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Fuel economy guage
Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:13 pm
by GroovyCarrot
Has anyone ever tried fitting a fuel economy guage from a formel e or a golf (the analogue one rather than the MFA.. although, is MFA do-able?)
Just wondering, always looking for little mods that I can base on bits from the scrappy

Re: Fuel economy guage
Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 9:06 pm
by bstardchild
GroovyCarrot wrote:Has anyone ever tried fitting a fuel economy guage from a formel e or a golf (the analogue one rather than the MFA.. although, is MFA do-able?)
Just wondering, always looking for little mods that I can base on bits from the scrappy

Not familar with the formel e one - but probably - it'll only be a vacuum pick up from the manifold
TIM do one - I've always used one in carb equiped cars - and the odd injection too - good diagnostic tool too so I've always kept it
BTW - it is amazing what difference it makes to mpg
Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 11:19 pm
by GroovyCarrot
Only picture I can find on it, it's on a brazilian car and in l/100km, but it's the same idea:

Guage in the top left there.
Taken a peek in my haynes, it looks like the sensor's just stuck across one of the vacuum lines, with a pair of wires running to the guage itself, so year, some form of vacuum guage. Shame really, I thought it actually measured the amount of fuel being used - vacuum is all well and good, but my vacuum guage reads perfect readings and yet I still struggle to get more than 30mpg atm.. just baffled by the whole thing, there seems to be nothing wrong...
Well, I might make that a little project if I'm feeling bored one day and a formel e turns up in the scrappy

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:33 am
by bstardchild
GroovyCarrot wrote:Taken a peek in my haynes, it looks like the sensor's just stuck across one of the vacuum lines, with a pair of wires running to the guage itself, so year, some form of vacuum guage. Shame really, I thought it actually measured the amount of fuel being used - vacuum is all well and good, but my vacuum guage reads perfect readings and yet I still struggle to get more than 30mpg atm.. just baffled by the whole thing, there seems to be nothing wrong...
Well, I might make that a little project if I'm feeling bored one day and a formel e turns up in the scrappy

But you are only reading the vaccuum at stationary not driving using it aren't you? - the wires will be for illumination

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 9:31 am
by david burton
yeah, you can get SMITHS ones from older cars quite easily. perhaps you can source one of those?
My dad's got one on his 1950's Land Rover, as bstard says, it's just a vacuum gauge really.
Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 10:18 pm
by Josh_PoloGTi
MY FIRST CAR WAS A POLO "FORMEL E" BREADVAN!!!
hehehe
I loved that car, and the economy needle!

Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2005 9:34 am
by GroovyCarrot
Nah, the vacuum sensor is an electronic gismo.. just a lump stuck in the vacuum guage and some electric cabling to the clocks, no additional vacuum pipe. Not that it makes much difference

Might lay my hands on a smiths guage.. see if it makes me drive any more economically
