effect of thermostat on fuel use

[michaelw]

I like most VN owners (I guess) have done a very good job of ignoring my stuck open thermostat. As a result my car rarely gets to temperature. I was reading a bit about ecu operation and heard something about entering closed loop mode.

As my water never gets warm, will my ecu always run rich to heat up the car thus using more fuel?

Cheers

Mike

 

[hispeedvp]

in a way, yes. in a way no.
lol
the hotter your car runs the less friction the less hard it has to work to produce the same amount of power. the hotter you car runs without doing any damage the better.

 

[michaelw]

cheers. I was nore interested in the operation of the ecu. ie. does it go "Car is too cold, I'll run rich to warm it up..."

Mike

 

[hispeedvp]

No, as far as i know the only thing that affects fuel dilivery is the amount of air the ECU is detecting and the engine timing, the amount of fuel you ECU pumps into your engine is in no way related to temperature,

 

[greenfoam]

if you never register any temp? , not only will you be stuck in closed loop but you'll be on the cold start map. Not sure how that will harm your performance but for me in my car I can't do a very quick 0-100 when it's cold, in general I'd say fix it: )

 

[michaelw]

Yea it is a series one, so its a job I am not looking forward to.

Mike

 

[hispeedvp]

the amount of fuel thats delivered is derived from the amount of air being iducted not the water temperature. the only time the water temp will affect your fuel is if the temperature sensor is completely disconected causing an electronic anomily. the fuel mixture is in no way related to water temp.

 

[greenfoam]

No not on a MAP based car like the VN-VR and the VS V8. VS V6 is a MAF system and that's different and works like you say, the VN has nothing to do with how much air it's breathing, there are many different fuel maps on the VN-VR and all are dependent on water temp