"Dousing" / washing isn't a problem. Leaving it submerged for say 10mins in some "cleaners" is.

Note: I've only just thought. If the light is not ON then there isn't a problem since the resistance of the hot film is within range and reset as "datum" everytime the car is started.
As you say it changes over time but the circuitry compensates for this and ensures the mixture is correct.
Its when the resistance is outside of range that problems start and this is indicated by the CEL..

Only "Clean" the MAF as a last resort to avoid having to buy a new one. This is not a regular maintenance job.

Stuart

 

Thanks, Stuart.
Good information and good advice!

 

This morning on a local car talk radio show, the host said that winter blend fuels will reduce mpg 10%.
That sure makes sense to me because weather conditions don't change dramatically in the Pac NW, and I notice the change in mpg all at once, regardless of the weather conditions.
Thoughts?

 

Winter fuel is different to Summer fuel. FACT

Gasoline includes more top end fractions (lower boiling point) in order to help with starting etc.
Diesel has changes to reduce waxing (solidification) in the Winter.

These changes are market specific due both to the weather and (must) also take account of the available fractions from the local refineries.

Although I have no empirical data (I'm sure it exists somewhere) the calorific value of the fuel is what matters since this takes account of the available energy within the fuel per unit measure of quantity. Other characteristics like RON (Research Octance Number) also effect potential combustion conditions on modern (Ignition / anti knock controlled) vehicles.

I suspect that there will be some SMALL difference between between winter and summer fuel grades, just as there is a difference between some brands, but I would expect this to be nearer to 1% and certainly not noticeable without extensive (good) fuel consumption measurements. Even then I would question what had made the difference.

10% I think NOT!

For instance Air Con ON/OFF and Driving Style hves a MUCH GREATER impact (up to 10%) than some other potential factors.

However this is interesting and if anybody has any empirical data it would be interesting.

Stuart

 

Without finding exact blend data for my area, ethanol is added as an oxiginator to lower harmful emmisions in winter throughout the US. It seems a 10% ethanol (E10) proportion is pretty standard and according to the this study : http://www.ethanol.org/documents/ACEFuelEconomyStudy.pdf
one might lower their mpg by 1.5% with E10 over summer fuels. Pretty much what you suggested.
Apparently some car's mpg is not effected. Go figure.

 

Since Ethanol is a home grown (US) product, the push is on to use it all the time. The bulk fuel storage facilities near me are converting some of their storage to ethanol product.

 

I think we maybe at cross purposes.

Summer/Winter blend fuel differences are somewhat different to the use of Bio fuels which are basically Ethanol powered vehicled.

Bio fuels have been popular in Scandanavia for some time and are growing in popularity both in Europe and USA due to reduced emmissions especially Sulphur.

Small amounts of Ethanol (E10 = 10%) can be accomodated on many modern engines without major impact however larger percentages E85 need specially tuned engines.

These are known as Flexi Fuelled vehicles. Ethanol has a lower calorific value vs gasoline (similarly LPG) therefore produces a reduced MPG value.

I still hold that the difference between Summer and Wintergrade gasoline MPG is very small IF all other factors remain constant.

Stuart.

 

No cross purpose. I'm not talking about flex-fuel vehicles at all. I'm in agreement with you.
However, do you think MB will ever make a conversion kit to allow their gas engines to run on E85?