was introduced which
require diesel exhaust fluid. There was
a very limited number of 575HP 14 liters with the old style valve train and no mechanical emission controls manufactured in 2000 or 2001. There were also a few DDEC IV compact valve train
12.7s with EGR produced a year or so before the DDEC V 14 liters were introduced.And thanks for the compliments.
Ken
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Non EGR 12.7s should be able to get 8 mpg pretty easy with low rolling resistance tires like the XZA’s, keeping speed around 60 mph and using synthetic fluids does not hurt either.
This ofcourse assumes summer fuel, good weather, easy terrain etc.
Also, my 02, and I think all other 6 speed Allison coaches have a 4:56 rear end. No doubt that these busses would get better mpg and climb better if we had more gears to choose from.
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