RE: “Rich Armistead’s Honda CRX Recall Story”:(You can find the above story on June 1, 2008 with a Google search in the Kalamazoo Gezette, near Detroit.)
After reading my younger brother’s gasoline mileage story, very carefully, and correcting my own thoughts:
I’ve concluded that his old 1984 Honda CRX that did and can still get 70 mpg may have had a leak (after it was recalled and modified by the Honda dealer) in its vacuum hose connections----and that my brother fixed it, accidentally, when he replaced the “new horseshoe shaped gadget” with a normal piece of copper tubing.
But, if more people had the same “recall correction” problem and reduction of gas mileage, then:
Perhaps, the new secret gadget might have intended to block the vacuum advance in order to conform with existing California Politics, started by Gov. Ronald Reagan and friends in 1968, which detuned all existing American Engines that had dominated the California Automobile Market since about 1940, and increased the gasoline consumption to officiously and obstensively to reduce California SMOG by keeping more cars at home.
As many know, ignition timing is reduced by about 15 to 20 degrees with any loss of vacuum in the hose connections on older cars. So, the added “Recall Gadget” may have intended to block or reduce the vacuum advance, to conform with existing (and phony) California SMOG Control Rules, which were instigated by Gov. Reagan and the Republican Oil-Conspiracy Party; who, by the way, started pumping oil from Elk Hills, a National Oil Reserve, for more oil profits in about 1976 to 1980.
Prior to Gov. Reagan’s Reign, like Bush, Elk Hills, CA. was our major oil reserve for future World Wars, if any.
So, perhaps my youngest son, Andrew Armistead (now 40), an ex-NASCAR Crew Chief, who is living nearby in Milwaukee, should drop-in and Road Test that old 1984 Honda CRX, or buy it, just to study the function and intent of the questionable recall gadget, which appears to have reduced the gas mileage from 70 mpg to 35 mpg on all Honda CRX Motorcars in 1985, after Ronald Reagan “our Hero” became President!
And, there may be over 1000 more of these 1984 Honda CRX’s for sale that are still running and only getting 35 mpg, instead of the original 70 mpg, and can be fixed to get 70 mpg, again, by removing the horseshoe-shaped recall gadget, like my brother.
So, read his story and fix your 1984 Honda CRX, if you are only getting 40 mpg or less, before you advertise it or sell it to a museum as a Polital Collector’s item.
I’m always amazed that fantasy, junk science, folklore and hearsay, and “conspiracy” are so much more popular with the world’s most car-savvy people (Americans). Yes, the Clean Air Act and the California Regulations greatly reduced fuel mileage, especially in the 1970s, since at that time the manufacturers were not ready with their sophisticated computer controlled engines. It took a number of years to get all the technology in place to get the milege and driveability back up.
So, believe what you like; the 1984 CRX was a neat car that got great milege; one of our secretaries had one, and got the best mileage in the office.
I read your brother’s story. Here’s the link for those who are curious:
Your brother may be convinced he got 70 mpg before Honda “tampered” with his vacuum lines, but no other CRX owner, nor any independent car tester, has ever reported that mileage figure. And the car was sold worldwide including to countries that had little or no emissions regulations. So, believe what you like; the 1984 CRX was a neat car that got great mileage, but 70 mpg? Not hardly. We would have all heard about it.
A CRX HF model with the 1.3l engine was EPA rated at 54 MPG highway and its not unheard of for careful drivers to get over 60 in them-- it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if someone could squeeze 70 MPG out of one, especially if you took off some of the emissions equipment. But then we wouldn’t have clean air to breathe.
But the HF submodel didn’t sell very well because by the mid-80’s gas was getting cheap again and fuel economy wasn’t the concern for car buyers it had been earlier. The other submodels had bigger engines with lower-geared transmissions and came with options that increased weight and reduced fuel economy. An automatic with the 1.5L engine was only EPA rated at 31 MPG highway. The only conspiracy in effect was that of car buyers being more than willing to exchange fuel economy for more power and creature comforts.
How many times are you going to start this thread?
Are you wearing an aluminum foil hat? If not, Big Oil might be reading your thoughts.
Ditto! Those who constantly see conspiracies behind every problem that they face are in serious need of professional help–and when I say professional help, I do not mean the services of a mechanic.
Go to “Hot August Nights” in Reno, and ask how many collectors are now happy with their “Gas Guzzlers”, after they restored the orignal vacuum advance and timing, before the Public was convinced that “detunning all V-8 engines hepled to reduce SMOG in California” by reducing the traffic.
Actually, Detroit Engineers should be ashamed that they didn’t work on Steam Engines, instead of trying to find better SMOG testing equipment and better compression ratios. SPARKS create Ozone, not gasoline! And, humidity helps combustion and improves gasoline mileage on race tracks. So, WHY NOT control the humidity at the air intake, and eliminate the Tesla Spark Plug, which was invented before 1900 and doesn’t trigger the ignition, anyway?
You could be right. Because some people play tricks on people who keep accurate records, after they brag about their new car mileage. So, if anyone else got 70 mpg on their new Honda CRX, then he must be right.
But, I recall his testing was done on a trip to Florida—which eliminates his neighbors and brothers!
This is my first time on your network. And, I don’t listen to Limballs, Savages or other paid oil propagandists.
Plus, I know that the “Bay of Pigs” was about “Offshore Oil Wells near Cuba”, owned by Zapata Oil and Bush Family members.
So, check out that “Big Oil Non-Conspiracy”, prior to the JFK Assassination.
The PROOF is setting in his driveway.
But, will it be stolen by BIG OIL VULTURES or RECALLED?
It’s definitely time for the aluminum foil hats!
After reading your original post up top, my mind was swimming in your political babble and I asked myself, “Self, is there a car question here?” I finally noticed the question in the subject line. Fortunately, I recognize paranoid delusions when I read them online. Your references to JFK and the Bay of Pigs really punctuate my point. Thank you for your support.
Open Minds solve problems, like: Who supplied the Anthrax after 911?
Closed minds are a disgrace to the schools you attended, and prove that you only have one cylinder.
Good mechanics THINK about all possibilities, unless they find a spark plug missing.
So, watch the new Steam Car at the Salt Flats, this month. RE: Popular Mechanics.
I predict that it will be called a Jaguar or a Panther XS-150, and will be available for less than $75,000 and may even get 150 mpg, since it will be very efficient, unlike gasoline internal-combustion engines.
And, see some of my Sonnets on Poetry.com, under James H. Armistead
This is about as big a crap story as can be found anywhere. Break out the Reynolds Wrap…
on the other hand… the humidity CAN be controlled by using a HHO water for gas hydrogen device to greatly increase mileage.
this is possibly what was used to boost the mileage in the honda originally.
i know it seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened.
do you know if he used the fuel magnets to polarize the fuel diatoms in stream. although i have never used them i sometimes hear revues supporting them too.
at this age was this a naturally carburated engine? if so, i suspect it also had a ‘tornado’ installed to in the venturi.
you NEVER know. these novel ideas help us maintain our current level of auto usage well into the future.
Smokey Yunick, working with Popular Science Magazine, once managed to tweak a Plymouth Horizon (Rabbit clone) so it delivered 60-80 mpg…He accomplished this by capturing most of the waste heat and feeding it back into the engine. The engines coolant was replaced with synthetic oil and was run at around 350 degrees as I recall. There were some drivability issues but Smokey figured those could be worked out in a production car…
He planned to install a turbo, use it to drive an alternator and use that power to help propel the car through an electric motor…
The key was waste as little heat and energy as possible…
Someone needs his medication adjusted…
Well, I was employed by a Honda dealer during this period. How did they ever hide this from all of the Honda techs?
The only reference I heard about a high mileage carbed car was a story related by a trainee in the shop.
He stated that “my uncle in Shawnee, OK built a carburetor back in the 70s that would easily get a 100 MPG but one day some Federal agents showed up and took it. He still has the plans hidden though”.
Change the location and the type of relative and one could repeat this story numerous times. All bunk of course.
I’m pretty sure that somewhere, there is a person who “got 70 mpg” with his '84 CRX. He’s probably the same guy who’s bone stock '68 Harley Davidson XLCH would “go 160 mph” back when he was in high school and who kilt many a deer with his old trusty Winchester '94 30-30 rifle at “over 500 yards away”.
Old VW joke: A customer keeps bringing his VW back to the shop to have it fixed and they never could find anything wrong with it. Finally, the mechanic asks the customer what his specific problem is and he says “I’m not getting the gas mileage other people are”. The mechanic thinks awhile and then says “why can’t you just be like everybody else and just LIE about your gas mileage?”
Among the things that people consistently lie about are the amount of time that it takes them to drive to a particular destination, and their gas mileage. I have found that some people always seem to under-report their actual driving time, and many people drastically inflate the gas mileage that they actually get from their vehicle.