202 power!

[VH commodore]

lately my tired old blue 202 has been feeling a little sluggish and fuel consumption has been slowly on the rise...it needs a rebuild but cbf atm.

anyways i went for a long country drive by myself the other day. with a few high speed runs when the roads opened up. after the first hour she started to run very smooth, and the exhaust note became a gentle purr and i really started enjoying driving the brown machine. .. ever since that drive its been running really good...

anyways my point is these engines really like to be freed up by a long drive...spose to burn built up carbon deposits. so i'd recommend this to all you 202 owners

[Matt0]

Sorry if I'd disappoint you, but all that long drive would achieve is a few more K's on the clock, some burnt fuel and possibly some scenic views

[VH commodore]

well everytime my father drives my car he comments on how well and free it runs, unlike how it used to, and the only difference is i drive harder than my elderly granddad used to drive it.

also if u bought your 5 litre new they encouraged customers to drive them hard to run them in...

[jet_pilot]

i do beleive its refered to "blowin the cobweb's out" lol

[commsirac]

i do beleive its refered to "blowin the cobweb's out" lol

or the "Italian tune up"

Seriously though, all that has probably happened is that the car is running a bit rich at low loads, or a lot of trips done when cold and on choke, and the plugs have started to foul up. Getting the car up to operating temp for over an hour has possibly cleaned up the plugs. Maybe just pull the plugs and clean them next time.

As for removing carbon deposits in the cylinders?......unlikely, but generally all they do is make the combustion chamber slightly smaller and sometimes can "increase" performance by raising compression.......but can also cause pinging as well.

The idea that a car is like a human and needs to be exercised otherwise it will lose its muscle tone etc is nonsense. Humans are living creatures and self repair(to an extent). Cars just wear out with continued use......period.
Of course some use of a car is necessary to just lubricate parts and seals.

[immortality]

i also think you probably just got it nice and hot and it self cleaned the plugs, short trips only is bad for engines. i tend to take mine on a long run down the motorway just to heat it through properly once a month if i've only used to go to work etc (7 min trip at best). oil needs to be heated properly so it burn off the moisture and crap that builds up etc otherwise the oil turns to sludge and causes problems. if it's only used for short trips usually then it's recommended to change the oil at shorter intervals

[bolby]

this happens in my daily - the trusty holden nova lol
whenever i give it a good caining over a long distance trip it revs much free-er
its overdue for some new plugs and an oil change though!

[jet_pilot]

or the "Italian tune up"

..... lmao i am italian

[Outlaw Torn]

Sorry if I'd disappoint you, but all that long drive would achieve is a few more K's on the clock, some burnt fuel and possibly some scenic views

not quite so... "cleaning out the cobwebs" is more effective than people give credit... especially for cars that just run around towns etc. It busts of alot of crap through the whole system, ie carb, manifolds, exhaust lines.

Good to see the old cars still run sweet

[jet_pilot]

when i got my vp it had been sittin for 4 months and i gave it a good hard run a twice a week 3 week's later it was running heaps better